Clemson’s nightmare March was so exciting, the Tigers decided to carry it over into April. This wasn’t so much a game as an 1980s horror movie, with Clemson playing the role of the hapless victim running up the stairs instead of out the front door to safety. The game was so terrible that Clemson’s official baseball website is giving me an error message instead of the box score. The Tigers fall to 19-11 on the season while the Demon Deacons improve to 21-9.
I’m going to struggle with the specifics
without the box score, but the route started in the first inning with the Demon Deacons plating three runs on beleaguered Clemson starter Dylan Harrison, who would go on to pick up the loss.
Clemson pulled a run back in the third on a Jack Crighton fielder’s choice. Even when Clemson scored a run, it wasn’t necessarily a positive. Wake was happy to get out of the inning, only giving up one run. They paid it off in the bottom of the third with four additional runs, and then tacked on a run in the fourth inning because why not? The score was 8-1 after the fourth inning, and honestly, I stopped watching because life is too short to watch bad baseball.
Right after I turned the game off, the Tigers decided to show a little life and put across three runs in the fifth inning, including a solo thot from Tryston McCladdie to start the inning, but it was significantly too little, and significantly too late. Cutting the lead to 8-4 only served to enrage the Demon Deacons, and they decided to stick the sword into the Tigers and twist in the sixth inning to the tune of 7 runs, including a Javar Williams grand slam that I am glad I did not witness.
The game was mercifully ended after the 7th inning, because the point had already been made. Clemson didn’t deserve to play another two innings of baseball.
Clemson is in California for a triple header with Stanford this weekend. Hopefully, it goes better than tonight.
