Clemson bombed Western Carolina in Game 2 of the Clemson Regional on Friday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, literally. It was a nice way to end a five-game losing streak in the NCAA Tournament, as the top seeded Tigers beat No. 4 Western Carolina, 24-10.
The Tigers, who had not won a NCAA Tournament game since the Columbia Regional in 2013, had seven home runs, the most this season in a game and the most in a NCAA Tournament game in school history. It was also the most home runs in one game since March of 2010 when they hit six against Georgia Southern.
“Offensively, the name of the game for us tonight, we did a really good job of staying in the strike zone even when we were down by six, we knew that we were going to have to put together some good at bats and we did just that in the third,” Clemson head coach Monte Lee said. “We broke it open with a pair of homers there.”
Clemson’s 24 runs tied a school-record for runs in an NCAA Tournament game. The Tigers scored 24 on Seton Hall in the 2001 Clemson Regional. Clemson also scored 24 runs against Florida State in a 1959 NCAA Tournament win.
Chris Okey and Mike Triller had two home runs, while Chris Williams, Eli White and Seth Beer also went yard. Okey and Williams each had three-run shots, while Triller drove in two runs with his first and second home runs. Beer hit a grand slam and White joined Okey with a solo shot.
The big inning for Clemson, who has won 10 straight games, came in the bottom of the third inning as the Tigers plated 10 runs, had six hits, two home runs and brought 13 batters to the plate as it overcame an early six-run deficit.
The Tigers (43-18) trailed Western 6-0 at the time time.
“It shows our toughness. It shows that this club, down by six early in the game, they are very confident. They believe that they are going to find a way to get back in the ball game and they did just that,” Lee said. We did a really good job of bouncing back in the bottom of that inning and stringing quality at-bat after quality at-bats together.”
The 10 runs in the third inning were the most by the top-seeded Tigers in one inning in an NCAA game since scoring 12 vs. East Carolina in the 2002 Clemson Regional. Clemson won that game 21-1.
The big blow in the third inning came from Beer. With the bases loaded the ACC Player of the Year took Colton Davis’ 2-0 offering to straight away centerfield for a grand slam that gave the Tigers a 9-6 lead.
“In that situation, we were down by a run, so I was just trying to go up there and do my job and if my job any other time is getting on base for those guys to bump me in, I am cool with that,” Beer said. “It was cool to be able to put that good swing on the ball and get us up.”
Okey followed Beer’s grand slam with a solo shot to left field, marking the first back-to-back jacks by Clemson teammates since Eli White and Steven Duggar went back-to-back on May 8, 2015 in the Tigers’ 13-5 victory over Georgia Southern.
Weston Wilson also had an RBI single in the third inning and Williams drove in two runs with a base hit through the left side.
The Catamounts’ pitchers walked three Tigers in the third inning and hit another. They walked 17 batters overall, another postseason record for the Tigers.
Overall, the third inning took one hour and nine minutes as Western (30-30) grabbed a 6-0 lead with a four-run top of the third inning.
Clemson extended its lead to 15-6 in the bottom of the fifth inning as once again Western Carolina pitching struggled to find the plate. The Tigers drew five walks in the inning with Wilson getting a second RBI by way of a walk and Reed Rohlman getting one with a sacrifice fly to left.
Williams brought home the other two runs with a bomb to left centerfield.
All four runs by Western in third were unearned, and starter Charlie Barnes was responsible for an error, a hit by pitch and a wild pitch. However, Barnes settled down and earned the win for Clemson, his sixth of the season.
Okey hit his second home run in the sixth inning and Triller and Wilson followed with their home runs in the seventh inning, which gave the Tigers a 21-9 lead at the time.
Triller made the score 23-10 in the bottom of the eighth inning with a blast to right field.
Clemson will play Oklahoma State, a 6-0 winner over Nebraska in Game 1, at 7 p.m. on Saturday in the winner’s bracket game. Western Carolina will play the Cornhuskers at noon in Game 3 of the Clemson Regional.
TCI’s Clemson preseason magazine is now available. Order your copy of Unfinished Business – An Insider Look at Clemson’s 2016 season today.
