CLEMSON – Getting your first collegiate hit is one thing, but making it a grand slam at home is another. The star of No. 8 Clemson baseball’s win over Presbyterian was freshman Jarren Purify, who did just that.

Head coach Erik Bakich described Purify as the “fireworks” in the win over the Blue Hose. In the seventh inning, Purify came up with the bases loaded after striking out earlier in the game. He just wanted to get the ball in play, and ended up driving the ball past such a goal.

“I was super excited. I honestly don’t know what happened when the ball went up into the air I just don’t know. My intentions were put the ball in play…I just knew that putting the ball in play would put us in position to score at least one run,” Purify said.

Purify grew up in Detroit, Mich., and Bakich had a lot to say about his childhood and what it took for him to be at this moment in a Tigers uniform.  The credit went to Purify’s mother, who sacrificed for her son to earn these opportunities.

“Jarren, he’s a special kid. He’s a son of a single mother, Betty, who works multiple jobs in Detroit to put her son in a good situation but Jarren didn’t grow up like a lot of other kids grew up and he’s got a very unique perspective on life and he always has a smile on his face and he appreciates everything,” Bakich said.

There’s a lot of players who deserve opportunities in 2024, and Bakich described Purify as one of the players that “has to play” in this rotation. He’s just a first-year player, but he’s earned that opportunity at Clemson. A large part of his success isn’t credited to the sport, but the person Purify is.

“The level of gratitude that he operates his life with, he is a positive life force,” Bakich said. “He appreciates everything, the smile on his face is contagious. He’s a magnet and everybody gravitates to him and those are the reasons why heals a great baseball player. Because of who he is as a person.”