Baseball
GRICE HOMERS AGAIN, BUT NO.4 CLEMSON LOSES LATE LEAD TO CHARLOTTE 3-2 TO END SEASON
- 2023-06-05 18:31:11
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CLEMSON, SC - After the gut-wrenching, physically and emotionally draining 14-inning loss to Tennessee late Friday night, the question was how much the Tigers would have left in the tank for an early noon game against a rested Charlotte team. The answer was very little, as Bakich told us after the game. The Tigers gave it all they had and left it all on the field, but they were spent. Not only that, but they would have a significant hole in their lineup with Freshman All-American Cam Cannarella suspended from his ejection in the 13th inning on Saturday nigh, a horrendous call by the umpire in everyone's opinion. Grice moved to center field, where he played early in the season when Cannarella missed the Georgia Tech series due to illness. The Tigers lost 2 of those 3 games, incidentally. Amick played at 1st in Grice's place, and starting pitcher Ty Olenchuk was in the lineup at the DH spot. He got his first career at bat in extra innings on Saturday night, and Bakich told me after the game that he has shown exceptional ability with the bat in practice.
The Tigers got off to a good start on Sunday with a 2-out solo HR by Grice. It was his 5th HR in the 1st inning and 6th overall in the last 10 games, giving him 18 on the season. Olenchuk helped himself on the mound by adding a sac grounder in the 2nd to make it 2-0. However, relief pitcher Donye Evans came in for Charlotte in the 3rd and shut the Tigers' offense down, striking out 7 straight batters with 8 total over 4 innings.
Olenchuk, Lindley and Hughes carried a 2-1 lead into the 7th inning, but Hughes gave up a solo HR in the bottom of the 7th to tie the game 2-2, and a throwing error by Blackwell at short led to the game-winning 2-out single for Charlotte. The high throw forced Amick to jump off the bag to make the catch, and the 6'6 Grice may have been able to make the out if he had been at 1st. I asked Bakich after the game if they went back and forth on leaving Grice at 1st and moving some other player around, and he said they were up half the night thinking about it. So the ejection of Cannarella not only likely cost the Tigers runs offensively, but it may have given Charlotte the winning run because of the defensive change. Garris got the Tigers out of the 7th, and Reid, Weiss and Darden combined to keep Charlotte off the board in the 8th. Darden was set to be the starter against Tennessee if the Tigers were able to win, but with the bullpen depleted and the Tigers desperate to keep the deficit to one run, they were forced to bring the freshman in out of the pen.
Olenchuk hit a 2-out single in the 9th to give the Tigers one last hope, but Crighton flied out to end the season. Perhaps Olenchuk will be the next two-way star for the Tigers, following the line of Sharpe and Grice. It was a heartbreaking end to the season for the hottest team in America, and it showed how tough the Tigers are to beat. It took a 2-out, 2-strike, 3-run HR in the 9th and 14 innings to snap their 17-game win streak, and it took an exhausted, depleted team with its best hitter ejected to beat them 3-2 in the elimination game. The Tigers were one strike away from winning the regional and perhaps winning the whole thing. They would have cake-walked through the Super Regional at home against Southern Miss and returned to Omaha for the first time since 2010. We'll always wonder what might have been for this season, but the way I see things, it simply wasn't meant to be. However, that doesn't take away what a special season it was. As Bakich said, this 126th Clemson team will always be remembered for the way it turned the season around and won an ACC Championship despite how disappointing the ending was. And the future of Clemson Baseball is as bright as it could be with Bakich at the helm! The success of this season should accelerate recruiting and forge a dynasty for years to come. As Dabo loves to say, the best is yet to come!
Post-game interviews are below.
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