Marr happy to step in when needed
By: Ashley Pendergist February 19, 2018

Clemson’s Travis Marr moved clear across the country to have the opportunity to play for the Tigers.

Clemson was not even on the radar for Marr, but head coach Monte Lee quickly changed his mind. Lee saw huge potential in Marr while he was playing in Georgia and convinced him to visit Clemson’s campus before making any college decisions … and for good reason it seems.

“It was the best place I visited, now I’m here … this is home,” Marr said following 12th-ranked Clemson’s 2-1 victory over William & Mary in Game 3 Sunday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

After only appearing in one game last season against Elon, Marr was injured and was unable to play for the rest of the season. Marr explains the injury actually ended up helping him develop and mature as a player and as a teammate.

“It kind of helped me take a step back,” he said. “When you come from high school where a lot of us were the top players on our team, it gave me a chance to take a step back and realize that I need to mature and hone in on my strengths.”

With former pitchers Pat Krall and Charlie Barnes throwing out the first pitch on opening day this past Friday, Marr had some serious pre-game jitters. However, he looked more than comfortable throwing strikes and responding to whatever the Tigers needed him to do to help sweep William and Mary this weekend.

Marr threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings in Sunday’s win as he had two strikeouts and did not give up a hit.

Marr explains he can “close, relieve, or start and (he’s) ready to do it” whenever he is needed. He feels confident with his performance as well as the rest of the pitching staff.

It is clear that the pitchers stepped up to fulfill their duties after guys like Krall and Barnes left at the end of last season. The Clemson baseball team came out of opening weekend looking even better than expected.

For the first time since 2009, Clemson swept its opening weekend series. There were some questions going into the season about whether or not the pitching staff would be prepared after losing all four of its starters. Travis Marr and his teammates Jake Higginbotham and Ryley Gilliam provided a glimpse of how far the pitching staff has come thus far.

Marr feels all of the pitchers have stepped up in some way to become leaders.