Instant Replay: Clemson 8, Coastal Carolina 5
By: trey-mccurry March 14, 2019

The Clemson Insider looks back at No. 12 Clemson’s 8-5 win over No. 11 Coastal Carolina on Wednesday evening at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

 

What happened?
The Chanticleers (13-4-1) struck first with a single run in the top of the first. The Tigers answered immediately in the bottom of the frame as Sam Hall led off with a single and Logan Davidson homered to put Clemson up 2-0. Davis Sharpe brought a run in with a sac fly later in the inning and Adam Hackenberg provided a big blast with a three-run homer to extend the Tiger lead to 6-1. Coastal Carolina answered with three runs in the second to cut the lead to 6-4. In the bottom of the fourth, Hall hit a RBI single to extend the lead back to 7-4. The teams traded runs in the fifth to make the score 8-5 with the Clemson run coming on a sac fly by Jordan Greene. Both teams would mount threats over the remainder of the game, but neither was able to push across another run as the Tigers picked up a key midweek win.

Game-Changing Moment:
The game changed in the opening inning as six of the first eight Clemson players not only reached base via a hit but all six came in to score. Another important moment in the game came in the top of the sixth inning. Trailing 8-5, the Chanticleers loaded the bases with only one out but the Tigers got consecutive strikeouts to end the threat.

What went right?
Davidson stayed hot with a game-high three hits to lead the Clemson 11-hit attack. Hall and Grayson Byrd each had two hits while Hackenberg had a game-best three RBI. Owen Griffith picked up his first win of the season with 3.0 innings in relief, allowing a single unearned run on three hits with six strikeouts. Holt Jones had five strikeouts in 1.2 innings and five Tiger pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts on the night.

What went wrong?
The offense started strong with six runs on six hits in the first inning, but had only two runs on five hits over their final seven at-bats. The pitching staff had six walks along with two HBPs while the defense was not crisp at times, including allowing an unearned run when not backing up a base on a throw.