By Trey McCurry.
By Trey McCurry
CLEMSON — Here is a look back at Clemson’s 8-5 setback to #12 Virginia on Sunday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
What happened?
The Cavaliers jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings and withstood a Tiger comeback to hold on for an 8-5 win to take the three-game series.
Game-Changing Moment:
The game changing moment came in the bottom of the eighth inning. With Clemson trailing 8-5 and runners on first and second with one out, Virginia reliever Kyle Crockett retired Jay Baum on a flyout and then stuck out Steven Duggar to end the Tiger threat.
Story Line:
The Cavaliers jumped out to a big lead thanks to some shaky play by the Tigers and then was able to withstand several Clemson comeback attempts to hold on for the series clinching win.
Turning Point:
The game had several turning points. Twice, the Tigers had chances to get back in the game and Virginia pitchers ended the threats. In the fifth inning with Clemson trailing 6-0, the Tigers had the bases loaded by Cavalier starter Nick Howard got Duggar to ground out to first to strand three runners. Later, in the eighth inning, Crockett again pitched Virginia out of a jam to strand two more runners and keep the Cavalier lead at 8-5.
What went right?
It can be hard to find many good things in a series loss, but it was good to see Clemson battle all weekend. In a game where it would have been easy to get down, the Tigers kept battling and never went away. Despite not recording a hit until there were two outs in the fourth inning, Clemson was able to record 14 hits against a very good Virginia pitching staff.
What went wrong?
The Tigers got themselves in an early hole and had themselves to blame. Two walks, a hit batter, and two Clemson errors allowed the Cavaliers to jump out to a quick 5-0 lead that the Tigers just couldn’t overcome and Clemson struggled to get key two-out hits in several situations. The pitching staff and defense also struggled to get a couple of key stops that would have kept the Cavalier lead more manageable.
They said it.
Clemson Head Coach Jack Leggett
“We did battle and we did show some toughness today. We could have let up and cashed it in, but the kids played hard and got ourselves in position to tie the ballgame or win it at the end and we just could not quite get it done.”
Clemson Starter Scott Firth
“Early in the game, I think I was going just a little too fast. I kind of got out of my game a little bit of staying in control and pounding the zone. I caught a couple of tough breaks, but you have to hand it to their team, they took advantage of some of our mistakes early, my pitching mistakes and our mistakes in the field.”