Following its series sweep over Wake Forest last weekend, Clemson picked up right where it left off by defeating fourth-ranked Louisville 11-3 Friday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson.

The Tigers took command quickly in Friday’s game with the spotlight on freshman Caden Grice who, in his first three at-bats of the game, hit a grand slam, a solo homer, and a three-run home run, good enough for eight RBIs.

Grice finished the night 3-for-5 at the plate with three runs, three homers, and a career-high eight RBIs, the most by a Tiger in one game since Tyler Colvin had eight in a game 2006.

“I said this before the season started. I’ve been coaching twenty-one years,” head coach Monte Lee said. “I’ve coached a lot of guys who have played professional baseball and lot of guys that went on to play in the big leagues and Caden has more power than anybody that I’ve ever coached. The raw power is real.”

With the win, the Tigers improve to 19-18 overall and 13-12 in ACC play. Clemson righty Mack Anglin earned the win with nine strikeouts, while allowing five hits and one run in his seven innings of work.

Louisville got the scoring started in the first thanks to a double by Henry Davis to bring in Levi Usher for an early 1-0 lead. But Clemson answered with Grice’s grand slam, giving the Tigers a 4-1 lead after one inning.

Clemson stayed hot at the plate into the second. Infielder Sam Hall extended the lead to 5-1 with a homer to left field. In the third, Grice took the ball for yet another ride for his second home run of the game, tacking on another insurance run for the Tigers.

Grice continued to be huge for Clemson, plating three of its four runs in the fifth inning, blasting a three-run shot to right center field for his third bomb of the day.

In the bottom of the seventh, Hall tacked on Clemson’s last run of the evening.

The Tigers return to Doug Kingsmore on Saturday for Game 2 of the series against Louisville. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.

–photo courtesy of Clemson Athletics Communications

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