By Trey McCurry.

Trey McCurry

CLEMSON — Here is a look back at Clemson’s 11-2 setback to William & Mary on Saturday.

What happened?

The Tribe jumped on the Tigers early and often Saturday on their way to a pretty easy win to set up a rubber match in the season-opening series. 

Game-Changing Moment:

The game-changing moment came in the top of the third inning with the bases loaded and one out. Tribe 3B Michael Katz singled to left to score two runs and extend William & Mary’s lead to 3-0. 

Story Line:

The big news on Saturday was William & Mary’s ability to string together hits and Clemson’s inability to do the same. Both team had double-digit hits (William & Mary 16, Clemson 10), but the Tribe made theirs count scoring multiple runs in four different innings. 

Turning Point:

The turning point in the game came in the middle innings (third, fourth, & fifth). Even though William & Mary had a 1-0 lead early, they kept extending that lead in those three innings, eventually putting the game out of reach with a seven run outburst during that time frame. 

What went right?

Honestly, not much. Eight different guys did pick up the Tigers 10 hits so it was good to see the bats do a little more (at least in terms of hits by multiple guys) than Friday. Clate Schmidt also looked relatively good in his first outing as a Tiger, allowing no runs on three hits to go along with three strikeouts in 2.2 innings. 

What went wrong?

Unlike yesterday, Clemson’s pitching struggled on Saturday and the defense wasn’t great. Six Tiger pitchers combined to allow 16 hits, seven walks, and two hit batters. William & Mary was able to take advantage of the free passes with five runs scored by batters who reached via a walk or HBP, another run scoring on a wild pitch, and another run on an error. The Tigers also left eight runners on base in the contest, including five that were stranded in scoring position. 

They said it.

Clemson Head Coach Jack Leggett

“We didn’t do two things well today. We did not hit well with men on base and could not build any innings, and we did not pitch very well.”

“Seven walks and hit batters make things difficult. When you put guys on base, usually something bad happens.”