By Will Vandervort.

Chris Okey had seen enough.

For the first two innings Tuesday night, the Clemson Tigers resembled the Bad News Bears more than a major college baseball program. Clemson committed four of its season-high six errors in the first two-innings, staking Furman to a 10-0 lead. That’s when Okey knew he needed to step up.

After the first inning, the Clemson catcher walked up and down the dugout and spoke to every one of his teammates, trying to lift them up and get them going.

“I was just telling guys to gather their thoughts and get back to where we could play comfortable,” the catcher said. “It was a tough first inning, really a tough first two innings, so we had to get that behind us and play ball if we can.”

It was another inning before the message finally got across to his teammates, but when they did, the Tigers exploded for an offensive performance that had not been seen in Tigertown in nearly a decade. Clemson racked up a season-high 22 hits in rallying for a 23-15 victory over the Paladins at Greenville’s Fluor Field.

“We were still in the game. Granted, they were up 10 runs. Don’t get me wrong, but it was still in the second inning,” rightfielder Steven Duggar said. “We had some time throughout the ballgame to try and get some back.”

The Tigers (28-25) got some back and then some. The 23 runs marked the most runs by a Clemson team since the 2006 squad beat Wake Forest 26-1.

Ten different Tigers recorded at least one hit on Tuesday with eight of those totaled two or more hits. Freshman Reed Rohlman led the way with four hits, while Okey and third baseman Weston Wilson each at three hits.

Okey drove in a career-high five runs thanks to two home runs, including a three-run bomb in the top of the third inning that got the Tigers rolling.

“It was early in the game and we just needed to break the ice,” Okey said. “Luckily, I got enough of it to get it over (the Green Monster) and you guys saw what happened after that. Our confidence went up and we swung the bats really well.”

Clemson went on to score 23 of the game’s next 28 runs, while plating at least one run in each of the last six innings. In all, the Tigers drove in a season-high 20 runs with eight different players being credited with an RBI.

Adding to Okey’s career-night, Rohlman had a career-high four RBIs, while Steven Duggar and Tyler Krieger each brought home three runs. In all, Duggar, Krieger, Rohlman and Okey—Clemson’s two, three, four and five hitters in the lineup—produced 14 of Clemson’s 20 RBIs on 10 of 19 hitting.

Trailing 11-5 entering the fifth inning, the Tigers rallied when Krieger had a two-out double to centerfield to score two runs. Then a four-run sixth inning, thanks to Okey’s second home run over the Green Monster and a Tyler Slaton RBI single brought Clemson all the way back to tie the game at 11.

Tuesday’s game marked the sixth time this season Clemson had rallied from a three or more run deficit in a game to tie or take the lead. Though they lost at Wofford, the Tigers rallied and battled back from a big deficit last week to give itself a chance to win and did the same in Game 3 against third-ranked Louisville the week before.

“Personally, I felt we were going to win the whole time,” Duggar said. “Honestly, we came back and it was still early. I thought that and it was not just me. The entire team thought that and that’s why we were able to come back and were able to win.”

It was Duggar’s triple down the left field line and into the corner in the seventh inning that ultimately got Clemson over the hump and tilted the advantage heavily in the Tigers favor. The triple plated two runs and gave them a 15-12 lead at the time.

After reaching third base, Duggar stood up, looked over at his Clemson teammates in the dugout and started clapping his hands, hard. The Tigers ended the inning with eight runs on eight hits and had a 19-12 lead.

“I was just excited,” Duggar said. “Anytime you come back from a deficit like that and the season is kind of on the line like it has been the last few weeks here, it’s exciting. At the same time, we still want to keep having fun with it.

“It was a big time in the game for that.”

Though it does not appear to be a huge win for Clemson, Tuesday’s victory over the Paladins was very big in the overall picture. The Tigers, who No. 65 in the latest RPI rankings, are still mathematically alive for an at-large spot in the NCAA Tournament and more importantly carry some much needed momentum into the start of a three-game series at No. 8 Florida State, which begins on Thursday.

For the Tigers, it’s still all about having to win to get in.