Clemson, SC
After a balk-off win in game one; Clemson took to game two of the series and there was no looking back for the Tigers as they brought in 17 runs throughout the course of the game as the Tigers move to 11-3 and 2-0 in ACC play while the Tar Heels move to 12-3 overall and 0-2 in ACC play. The Tigers and Tar Heels are set to wrap up the series Sunday at 1 p.m.
Sam Hall, Grayson Byrd and Bryar Hawkins each had four hits, the first time the Tigers have had three players with four hits since 2003. Bryar Hawkins also drove in the teams first homer in two games. “ All day I had been getting alot of breaking balls. So the biggest thing for me was to just see the breaking ball up and luckily I got one up that I could handle.” said Hawkins on his homerun.
Game two started with Mat Clark on the bump. Before tonight, the sophomore pitcher had a 4-0 start and a 1.69 ERA in his 19 appearances and one start. Clark pitched for six innings, giving up two runs, walking one and striking out five. Approaching a game as a starter, Clark says he approaches no differently than he would coming out of the bullpen.
Things got started quick for the Tigers when they scored two runs in the first inning, four in the second, two in third, three in the fourth and five in the fifth.
“In game two, we just attack early” Head Coach Monte Lee said postgame “We swung the bats very, very well and got the momentum going and just couldn’t slow down. We had big days from a bunch of guys. Bryar Hawkins stood out today, had a great day offensively. Kier Meredith had a great day offensively for us as well. One thing that I am really proud of with our guys is that the score did not dictate how we competed, our guys ran hard.”
For senior Grayson Byrd, he was glad to see his team have a game like they did tonight after the team struggled last weekend in a series lost to in-state rival South Carolina. “It definitely helps our confidence. Last Sunday was obviously a tough ride home. It’s tough losing to Carolina and it’s tough losing like that. But this team just staying confident, having fun and just going out there and playing our game. It’s obviously nice to go out there and score a bunch of runs but as you saw in game one, we can win in a lot of different ways.” Byrd said after the 17-3 win Saturday.
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