Clemson baseball defeated the Northeastern Huskies 9-6 in Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Friday, improving to 13-0 on the season.
The 13-0 record matches Clemson’s best start to a season since 2002 when the Tigers also started 13-0.
Clemson opened the scoring in the third inning with a pair of runs brought in (RBI) singles from center fielder Dylan Brewer and second baseman Tyler Corbitt to make it 2-0 Clemson.
Northeastern would answer in the fifth inning when the Huskies made it 2-2 off an RBI double from right fielder Jeff Costello followed up by an RBI single from first baseman Justin Bosland.
Clemson would respond in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring five runs, including an RBI single from designated hitter Cooper Ingle and a two-run home run from third baseman Max Wagner.
With the hit, Wagner tallied his third home run of the season.
After the big inning from Clemson, Northeastern came right back and scored two runs in the sixth, keeping the game within reach.
Clemson would respond again to the Northeastern comeback.
Clemson catcher Johnathan French led off the sixth inning with a bang, hitting his third home run of the season to put Clemson up four. French’s home run was followed up by an RBI sacrifice fly from Ingle.
“Great clubs respond,” said head coach Monte Lee following the win. “If they score a couple runs, you need to find a way to score a run.”
Responding when the opposing team scored was a major factor in Clemson’s win today, especially late in the game, when Northeastern scored two runs in the ninth off an RBI sacrifice fly from Costello and an RBI double from center fielder Mike Sirota.
The pitching and defense were far from perfect today for Clemson, committing two errors and allowing six runs, but the offense did its job and the defense made plays when they needed to in order to secure a victory.
“Physical mistakes are going to happen,” Lee said. “I’m not going to fault our club for making a couple errors. They’re going to make some errors, [they’re] also going to make some great plays.”
Starting pitcher Mack Anglin was less dominant than his first three outings of the season but was still able to notch his fourth win of the season. Anglin pitched for five innings, allowing three hits and two runs and racked up two strikeouts.
The Clemson bullpen also did its part in Friday’s game. The unit went four innings and allowed two hits and two earned runs.
The offensive output for Clemson is ultimately what won the game for the Tigers: timely hitting and keeping their foot on the gas throughout the entirety of the game.
“I thought it was our best offensive day of the year,” Lee said. “We needed our offense to win us this game, and we did that.”
Clemson will face-off against Northeastern in game two of the three-game series at Doug Kingsmore Stadium at 3 p.m, as the Tigers look to keep their perfect start to the season.
