Despite their struggles to get hot earlier this season, Clemson took control of Friday night’s ACC contest early on, taking game one of the Virginia Tech series with a score of 8-2 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

The Tigers got on the board early, scoring five runs in the first thanks to a three-run triple by junior infielder Bryar Hawkins.

With the win, Clemson improves to 7-8 overall and 2-5 in ACC play.

Clemson head coach Monte Lee was impressed with the production from the bottom of the order.

“Those guys have been doing a great job, eight out of nine guys in the lineup had hits for us,” Lee said. “Bryar drove in three, Henderson hit a homer, Teodosio hit a homer, Frechie drove in a run and scored a run so six through nine were outstanding for us. If you’re going to score a lot of runs in a game often times that’s what you have to do.”

Clemson’s Mat Clark earned the win, his first of the 2021 season, with four strikeouts, two hits and one run.

The Hokies got the scoring started in their first inning of work with one RBI brought in by a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded, but the Tigers responded quickly, tacking on a whopping five runs, three of which were thanks to an RBI triple to left center field from Bryar Hawkins.

Clemson continued to keep Virginia Tech at bay despite a Hokie run scored in the fifth. The Tigers kept the rhythm alive, scoring a trio of RBIs thanks to solo homers from center fielder Bryce Teodosio in the sixth and infielders Elijah Henderson and James Parker in the seventh, bringing the score to 8-2.

The Tigers finished out the night with ten hits, eight RBIs, and three homers.

Clemson looks to secure the series in game two on Saturday versus the Hokies at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson. First pitch is scheduled for 3pm.