By William Qualkinbush.
By William Qualkinbush.
In an effort to explain a season-ending loss to Pepperdine in the Fullerton Regional on Saturday, one need only look at the plethora of ways the Clemson baseball team has managed to lose games during the 2015 season.
Early errors were costly, but not as costly as a slow start for Zack Erwin. Erwin settled down later in the game, but by then, it was seemingly too late.
Now, back to the errors. A critical one in right field led directly to a run in the first inning. As previously stated, it was secondary to the way-too-hittable pitching, but it’s been a way Clemson has dug itself a deep hole all too often in 2015.
A bizarre error catching a throw to first base triggered a three-run sixth inning for Pepperdine. Then, in perhaps the most important development of what ended up being a wacky elimination game, another bizarre error—this time on a relay throw from left field toward the plate via third base—allowed the Friars to take the lead in the top of the ninth.
Tyler Slaton was thrown out at home on a groundball in the third inning with the corners in. It appeared to be a called play for him to run on contact, when a more hesitant approach—ensuring the ball went past the pitcher and first baseman, going on contact on a ball toward the middle, etc.—could have created a better run-scoring situation. Clemson failed to scratch in that inning.
Reed Rohlman, the Tigers’ top run-producer this season, struck out after Tyler Krieger stole second to give him a prime opportunity to regain the lead for his club. Other than that, Clemson was pretty good with men in scoring position, but that was obviously a huge spot.
All of those moments could happen throughout the course of any baseball game. Often times, they happen and teams still figure out how to win the game, but Clemson has seemed unable to shake off issues inside of individual games to pick up wins.
This speaks to the overarching issue of predicting Clemson to win individual games this season: There simply wasn’t much margin for error.
The Tigers were a flawed team that had trouble doing some of the simple things that define victories. Defense was an adventure at times. The pitching staff was elite at the top, but there just wasn’t a lot of depth available. The lineup had some holes and never truly hit its stride for a string of several games.
If only one of these problems sprung up in a contest, the Tigers had a chance. With a clean game, they could beat just about anyone in the country. However, it was never enough just to do a few things well, because any of these red flags could pop up at any moment in a ballgame and dramatically change the flow of the action away from Clemson.
When the offense explodes for six runs late in an NCAA Tournament game, it should be celebrated. When such an explosion comes from a squad down by as many as seven runs that hadn’t defended or pitched well, it becomes a necessity. Far too many times this season, exceptional aspects of play came in response to miscues that put the team behind the eight-ball.
Such is the story of 2015 Clemson baseball—so much good outweighed by consistent failures that forced a team that featured some bona fide studs on the mound and in the field to ultimately fall beneath its full potential.
God Bless!
WQ