French and Brewer blast Tigers to win over USC Upstate to cap perfect homestand |
CLEMSON –
Jonathan French hit a go-ahead, tape-measure homer to left to lead off the bottom of the eighth as Clemson defeated USC Upstate 8-5 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium Tuesday afternoon.
Upstate fell down 5-0 early but chipped away and tied the score with two runs in the top of the eighth. French stepped to the plate and hit a 2-0 fastball into the Chapman Grandstand, clocked at 105 MPH off the bat, to put the Tigers back in front to stay. Dylan Brewer added a two-run shot two batters later that landed on the roof of the batting cages in deep right. Clemson improves to 8-0 after a perfect homestand to open the season and now awaits arch-rival South Carolina this weekend. Bryar Hawkins added a 3-run homer for the Tigers to continue his good work. Dylan Brewer added a two-run shot in the eighth. It didn’t take the Clemson offense long to pick up where it left off after the three-game sweep of Hartford last weekend. In the bottom of the first Tyler Corbitt singled with one out and quickly advanced to second on a wild pitch. Caden Grice walked and Cooper Ingle made the Spartans pay with a run-scoring single to left for a 1-0 lead. That brought up Hawkins, who drilled a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right for a three-run homer and a 4-0 lead. That hit was the ninth in 21 at-bats for Hawkins since going 0-for-5 with five strikeouts in the season opener. The Tigers added to the lead in the bottom of the second. Benjamin Blackwell was hit by an 0-2 pitch to lead off the frame and was standing at second with two out when Grice singled through the left side of the infield, scoring Blackwell for the 5-0 lead. Barlow sailed along through four innings, but ran into trouble in the fifth. A wild pitch on a third strike, a walk and a single scored two runs as Upstate climbed back in the game. Barlow went 4 1/3 innings, giving up two runs (both earned) while walking one and striking out four. He threw 64 pitches, 39 for strikes. A single, a double and two walks – the last one with the bases loaded – led to another Upstate run in the top of the sixth, and Clemson’s led was just 5-3. Reliever Jackson Lindley ran into a spot of trouble in the seventh, giving up a single after hitting a batter with one out, but induced a grounder for the second out and a strikeout to end the frame with the Tigers clinging to that 5-3 lead. Reliever Alex Edmondson walked two, threw a wild pitch, hit a batter and a gave up a run-scoring double in the eighth, allowing Upstate to tie the score at 5-5. After the go-ahead runs in the eighth for Clemson, closer Ryan Ammons pitched a perfect ninth. The Tigers play the rivalry series against South Carolina this weekend. The series starts at Founders Park Friday night at 7 pm, transitions to Segra Park (home of the Columbia Fireflies) Saturday at 4 pm, and the series concludes Sunday at Doug Kingsmore at 3 pm. .@frenchjonathan_ FOR THE LEAD! BREWER GOES BOOM! ??@dbrewski3 hits Clemson's third homer of the game to provide some key insurance! ????
The sophomore slugger smashes a LASER to put the Tigers back ahead! ????
?? 368 ft
?? 105 mph
B8 || SCU 5, CU 6
?? https://t.co/ym9IQ6Ync8 pic.twitter.com/80UFQvUqfH
B8 || SCU 5, CU 8
?? 435 ft
?? 104 mph
?? https://t.co/ym9IQ6Ync8 pic.twitter.com/rWHPwdELLd
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