For the second straight day Clemson found itself trailing William & Mary and found a way to come back and get a victory.

The Tigers (2-0) defeated the Tribe (0-2) 7-6, behind another day of solid pitching and clean defense. Clemson is now 2-0 for the first time since 2010 which also happens to be the last time the Tigers made a trip to Omaha.

Tiger pitching was effective with a decent start from Brooks Crawford and promising relief appearances form Spencer Strider and Carson Spiers.

Senior third baseman Patrick Cromwell played strong at the plate leading the Tigers to victory with crucial hits with runners in scoring position. He finished the day 2-3 with 3 RBIs.

Clemson Head Coach Monte Lee was proud of the way his team played but knows there is still room for improvement at the plate.

“We swung the bats well but we need to be more aggressive with runners in scoring position,” Lee said. “It seems like we are trying to hunt the perfect pitch but need to settle in and be more aggressive,” he said.

Clemson finished the day with just six hits compared to the opposition’s eight but took advantage of nine walks and a hit-by-pitch.

Cromwell, who did not start on opening day because of the matchup with left-hander Sheehan, came out ready to play Saturday with a more favorable matchup.

“I understood why I didn’t start yesterday from a matchup standpoint I was really confident today against the right-handers and that carried over into the lefty as well,” said Cromwell.

The Tribe struck first in the second inning when Hunter Smith took a Brooks Crawford pitch that was up in the zone 404 feet to centerfield giving his team a 1-0 lead.

After two quick outs to start the third Crawford found himself in some trouble allowing three straight hits including Brandon Raquet’s RBI single extending the Tribe lead to 2-0.

Clemson struck back in the bottom half of the third with freshman Bryce Teodosio scoring on a fielder’s choice to cut the lead in half before Seth Beer lauched a solo shot to left tying the game 2-2 after three.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Tigers took advantage of an E5 with two outs allowing Wilke to reach first and score on an RBI double from Patrick Cromwell and giving Clemson its first lead 3-2.

William & Mary struck back in the top of the fifth with an RBI double off the bat of Ryan Hall tying the game at 3.

In the sixth inning, Cromwell put the Tigers back in front 4-3 with an RBI single and William & Mary pitcher Ajo Sujack walked Kyle Wilke with the bases loaded extending the Clemson lead to 5-3 heading into the seventh inning.

After Clemson extended its lead to 7-3 the Tribe came storming back in the eighth inning as Strider worked himself into a jam with the bases loaded. William & Mary cut the Tigers’ lead to 7-6 scoring on a wild pitch and 2 RBI single before sophomore Carson Spiers retired the side.

Spiers got the job done in the top of the ninth sitting the Tribe down in order to close out the win.

Cromwell said he and his teammates are ready to go for the sweep Sunday noting “it’s no secret we haven’t played well on opening weekend around here lately.”

The Tigers return to action Sunday at 3 p.m. as Jake Higginbotham takes the mound going for the sweep.