By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

Scott Firth has always been the guy to come in and give his team a pick me up. But Sunday was the first time he had to do it as a starter.

The senior, who improved on his career 2.81 ERA, threw 89 pitches in seven innings of work, allowing just one run off two hits, whiles striking out five batters in Clemson’s 12-2 victory over William & Mary at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

“I’m an old guy now,” he said. “I have a little bit of experience so it is one of my jobs. If we are struggling a little bit and we need a pick me up, it’s my job to go out there and set the tone.”

Firth set the tone right from the start as he fanned through the Tribes’ lineup with relative ease. Even though he hit the lead-off batters in each of the first and second innings, he retired the side in both with no damage done.

William & Mary (1-2) did pick up a run in the fourth inning to take a 1-0 lead, but it never threaten to score again until the Tigers built a 12-1 lead through eight innings.

“He pitched well,” Clemson head coach Jack Leggett said. “He had a good breaking ball and the fastball was good and he was feeling the changeup. The key is working head in the count and throwing strikes when he had to.”

At one point, Firth and pitcher Jonathan Meyer, who came on in the eighth inning, retired 13 straight batters.

“Scotty pitched a great game. It was huge,” second baseman Steve Wilkerson said. “Johnny Meyer pitched great, too. They kept us in it there for a while and lucky our bats started picking up there late.”

Clemson’s bats had been quiet for much of the three-game series as the Tigers managed only four runs and 16 hits prior to Sunday. And though Clemson finished the game with 15 hits, all but one of those came after the fifth inning.

Garrett Boulware got it all going with a double to left centerfield in the bottom of the sixth, which sparked a three-run inning and then continued on during a six-run seventh inning to break the game open.

“After that first at-bat they told us we were going to hit the fastball so just be ready for it. When I saw it, I was ready to swing,” Boulware said. “We needed to get something going and it happened to be me today.”

Boulware went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs when he singled to left field in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Tigers (2-1) also got two hits and four RBIs from Wilkerson and two hits from Thomas Brittle, who scored after both.

In all, 12 Clemson batters recorded at least one hit and six of those were freshmen.

“It gives us energy and it is contagious,” Boulware said. “Everyone wants to hit and everyone wants to continue to bring it on, so it was a good feeling.”

It was a feeling that all start on the pitching mound as Firth improves his overall win-loss record to 12-2.

“It was fun,” he said. “I’m just trying to go out there and have a good time with it. That has been a big thing for me, just keeping loose and the results come when you play loose and play easy. I just try to let things come instead of just forcing things.”

Clemson will be off until next Friday when it hosts Wright State to start a three-game series. First pitch for Game 1 is scheduled for 4 p.m.