Instant Replay: ASU 7 Clemson 4
By: clemson May 30, 2015

By Trey McCurry.

FULLERTON, CA — TCI takes a look back at Clemson’s (32-28) 7-4 setback to Arizona State (35-21) in both team’s Fullerton Regional opener at Goodwin Field.

 

 

 

What happened?

The Tigers opened the scoring with a two-run fifth inning. Chris Okey drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sec bunt from Robert Jolly. Weston Wilson singled to third to give Clemson runners on the corners before a one-out wild pitch moved Wilson into scoring position. Andrew Cox battled and a hit a two-strike, two-run single up the middle to put the Tigers up 2-0. The Sun Devils cut the lead in half with a leadoff solo homer in the bottom of the frame before taking a 4-2 lead on back-to-back homers in the seventh. Arizona State would add three runs to their lead in the eighth before Clemson attempted to mount a comeback in the ninth. Wilson hit a one-out double followed by a walk and stolen base by Tyler Slaton. Eli White singled through the right side to score two and cut the deficit to 7-4. Steven Duggar singled up the middle to give the Tigers runners on the corners with two outs and bring the tying run to the plate, but Sun Devil closer Ryan Burr struck out Tyler Krieger to end the threat and the game.

Game-Changing Moment:

The game changed in the middle innings. After both teams scored runs in the fifth, Clemson looked like they may add to their lead in the sixth as they loaded the bases with two outs but Wilson’s hard liner went right to the centerfielder to end the scoring threat. Arizona State would take the lead the next inning and add three insurance runs in the eighth to take the victory.

What went right?

Matthew Crownover was solid for 6.0 innings, but ended up taking the loss. Four different Tigers had multi-hit games, lead by Duggar’s three hits while White and Cox each had two RBI. Defensively, Clemson played a nice game and did not commit an error while also outhitting the Sun Devils 9-7. 

What went wrong?

Crownover uncharacteristically gave up three homers after only allowing three the entire season coming into the game while the bullpen allowed three runs on only two hits in the eighth inning. Offensively, only four players recorded hits as the Tigers mostly struggled to find the clutch hit throughout the game to either build to their lead or cut into the late deficit.