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Tigers dominate crucial ACC Finals series opener against Eagles

Tigers dominate crucial ACC Finals series opener against Eagles

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Clemson pulled out all the stops to win Game 1 of a crucial ACC Finals series (Clemson Athletics photo).

Clemson pulled out all the stops to win Game 1 of a crucial ACC Finals series (Clemson Athletics photo).



CLEMSON – A must win, two to go this week for Clemson baseball.

Battling to qualify for a pair of postseason tournaments, Clemson outscored Boston College (19-32, 5-23) 15-1 Thursday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

With Duke losing its series opener at Virginia Tech on Thursday, the Tigers (33-21, 11-16 ACC) can clinch a spot in the ACC Baseball Championship field with a win or another loss to the Blue Devils. Friday, but listed as one of the last teams projected into the NCAA Tournament by D1Baseball.com and Baseball America this week, any loss to a triple-digit ranked RPI team such as Boston College (No. 106 at time of play) Could Be Catastrophic For Clemson’s NCAA Tournament Chances. Clemson wore a No. 23 RPI before the game.

In the middle of a 16-gun Tigers night, Caden Grice put up a big effort on the 9th place in the line-up.



With Clemson down 1-0 against the Eagles after 2 1/2 innings, Grice threw a 412-foot throw up and over the right field wall to even things up.

With two withdrawals, Maxim Wagner then worked his way around the bases to give Clemson his first lead via a walk, a stolen base and a Cooper Ingle Simple RBI. Ingle returned to the roster for the first time in five games after being taken out with an injury against the College of Charleston last week.

With two again in the fourth inning, Grice dropped an RBI brace into left field. Benjamin Blackwell added to the Tigers’ advantage in the inning with an RBI single.

Continuing school history, Wagner hit his 25th homer of the season to center field in the fifth frame. He is now two homers off the school single-season record (27, Khalil Greene in 2002) and tied for second in the same stat (with former Tigers Jeff Boulanger, Michael Johnson and Kris Harvey).

Starter Righty Clemson Mack Anglin (6-5) largely stayed out of trouble on the night to scatter five hits, allowing just one earned run with seven three-step strikeouts to claim the victory.

He received even more confidence in the seventh inning with runs coming from singles via Blake Wright and Bryar Hawkins‘ bats and a field error at shortstop.

In total, the Tigers received multiple efforts in the lineup from Blackwell (2), Wagner (2), Ingle (3), Corbitt (2), Hawkins (2) and Grice (3), with Hawkins and Ingle each bringing in three rounds.



Clemson has won seven straight and 10 of the last 11 at home.

Game 2 of the series has a first pitch at 3 p.m. Friday. Clemson softball also begins its NCAA region next Friday with the Tigers game at noon and the other regional game at 2:30 p.m.


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