“Find a way to win” has become a mantra for Head Coach Monte Lee and the Clemson Tigers. Wednesday against Michigan State, the Tigers did just that. After being down 6-0 in the fifth inning, Clemson’s offense ignited for nine runs on six hits.
Much like against Wofford, the Tigers found themselves in an early hole thanks to some miscues in the field and a sub-par start from Spencer Strider. Strider, in his first career start, pitched 1.1 innings and gave up 5 runs, three earned, on five hits, one walk and three strikeouts.
In the first inning, Michigan State started things off by loading the bases and scoring two on a single from Dan Chmielewski. Justin Hawkins, who moved to third base in the Tigers’ shuffled lineup with Chris Williams being moved to DH.
They took that 2-0 lead and built up on it in the second inning when they pounced for three runs on two hits. Strider was chased from the game in favor of Mat Clark, who pitched 1.1 innings and gave up one unearned run on four hits. By the time Clark exited the game in the second inning, Michigan State lead 6-0.
Holt Jones was the next pitcher in for Clemson, and he pitched 2.1 innings, giving up no runs on just one hits.
Offensively, the Tigers struggled early to put together at-bats against Spartan pitchers. Clemson didn’t get its first hit of the game until the fourth inning when Chris Williams hit a double off the wall in left.
In the fifth, Clemson was able to carve out some offense. Hawkins led off the inning with a walk and back-to-back hits from Kyle Wilkie and Logan Davidson score the Tigers’ first run. Seth Beer then poked another single up the middle to score another run and cut the lead to 6-2. The Tigers loaded the bases and proceeded to score nine runs on six hits and four walks in the fifth inning to take a 9-6 lead.
The Tigers’ struggles with situational hitting are not a secret. The last four games before Michigan State (the three-game series against South Carolina and Tuesday’s game against Wofford) the Tigers were 6-42 with runners-in-scoring-position. Against the Spartans, Clemson was 5-9.
The Tigers remain unbeaten in midweek contests, but three of the four have been close contests. With two midweek games this week, the Tigers’ bullpen was stretched thin. Clemson will need to recover as ACC play starts this weekend and the Tigers take on Georgia Tech on Friday at 6:30 p.m.