OXFORD, Miss — Though there was a chance he might not pitch again this season, Davis Sharpe needed a break.

The freshman knew something was wrong with his right shoulder. It was sore and it was not responding to anything. In his last start on May 18 against Wake Forest, he allowed a season-high seven runs off a season-high seven hits in five innings of work.

After the game was over, the freshman went to head coach Monte Lee and told him what was wrong.

“They told me it would be best if I took a week off,” Sharpe said to The Clemson Insider after Friday’s 8-4 victory over Illinois in Game 1 of the Oxford (Miss.) Regional. “That is what happened. I wanted to pitch personally, but it worked out. We are here and I gave them a good relief appearance today.”

It worked out great for the No. 3 seed Tigers. First, they beat Louisville last week in the ACC Tournament to earn an NCAA Tournament berth and then on Friday, Sharpe came out of the bullpen with his rested shoulder and dominated the Illini.

The righty pitched the final 6 2/3 innings in relief of starter Jacob Hennessy, while allowing just one run and scattering three hits as he improved to 7-4 on the season. Illinois scored its one run on him thanks to two passed balls in the bottom of the ninth inning.

“The story of the game was Davis,” Clemson head coach Monte Lee said. “He came in early in the ballgame and we stretched him out and did not have to use anybody else out of the bullpen. We held them at bay after that.”

It was Sharpe’s best outing since he went 6 2/3 innings in a win over Louisville on April 5. He looked fresh and more like the pitcher who at mid-season was deemed the best freshman in the country by DI Baseball.com.

“I think the rest really helped me today,” he said. “All of my stuff was there. I have thrown in a couple of bullpens in between the last time I pitched and today. I am fresh now, and hopefully I can have a couple of more starts this year.”

Shape said his shoulder got sore because he has never thrown as much in a short amount of time as he has done this year. He has been a weekend starter since the beginning of the season and in his 14 appearances before Friday, he had thrown a team-high 77 2/3 innings.

It was obvious Sharpe was tiring as the year went along. His production slowly started to drop following a loss at Florida State on April 12. Over his next five starts, he gave up more hits and watched his strikeout-to-walk ratio drop.

“I have thrown a lot this year. I have never thrown this much in a short amount of time,” he said. “So, it was good to take a week off and it worked out.”

It worked out great.

After inheriting runners on first and second, with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, the freshman got Illinois’ Grant Van Scoy to fly out to right and then Casey Dodge to hit into a fielder’s choice at second to end the inning.

Sharpe cruised through the fourth and the fifth innings before the Illini loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning and the Tigers still holding a 4-3 lead. But Michael Massey grounded into a double play at second, where Jordan Greene made a great play to keep the tying run from scoring.

Greene, going to his right snagged the ground ball and tossed it to shortstop Logan Davidson at second, who completed the double play to end the inning.

“I showed a lot of emotion after that,” Sharpe said. “I think it pumped everybody up. The backhand that Logan made on the first batter that I faced, so it just made me comfortable, especially with me coming in and me never being a relief pitcher.

“It gave me all the confidence I needed. I knew I could fill up the zone and if they did hit the ball, I knew my defense was going to make the plays behind me.”