DURHAM, N.C. — Chase Pinder’s sacrifice fly to left centerfield scored Chris Williams for the game-winning run in the top of the ninth inning as the 12th-ranked Tigers upset No. 7 Virginia, 5-4, to start the second day of pool play on Thursday at the ACC Baseball Championships at Durham Bulls Park in Durham, N.C.
The win moves Clemson within one victory of definitely securing a home regional next weekend in Clemson. Tigers’ head coach Monte Lee feels his team has already done enough to play at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in the first week of the NCAA Tournament next week.
“I believe so. You look at Virginia, it’s a Top 10 RPI team, it’s a team that deserves to host, as well,” he said. “You look at our résumé now. We are in the Top 10 in RPI. We have got 39 wins, which I believe is third-most in the league, in the No. 1 RPI conference in the country.
“So when you look at the No. 1 RPI conference in the country, a team that’s third in wins in the league overall and you look at who we’ve beat down the stretch here, how we’ve played in our last ten-plus games, which is a big thing for the NCAA Selection Committee … I think there’s no question that we deserve to host.”
Clemson (39-18) was able to get the win when Williams’ got an infield single to lead off the ninth inning and Mike Triller, who launched a two-run home run in the fifth inning, drew a crucial walk to put runners on first and second with no outs.
Andrew Cox then successfully bunted them both over, setting up Pinder’s sac fly for the game-winner.
“My approach when I went up there was a little off, and then Coach quickly got me thinking up the middle,” said Pinder, whose brother Chad had two runs against Virginia in the ACC Championships in 2013. “I got a fastball up and he says do it early, and I got a good pitch to hit and I was able to drive it.
“I guess there’s a little bit of a – you’ve wanted to succeed against those teams, and my brother’s played against them many times and I kind of just want to follow in his footsteps, and it happened today.”
Virginia’s Matt Thaiss tied the game in the bottom of the eighth inning when he took Pat Krall’s second pitch and hit it 368 feet to right field. But, like they have done a lot lately, the Tigers did not let that bother them and grabbed the lead back in the top of the ninth inning.
“We’ve been doing it all year. It’s kind of our mentality,” Pinder said. “We’re never satisfied, and if one of our best pitchers goes out there and makes a mistake, we’re ready to back him up, and we seem to be doing that.”
Pinder may have drove in the winning run, but it was Eli White that led the Tigers at the plate. The junior tallied three hits in five at-bats, including a two-out double in the top of the fifth inning that scored Pinder from third.
White also had a double to lead off the eighth inning.
The Tigers were able to get to Virginia ace Connor Jones. Though they had just four hits off the righty, they were a very efficient four hits. Weston Wilson doubled in the second inning to score Chris Okey. Then Triller hit his two-run homer to left field in the fifth inning. That gave Clemson a 3-1 lead.
White had his two-out double a few moments later to score Pinder.
“We knew we were going to have a good challenge ahead of us going into it, he’s a great pitcher,” White said. “We had a game plan to attack his fastball, and when he left it up we were able to capitalize on some good swings.”
For the most part, Tigers’ starter Charlie Barnes was able to match Jones. The lefty allowed three runs on six hits in a no decision. He had five strikeouts and two walks in 5 2/3 innings of work.
“You have to give Charlie Barnes a lot of credit,” Lee said. “He’s been very, very consistent for us down the stretch. He gave us another great start.”
Clemson will play Louisville at 11 a.m. on Friday in Game 9 of the ACC Championships.