Baseball
NO.18 CLEMSON BEATS NORTHEASTERN 9-6, MATCHES 2002 TEAM WITH 13-0 START
- 2022-03-12 19:11:32
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CLEMSON, SC - The Tigers were coming off an ugly offensive performance in a 4-2 win over Michigan State on Wednesday and took their 12-0 record into the weekend against a salty Northeastern squad that swept No.8 NC State last weekend. Mack Anglin was outstanding in his first 3 starts of the season and continued to impress, improving his record to 3-0. He blanked the Huskies in the first 4 innings, but in the 5th, he issued a leadoff walk on full count and then gave up a double and a single with 2 outs to tie the game 2-2. I thought Monte might make a change at that point, but he stuck with Anglin, who was able to finish the 5th and pick up the W thanks to the offense scoring 5 runs in the bottom half of the inning.
The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 3rd on an RBI single by Brewer, who stole 2nd, and another RBI single by Corbitt. After Northeastern tied the game 2-2 in the 5th, the Tigers responded with 5 runs in the bottom half. Ingle drove in a run with a bases-loaded single and another run scored on a wild pitch. Hawkins drove in another run on a ground out, and Wagner hit a 2-out HR, his 3rd homer of the season, to make the score 7-2.
Lindley started the 6th on the mound, and a pair of costly errors gave the Huskies 2 runs with 2 outs to make the score 7-4. However, the Tigers quickly responded again with a leadoff HR by French, his 3rd of the season. All 3 of his homers have been down the left field line late in games. After a Brewer double and walks by Corbitt and Grice loaded the bases, Ingle hit a sac fly to make it 9-4.
Freshmen Dill and Tallent allowed just one base runner over the next two innings, but Rocco Reid would give up a couple runs in the 9th with a hit batter, a full-count walk and a 2-out double before closing the books for the 9-6 win. Reliever Geoffrey Gilbert hasn't made an appearance since his shaky outing against USC Upstate 10 days ago. I asked Monte about him after the game, and he said that they had been resting Gilbert, presumably because of a sore arm, but that he would be back in the rotation soon.
Wagner was 2-4 with the 2-run HR and is now batting .389 on the season on top of his solid fielding at 3rd base. Brewer had a nice game as well, going 3-5 with a double and an RBI. Ingle has hit safely in every game this season and added 2 RBI's. Grice was 1-3 with 2 walks after going just 3-22 with 11 K's in his previous 5 games.
The Tigers came into the game with the No.12 scoring offense in the Power Five, averaging 9.3 runs per game, and they were right on that average. Monte Lee said after the game that they needed to win a game on the strength of their offense because they have relied on their pitching and defense to win so many games, which was certainly the case on Wednesday. The Tigers are now 13-0, matching the 2002 team for the best start since the 1992 team opened the season 17-0. There must be something about the third year of a decade with this program! They will look to make it 14-0 on Saturday at 1:00 with a cold and windy weather forecast to which Northeastern is accustomed.
Post-game interviews are below!
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