Instant Replay: Clemson 5, Citadel 4
By: trey-mccurry March 17, 2016

CHARLESTON — The Clemson Insider takes a look back at No. 19 Clemson’s 5-4 win over The Citadel on Wednesday night at Joe Riley Park.

 

 

 

 

 

What happened?

The Tigers took an early lead as four first inning walks led to a run and a 1-0 lead. After the Bulldogs tied the game in the bottom of the second, Clemson answered right back on a RBI double from Weston Wilson to take a 2-1 advantage. Again The Citadel responded with a run in the fifth to tie the game and again the Tigers answered immediately on a RBI single from Seth Beer to go on top 3-2. The Bulldogs tied the game again in the eighth to set up some ninth inning drama as Wilson laced a two-run double to give Clemson a 5-3 lead. The Citadel would not go quietly in the ninth as they cut the deficit to 5-4 but Tiger closer Alex Bostic struck out the final two batters to leave the tying run on third as Clemson swept the two-game series.

Game-Changing Moment:

There was several game changing moments throughout the game, but none bigger than the ninth inning. After the Bulldogs had tied the game in the previous frame, the Tigers wasted little time taking back the lead. Chris Okey led off with a double down the line and Beer was intentionally walked before a wild pitch moved both runners up. Wilson followed with his single to give Clemson their first two-run lead of the ninth and they would need them both as The Citadel scrapped all the way to the end.

What went right?

The Tigers pounded out 11 hits, with four players having multi-hit games (Chase Pinder – 3, Okey – 2, Beer – 2, Wilson – 2). Wilson also had a game-high three RBI. Pitching wise, four of the five pitchers only allowed a single hit and the Tigers had only two walks against 10 strikeouts in the game.

What went wrong?

A night after making almost every hit count; Clemson struggled with men on base for the most part on Wednesday as they stranded 11 runners in the game (including five in scoring position over the first four innings). The Tigers again had a high strikeout rate with 14 Ks in the game while committing two costly errors in the field.