Instant Replay: Georgia Southern 7 Clemson 4
By: clemson May 11, 2015

By Trey McCurry.

CLEMSON, SC — TCI takes a look back at Clemson’s (27-25) 7-4 loss to Georgia Southern (28-23) on Sunday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

 

 

 

What happened?

The Tigers struck first with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Eli White led off with a walk and moved to third on a double down the left field line by Steven Duggar. Following a walk to Tyler Krieger and an out, Chris Okey hit a sac fly to center to plate White and give Clemson a 1-0 lead. Weston Wilson then singled up the middle to score Duggar and put the Tigers on top 2-0. After the Eagles tied the game with two runs in the fifth, Clemson reclaimed the lead with a single run in the sixth. Robert Jolly led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Tyler Slaton followed with a one-out double down the right field line that scored Jolly and put the Tigers on top again. Georgia Southern took their first lead with two runs in the seventh and then added three insurance runs in the ninth on a three-run homer to take a 7-3 lead. Clemson tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth as Duggar drew a two-out walk and advanced to second before coming in to score on a double by Krieger but Eagle reliever Anthony Paesano caught Reed Rohlman looking at strike three to salvage the final game of the series for Georgia Southern.

Game-Changing Moment:

The game changed in the sixth and seventh innings. The Tigers had already plated a run in the bottom of the sixth and had runners at the corners with one out for Duggar but a pickoff and strikeout ended the threat and kept Clemson’s lead at 3-2. In the next half inning, the Eagles used two hits and a walk to score two runs to take the lead for good.

What went right?

Clemson starter Jake Long battled for 5.0 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts and left with the game tied at 2-2. Wilson and Slaton led the seven-hit attack with two hits each while Duggar scored a team-best two runs. 

What went wrong?

The Tiger bullpen struggled allowing five runs (all earned) on just three hits with two walks and five strikeouts in 4.0 innings. Clemson’s defense struggled, committing three errors, and the Tigers were unable to build an offensive inning as they stranded nine runners in the contest (including six in scoring position).