By Trey McCurry.

By Trey McCurry

COLUMBIA — Here is a look back at Clemson’s 8-3 setback to Liberty on Friday afternoon at Carolina Stadium in the opening round of the Columbia (SC) Regional.

What happened?

Greenwood, SC native Trey Wimmer went 2-for-4 with a double, homer, and six RBI and Josh Richardson threw a complete game to lead #3 seed Liberty to an 8-3 win over #2 seed Clemson on Friday afternoon at Carolina Stadium.

Game-Changing Moment:

The game changing moment came in the top of the sixth inning. With the Tigers trailing 4-2, Wimmer blasted a three-run homer into the bleachers in left field to put the game out of reach. 

Story Line:

Richardson was great on the mound for Liberty, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits in his third complete game of the season and the Flames offense gave him all the support he would need. The Tigers were never able to get anything going after the third inning as Richardson retired 17 straight batters before allowing a double to Steven Duggar to lead off the ninth inning. 

Turning Point:

A key turning point in the game came early on in the bottom of the first inning. Despite trailing 1-0 before coming to bat, Clemson had the first three batters reach in the inning and had came back to tie the game. After a visit to the mound, Richardson settled down and retired the next three batters to end the threat. After Liberty came back to take a 3-1 lead in the third inning, Clemson battled but could not string any hits together to mount a comeback. 

What went right?

Duggar had a solid day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Besides that, not much else went the Tigers way. 

What went wrong?

Clemson fell behind early and seemed to be in scramble mode all day. Six Tiger pitchers combined to allow 13 hits and the defense struggled behind them committing two errors behind them. Besides Duggar, the other eight batters in the order combined to go 3-for-29 (.103). 

They said it.

Clemson Head Coach Jack Leggett

“We got outplayed. It was as simple as that. They got the big hits when they had to and when we made a poor pitch they took advantage of it. You have to give them credit on how they played.”

“We came up dry in the middle of our order. Are we having trouble offensively? There is no doubt about that. All year long we haven’t always been on top of our game offensively. We’ve got some holes there. When we get it going, we are pretty good. We just couldn’t get it going today.”

Clemson Outfielder Thomas Brittle

“He kept the ball down in the zone, and anytime a pitcher does that it is tough to put a pretty good swing on it. We had some pitches that we should have been able to hit and didn’t make many adjustments at the plate.

Clemson Outfielder Steven Duggar

“As of right now we are playing for our season and fighting for some guy’s careers. We have to find a way to bounce back tomorrow.”