Clemson got a career night from BJ Bailey, then pushed across two runs in the top of the ninth as the No. 6 Tigers came from behind to beat No. 25 Georgia Tech 4-3 to clinch the weekend series at Mac Nease Baseball Park in Atlanta on Saturday.
With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the ninth, Collin Priest, who had homered earlier, was hit by a pitch to bring home the tying run. Josh Paino would then strike out looking before Andrew Ciufo’s infield single pushed across the what would ultimately be the winning run.
Jarren Purify and Luke Gaffney both had multi-hit games, with Gaffney driving in one of the Tigers’ (26-5, 7-3 ACC) four runs. Priest finished the contest with two runs driven in.
After allowing 18 runs on 19 hits in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, Clemson pitching held the Yellow Jackets (22-6, 8-4 ACC) to just five hits in the series finale. Much of that was due to Bailey.
In his first career start, Bailey went a career-high 6.2 innings, allowing just one run on four hits. He retired ten of the final eleven hitters he faced.
Nathan Dvorsky came on in relief of Bailey with two outs in the seventh and retired the first hitter he faced to end the inning. He would then issue a leadoff walk to start the bottom of the eighth before being relieved by Reed Garris. And that leadoff walk would come back to haunt. Burress sent the first pitch he saw from Garris into the night sky, a 417-foot shot that gave Georgia Tech its first lead at 3-2.
Garris would then hold the Jackets scoreless in the ninth to pick up his second win (2-0) of the season. He struck out the final two hitters after issuing a leadoff walk in the bottom of the ninth.
After struggling at the plate in the first game of the doubleheader, Clemson wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in this one. Purify got it started with a one-out double in the top of the first. After Cam Cannarella walked, Gaffney singled to left to drive in Purify and give the Tigers an early 1-0 lead.
Priest then led off the top of the second with a 408-foot solo shot out to right-center, his second of the weekend and fifth of the season, putting Clemson on top 2-0.
Georgia Tech got on the board in the bottom of the third when Bailey was called for a balk with a runner on third, cutting the lead in half to 2-1.
Finding a Sunday Starter
After Bailey’s performance in this one, the Tigers might have solved their Sunday starter issues. Justin LeGuernic had served in that role up until now, but after failing to get out of the first inning in each of his last two starts, Erik Bakich gave Bailey an opportunity, and the left-hander took full advantage.
Hitting Woes
Clemson finished with eight hits but had plenty of traffic on the bases due to eight walks issued by Tech pitching. The Tigers were just 5-of-22 with runners on base and 3-of-13 with runners in scoring position. They stranded 13 runners. In the two games combined, Clemson was 6-of-33 with runners on.
Up Next
Clemson will face off against Georgia Southern on Tuesday in a neutral site matchup. The game will be played at SRP Park in Augusta, Georgia and televised on ESPN+.