The Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 1st on a 2-out single by Amick, who has been a major factor in the Tigers' hot streak. He would later hit a 2-run HR, his 3rd in 4 games, in the 6th. Coastal tied the game 1-1 in the 2nd, but the Tigers put together a 7-run 3rd, including a grand slam by Jarrell, and it was all over after that. The freshman catcher made his first start in a couple weeks at the expense of Crighton, who had a big weekend against Louisville, reaching base 9 times in 10 at bats, but the move by Bakich paid off! Amick's homer gave the Tigers a 12-2 lead in the 6th, and they could have run-ruled Coastal for a second straight time, but Bakich decided to clear his bullpen, using 8 pitchers in the game, and Weiss gave up 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th to prevent the run rule. Bakich also used 3 pinch hitters with the big lead.
Amick went 3-6 with 3 RBI's, red-hot Taylor was 2-4 with a double and the Tigers walked 11 times. In addition to Amick and Jarrell, Grice also homered, his team-leading 12th of the season. Allen pitched just one inning in relief but picked up the win to improve to 2-0 on the season.
The Tigers' RPI was No.13 this week, and it should get a nice bump if they can take care of business at VA Tech this weekend. It's a shame Louisville blew a 7-5 lead in the 8th against Vandy and lost 12 innings because that would have bumped it even higher since the Tigers just swept the Cards. Still, the Tigers are in great shape to host a Regional, and if they keep winning, they could even play their way into a top-8 national seed, just like they did in Monte Lee's first season! Incidentally, the Gamecocks are on an opposite trajectory, losing 4 straight and 6 of their last 8. If they get swept at No.5 Arkansas this weekend and lose a few more games after that, we could see the Gamecocks forced to play in a Clemson Regional. Wouldn't that be something!
Post-game interviews are below!
Never miss the latest news from CUTigers!
Join our free email list