NO.6 CLEMSON BEATS HIGH POINT 4-3 WITH 2ND STRAIGHT WALK-OFF WIN

CLEMSON, SC – WHEW! What a game! That was a little too close for comfort, and you could feel the tension and pressure building as the game reached the latter innings. The Tigers got the outing they were hoping for from Tristan Smith on the mound, as he retired the first 9 batters of the game with 6 K’s. He finished with 9 strikeouts, just one shy of his career record at Duke. It was his second game with 9 K’s this season, but it’s the most he’s had since that Duke series, which was their first on the road early in the season. The Tigers were the victims of several terrible calls by the umps tonight, and a couple of them cost them runs, so as the game got later, it seemed like it was a good recipe for an upset, of which there were several around the country today. Vandy lost 13-3 in the opening game of the Clemson Regional, Wake lost at home to VCU, East Carolina lost at home to a 4 seed and Alabama lost to UCF. Also, UGA and the Gamecocks almost lost at home.

It was a scrappy, fundamentally sound High Point team making its first NCAA Tournament appearance, and they got a heck of a performance from their starting pitcher, Hughes. He started the 7th inning having thrown exactly 100 pitches and struck out the side, giving him 7 for the game. The Tigers also left a lot of runners on base and in scoring position throughout the game.

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead on a 2-out single by Cannarella in the third. However, in the next inning, High Point got its first base runner of the game on a terrible call by the umps. Crighton booted a grounder to first, but he recovered and tossed the ball to Smith, beating the runner to the bag. The replay clearly showed that the side of Smith’s foot touched the base, but the umpires somehow didn’t see it that way and ruled the runner safe to the bewilderment and frustration of the crowd. That was a huge missed call because a double would drive that runner in to tie the game 1-1 and give High Point a lot of momentum and confidence. They capitalized even more with a couple more hits, including an infield single that gave High Point its first lead, 2-1.

The Tigers responded immediately in the bottom of the fourth with a leadoff double by Bissetta, who’s been swinging a hot bat. Crighton singled to get some redemption for his costly mistake in the top half of the inning to give the Tigers runners at the corners. Bakich got aggressive and called a safety squeeze play. Purify did not lay down a great bunt, though, and Bissetta should have been an easy out at the plate. The Tigers got a break, however, because the pitcher inexplicably tried to scoop the ball with his glove to the plate, and it sailed over the catcher’s head. He could have easily used his bare hand and gotten the out. That tied the game 2-2, and the Tigers were in great shape to retake the lead, but Crighton was thrown out at the plate on a ground ball, again being aggressive on the base paths. Hinderleider, whose Davidson team beat High Point 10-7 last season, fouled out to strand runners at the corners.

The game remained tied until the sixth. High Point singled off Smith to lead off the inning. After Smith retired their first 9 batters of the game with 6 K’s, they got their leadoff batter on base in 5 of the last 6 innings, beginning with the aforementioned terrible call by the umps. The runner advanced to second on a wild pitch, and another single gave them corners with no outs. Garris came in from the pen to relieve Smith, and a grounder, which should have been a double play if not for another bad call by the umps, gave High Point a 3-2 lead. There were several bad calls in the game, and every one of them went High Point’s way. I guess the umps were trying to give the underdog a chance and make it an exciting game!

Once again, though, the Tigers responded quickly. Crighton reached on a throwing error to lead off the bottom of the sixth, and Jarrell doubled. Purify singled to tie the game 3-3, and the Tigers had a great chance to retake the lead with runners at the corners and no outs. However, Mathes, Hinderleider and Wright went down in order to strand the runners again and keep the game tied.

The game would remain tied going into the 9th, and closer Austin Gordon came in from the pen to relieve Mahlstedt after a leadoff walk on full count. A sac bunt and a sac fly moved the go-ahead runner to third with 2 outs, but Gordon got a huge fly on full count to strand the runner.

That set the table for another thrilling finish! Fittingly, team captain Blake Wright scorched a leadoff double down the first base line and sent the crowd into a frenzy. Predictably, they intentionally walked Cannarella with first base empty and the winning run on second, and Cannarella was visibly upset about it, but the call was a no-brainer. That brought Jimmy Obertop, the hero from one week ago against Louisville in the ACC Tournament, to the plate with a chance for another walk-off RBI. Some coaches, Dan McDonald of Louisville, for example, would have considered a sac bunt in that situation to put the winning run on third with one out, but Bakich told me the thought never entered his mind. Obertop is not a very good bunter, and he’s an extremely clutch hitter with power, who tied the Louisville game last week with an 8th inning HR, so he was going to swing away. However, he struck out swinging, making him 0-5 in the game. Perhaps it was fate because that brought Bissetta, who already had a double, RBI and run scored, to the plate. Before the crowd even had a chance to regather itself, Bissetta jumped on the first pitch and roped a line drive right at the second baseman. It was 109 MPH off the bat and caromed off his glove into right field. Wright was determined to score the winning run from second, and it might have been a close call at the plate, but the right fielder slipped and fell as he was about to throw, allowing Wright to score easily.

It was the Tigers’ second straight walk-off win and 25th comeback win of the season! I believe it was their first walk-off win in a regional since Kyle Parker's walk-off single in 2009 to beat Oklahoma State. He was an early enrollee freshman then, and I high-fived Dabo in the stands after that game-winning hit! The following fall, Parker would lead the Tigers to their first division title and ACC Championship Game as a true freshman quarterback. 

We all remember that 14-inning marathon against Tennessee in the regional last season that ended the Tigers’ 17-game win streak, and thank goodness it wasn’t déjà vu. Winning the first game in tournament play is always crucial, but even more so in this case because if the Tigers had lost, they’d be facing their nemesis, Tim Corbin and Vandy, in an elimination game early Saturday on short rest, just like last year after the Tennessee loss.

Now the Tigers are in the cat-bird seat and will face familiar foe Coastal Carolina in the winners’ game at 5:00 on Saturday after Vandy and High Point play the elimination game at noon. The Tigers had both of their scheduled games with Coastal canceled this season but played them last season. Coastal was one of the last 4 teams to make the field, and their head coach has already announced he will be retiring after this season, so they have even more to play for. Bakich and the Tigers already knew they were a dangerous team, and that was on full display today when they blew the doors off SEC Semifinalist Vandy 13-3.

Freshman Aidan Knaak, an All-ACC First Teamer, will be on the mound for the Tigers on Saturday. My post-game interviews are below!

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