On Military Appreciation night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, No. 4 Clemson took home a 4-2 win over Gardner-Webb.
With the win, the Tigers advanced to 31-5 (9-3 ACC), while Gardner-Webb fell to 14-20 (4-5 BSC).
Jacob Jarrell broke the 2-2 tie in the sixth inning, crushing a solo home run to left field and granting the Tigers the lead. The Clemson offense would proceed to strand opportunities and go cold for the next eight batters until Jarrell came up again in the eight, striking his second home run of the contest, giving the Tigers some much-needed insurance.
“I just go out there and try to help the team, have a team at-bat, quality at-bat,” Jarrell said after the game, referring to his power and ability to help the team down the stretch.
Talan Bell made his third start of the season, throwing two innings and allowing no runs as he continues to ramp up his pitch count after his injury. The lefty struggled with control in the outing, throwing just 28 strikes over his 48 total pitches. However, Bell walked only two batters and allowed just one hit. He also struck out a batter.
The Clemson bats mustered just four hits in the contest, with two of them coming from Jarrell and two from Collin Priest. The remainder of the lineup went hitless in the mid-week matchup, stranding 11 Tigers on base.
Drew Titsworth provided some very important innings of relief down the stretch, entering the game in the fifth with two runners on and two out. Titsworth would ultimately throw the final 4.1 innings of the matchup, allowing no runs and no hits while striking out seven batters. This appearance marked the righty’s longest career outing and most strikeouts in a game.
The Tigers’ patient offense got the scoring started in the third, plating two runs in the frame while working three walks. Both runners who scored reached base via a walk, scoring on a sacrifice groundout from Cam Cannarella and an RBI single from Priest.
Gardner-Webb cut into the lead in the top of the fifth when they scored on an RBI single to right field off the bat of shortstop Ryan Kennell. Clemson right fielder Tristan Bissetta got the ball to the plate quickly, holding a second run from scoring.
With runners on the corners, Gardner-Webb tied the game with a stolen base play. Clemson decided to throw down to second to get the out; however, the baserunner going to second held up and got engaged in a rundown, effectively bringing the run home from third.
The Tigers will be back in action this weekend when they face off against Stanford in an ACC conference series. Game one of the three-game series will be on Friday at 6 p.m. at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
