The Clemson Tigers baseball team remains undefeated in the early season after putting a 6-2 knot in the Presbyterian Blue Hose on Tuesday afternoon. Eston Simpson, the Tigers’ lanky 6’5” freshman out of Jefferson, Georgia, picked up his second win of the season. He started the game with two scoreless innings, striking out two, not issuing a walk, and allowing one hit over P.C. at-bats.
The Tigers laid down a 4-spot in the second inning after Presbyterian starting pitcher Tucker Meredith could not
locate the strike zone, or the catcher’s mitt. Left Fielder Jack Crighton started the inning by drawing a walk. After designated hitter Jacob Jarrell struck out swinging while attempting to put the ball on the roof of Fike, Crighton advanced to second after the catcher failed to corral strike three. Third baseman Jason Fultz Jr. opened Clemson’s account for the day with a single up the middle that brought Crighton home, to give Clemson a 1-0 lead with one on and one out.
That’s when things fell all the way apart for the PC starting pitcher. He walked shortstop Tyler Lichtenberger and center fielder Bryce Clavon on consecutive at-bats to load the bases. After his RBI single started the scoring, Fultz was able to walk around the bases and be the second Tiger to cross home plate when second baseman Jarren Purify picked up an RBI for watching the ball miss the strike zone four times during his at-bat to extend the lead to 2-0 and end the night for Tucker Meredith.
Blue Hose reliever Tyrell Williams stepped into a one-out, bases-loaded situation while staring down the heart of the Clemson order, and all things considered, acquitted himself well. Right Fielder Tryston McCladdie relieved some congestion on the basepath with a two rbi single to extend the lead to 4-0, but the Tiger damage was stopped at four with Nate Savoie flying out and Luke Gaffney grounding out down the first base line to end the inning.
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Clemson’s offense would strike again in the fourth inning, once again turning Presbyterian walks into Tiger runs. Bryce Clavon showed off his wheels after drawing a walk, stealing second, and then scoring on a Jarren Purify single to extend the lead to 5-0. The Tigers would tack on an additional run when Nate Savoie continued his hot streak, knocking in Purify for the second run of the inning.
After the fourth, the home team bats when silent. The Tigers would only have two more base runners the remainder of the game, but the damage was already done. Presbyterian attempted to get things going late, touching up Clemson reliever Brendon Bennett for two hits and a run before slamming the door by striking out PC designated hitter Emory Guilford for the third out of the inning, leaving two stranded and Clemson with a five-run lead.
The Blue Hose would strike again in the 9th, touching up Clemson’s 6’7”, 245-pound lefty, Noah Samol, for a run after PC started the inning with a lead-off double. A sac fly after a Tiger fielding error netted a run and an out. Samol decided he was tired of the nonsense and fanned the next two batters to end the game at 6-2.
Clemson improves to 8-0 on the season and will face a team of degenerates from Columbia on Friday at 7 PM in one of the worst places on earth. We’ll have more on that later in the week.
Link to Official Box Score
