Instant Replay: Clemson 11 South Carolina 4
By: rmacrae@bellsouth.net February 28, 2015

By Trey McCurry.

CLEMSON, SC — Here is a look back at Clemson’s (6-2) 11-4 win over #10 South Carolina (6-2) on Friday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

 

 

 

What happened?

The Tigers struck quickly in the first inning, scoring four runs highlighted by a two-run triple by Chase Pinder. Clemson added to their lead in the third on a three-run homer by Chris Okey and Weston Wilson quickly followed with a solo shot to stretch the lead to 8-0. The Gamecocks answered with three runs in the fourth and a run in the fifth to cut the Tiger lead to 8-4, but was unable to get any closer. Wilson blasted his second homer of the game in the seventh inning, a three-run shot to make final margin.

Game-Changing Moment:

The game featured several moments that changed momentum. In the first inning, South Carolina’s first two batters reached via walks but the Gamecocks were unable to push a run across. In the bottom of the inning, Clemson came out swinging and took the momentum.

Another big moment in the game came in the top of the 6th inning. With the Tigers holding an 8-4 lead, South Carolina had the bases loaded with two outs for Kyle Martin. Martin hit a hard bouncer to the right side, but Max Schrock was unable to avoid the hard hit ball as his out ended the rally instead of possibly scoring two runs and ended the last real scoring threat for South Carolina.

What went right?

Clemson scored early and got the crowd into the game. Alex Schnell had an excellent outing out of the bullpen to earn his first career save with 4.0 innings of no-run, two-hit ball. The Tiger bats looked good, combining for 12 hits with four players having multi-hit games. In a role reversal for the series from the past several years, the Tigers used the long ball to put the game away. 

What went wrong?

Matthew Crownover did not have the start he envisioned, but battled for 5.0 innings for Clemson to earn his second win of the season. The Tigers committed an error that allowed a run to score, but came up with several other big plays throughout the game to end scoring threats.