Baseball
GRICE HOMERS FOR 2ND STRAIGHT GAME, CLEMSON BEATS COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 2-1
- 2022-02-23 11:14:43
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CLEMSON, SC - After a couple blowout wins to start the season, the Tigers found themselves in a second straight nail-biter on Tuesday against College of Charleston. True freshman Billy Barlow, a North Myrtle Beach native, made his first career start for the Tigers against a few of his friends playing for C of C. He made his debut in the season opener on Friday night and pitched a clean, 1-2-3 inning with a strike out and just 11 pitches. Perhaps that got any butterflies out of the way because he looked perfectly in control in the first inning, going 1-2-3 with 2 K's. He ran into some trouble in the second, giving up a leadoff single, a full-count walk and another single to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead. He then hit a batter to load the bases with one out, but Monte showed confidence in the freshman, and he responded with a big strike out and grounder to strand them loaded. He settled down after that, going 1-2-3 with 2 K's in each of the next two innings. He was pulled with one out in the 4th, so the win went to Lindley, who replaced him.
After the Cougars took the 1-0 lead in the 2nd, Caden Grice come up with a go-ahead 2-run HR for the second straight game in the 3rd inning. Unlike the bomb he hit to right on Sunday, this time he went opposite field to left. He also walked twice to give him 6 walks in the first 4 games. Cooper Ingle continued to swing a hot bat, going 3-4 on Tuesday. He and Grice are each batting .500 on the season. The Tigers managed just 5 hits in the pitchers' dual with 13 strike outs and only one runner in scoring position, but Grice's homer was enough to secure the win, thanks to the Tigers' pitching staff.
The Cougars had several runners in scoring position throughout the game, but the Tigers' pitchers came up with big strike out after big strike out, combining for 17 total. Geoffrey Gilbert pitched 1.2 innings and struck out 4, stranding a runner at 3rd in consecutive innings. Sophomore Alex Edmondson, the hardest thrower on the staff, had another good inning of work, striking out two. Monte made a gutsy decision to let Ryan Ammons start the 9th after a disastrous season debut on Sunday in which he hit his first batter, gave up a double to tie the game and then walked a batter to load the bases. Well, he repaid Monte for his trust and then some! After throwing two balls to the leadoff batter, he came back to strike him out and proceeded to strike out the side for his first career save. Jonathan French was back behind the plate after sitting out on Saturday and Sunday, and he got his first hit of the season in his first at bat. He also smoked one to the warning track that was caught. It was good to see his offense come around after a rough day at the plate in the opener. He also caught a fantastic game, as a catcher must in order to manage a one-run game with 17 strike outs.
It was Monte Lee's first win over his alma mater since 2019, and the Tigers are 4-0 with back-to-back one-run wins. They'll host Hartford this weekend, and the World Champion Atlanta Braves will be at Doug Kingsmore with the trophy to celebrate their title.
Post-game interviews are below!
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