By Trey McCurry.

GREENVILLE, SC — TCI takes a look back at Clemson’s (28-25) 23-15, comeback win over Furman (23-29) on Tuesday night at Fluor Field.

What happened?

The Paladins struck first, and in a big way, scoring 10 runs over the first two innings to jump out to a 10-0 lead. The Tigers started their comeback in the third as Steven Duggar walked and Tyler Krieger singled with one out before Chris Okey blasted a three-run homer of the green monster in left to cut the deficit to 10-3. In the fourth inning, Reed Rohlman hit a two-out, two-run double to cut the Furman lead to 10-5. After the Paladins added a run to their lead in the bottom of the fourth, Clemson again chipped away with two runs in the fifth on a two-run single by Krieger to cut the margin to 11-7 in favor of Furman. The Tigers tied the game in the top of the sixth as Okey led off with a solo homer, Tyler Slaton hit a RBI single, a Paladin error allowed a run to score, and Rohlman drew a bases loaded walk. Furman reclaimed the lead with a single run in the bottom of the frame, but it was short-lived as Clemson exploded for eight runs in the seventh inning to take a 19-12 lead. Glenn Batson, Eli White, Krieger, Rohlman, Okey, and Weston Wilson each had RBI singles while Duggar blasted a two-run triple in the frame. The Tigers didn’t stop there adding a run in the eight on a sac fly from Drew Wharton to extend their lead to 20-12. The Paladins plated a run in the bottom of the inning to cut their deficit to 20-13, but again Clemson responded with three runs in the top of the ninth as Duggar drew a RBI HBP while Slaton and White came in to score on wild pitches. Furman scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but it wasn’t enough as the Tigers held on for a wild 23-15 win.

Game-Changing Moment:

The game changed in the middle innings as the Clemson offense came alive to score 23 runs in their final seven at-bats. Okey’s three-run blast started a spark while Rohlman and Krieger each had clutch two-out, run scoring hits in the fourth and fifth to get the Tigers back within striking distance before they eventually blew the game open with an eight-run inning.

What went right?

After a sluggish two innings trying to find their groove, the offense woke up with 23 runs on 22 hits for the game. Ten different players recorded a hit and scored a run with Okey provided the power for his second two-homer game of the year. The unsung story of the game was the performance of Clemson reliever Charlie Barnes, who came out of the bullpen in the second inning to stop the Furman offensive attack and hold the Paladins to two unearned runs over the next 4.1 innings while his offense got the team back in the game. 

What went wrong?

The Tigers were in an early hole as they committed four errors (while having a few other plays that could have been ruled errors) and allowed 10 runs in the first two innings. Clemson finished the game with six total errors and stranded 17 total runners in the contest.