Krieger, Tigers do it again

By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

Tyler Krieger said it was a boneheaded play, but it was perhaps the best boneheaded play of his young career.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th inning Friday night, Krieger hit a sharply hit ball to left field, plating Garrett Boulware with the winning run in 13th-ranked Clemson’s 4-3 win over Georgia Tech. However, the shortstop almost made a costly mistake. As he was running to first base, his teammates ran out onto the field to celebrate with him. As he got halfway up the line, he started hugging them.

First base coach Brad Chalk, still focused on the game, yelled to Krieger to get over to first and touch the bag.

“It was a bonehead play,” Krieger said to the media afterwards. “At first, I thought he caught it and then I… I can’t even tell you guys what happened there.

“The whole freakin’ bench was out here, and you had Coach Chalk screaming at me, and I touched first. There is nothing like getting tackled after a win. It does not get much better than that.”

Krieger’s hit was his third game winner of the season, doing the same in wins over Presbyterian College on April 10 and Wake Forest on April 13.

“I’m just happy the team won,” he said.

The Tigers won both games in the doubleheader on Friday and the freshman played a big role in both. Besides getting the game-winner in the second game, he was 3-for-3 with three RBIs in Clemson’s 11-3 victory in Game 1.

“He did a nice job,” Clemson head coach Jack Leggett said. “He is really coming on. His swing is getting better and he is getting more offensive for us. He is giving us a lot in that seven-hole right now and is still playing good defense.

“He is going to be a good player.”

Clemson (30-13, 15-8 ACC) has now won 14 of its last 16 games. Six of the Tigers’ 14 wins during the stretch  have been by one run, while another—a 6-4 victory over Wake Forest on April 14—was decided with a walk-off home run. The Tigers also got three runs in the top of the ninth on April 9 to beat Western Carolina, 12-9.

“We are kind of getting accustomed to the one-run dramatic type (wins),” winning-pitcher Scott Firth said. “That was true to form for us.”

This time the dramatics were of the comeback variety. The Tigers trailed 3-1 going into the bottom of the ninth inning with Yellow Jackets closer Zane Evans on the mound. But first baseman Jon McGibbon drew a lead-off walk and then Thomas Brittle, who had only three hits in his 43 previous at-bats, tripled down the right field line to score McGibbon.

“We are hoping that can get him hot a little bit,” Leggett said.

Clemson tied the game after loading the bases with no outs as Steven Duggar hit into a double play, but Brittle was able to come home to force extra innings.

Georgia Tech (27-16, 11-12 ACC) had an opportunity to score the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning when it had the lead runner on third base with only one out, but Firth made a heads up play when he fielded a Zane Evans’ fielder’s choice to the mound.

Instead of going to first, he caught Tech’s Kyle Wren off the bag at third. After getting the ball over to the third baseman Shane Kennedy, who threw it to Boulware, the Clemson catcher dove to tag Wren’s cleat before he could get back to the bag at third.

“Garrett is not the fleetest of foot, but he had the (catching) gear on so he had to sacrifice his body on that one.”

With Evans at second base after the Wren rundown, Firth retired the side by striking out Sam Dove, then jumped off the mound with his fist pumping.

“That was a huge switch from thinking we are about to give one up and then turning it around,” Firth said. “That’s a big situation, and honestly, I’m out there competing and I’m getting fired up and trying to bring this momentum back into the dugout.”

That momentum carried over into the 11th inning, and with the bases loaded in the bottom half, Krieger brought Boulware home for the win.

“That’s what has been so awesome about this team. We never feel like we are out of it,” Krieger said. “I was talking to some guys the other day and we feel like we can win every single game we play. No matter what the inning is or what the situation, we feel like we can battle back from adversity and compete at any moment.

“It was awesome how we battled back in the ninth. That was really cool and showed the toughness of this team, how we are not going to quit and how we can come back and win games.”

The Tigers will try to win Game 3 of the three-game series today. The game was moved up from its original 6:30 p.m. start to 11 a.m. due to the threat of inclement weather in the Clemson area.