CLEMSON — Another midweek game, another win under the belt.

The Clemson Tigers earned another home win tonight after defeating the Liberty Flames 6-4, where a scoring barrage in the opening innings set the tone for the rest of the campaign and ultimately put the Tigers in a winning position.

“A good win against a quality opponent,” head coach Erik Bakich said. “That’s a very good liberty team. A good, quality club, so it’s a big one for us.”

Two two-run homers from sluggers Jack Crighton and Andrew Ciufo put Clemson up early, creating a tough deficit for Liberty to recover from. The Flames couldn’t bounce back and reach the Tigers’ lead despite adding a few scores in the eighth inning.

The first inning flew by, with the Tigers and the Flames earning three quick outs. Things changed quickly after that, as Liberty’s Camden Troyer hit a home run to put his squad on the board first.

Clemson stopped their opponents after they earned only one run, answering with big plays of their own. After a double from right fielder Jack Crighton, his teammate Luke Gaffney hit a deep ball to center field, bouncing off the top of the back wall. After review, the then-called double was changed to a home run, and the Tigers took the lead by one.

Quickly after, shortstop Andrew Ciufo nailed a two-run homer of his own, bringing in pinch-hitter Jay Dillard to make the score 4-1. The Tigers found nothing else in the second inning, but their scoring barrage set the tone for the rest of the game.

“I thought we just did enough,” Bakich said. “We had four huge two-out RBIs early, the two-run homer by Gaffney, and then Jay Diller drawing a walk to keep the inning going to set up the two-run homer by Andrew Ciufo. Those were huge hits at the time.”

After another inning of unproductivity from Liberty, the Tigers added another run to their total after a wild pitch had Crighton running toward first base. As Liberty’s catcher Tucker Moore went to grab the ball, he slipped and missed the grab, allowing Crighton to reach first and centerfielder Cam Cannarella to make it home.

The next score came in the following inning from Clemson, where a single from Cannarella allowed second baseman Jared Purify to make his way home from second base, bringing their lead to five points at the bottom of the fourth. Both teams followed with no scores in the fifth inning and quick outs.

The Flames earned their second run in the top of the sixth after Troyer hit a ground out, which brought home third baseman Jaxon Sorenson. One more run is all that they found until the top of the eighth, where Liberty earned two runs. A single from second baseman Cal Early brought home teammate Troyer, and a following pitcher’s choice on a single by center fielder Michael Robertson brought in another run.

With only being up by two, the Tigers didn’t have as big of a lead as previously, and tension rose. Clemson went scoreless in the bottom of the ninth, putting Liberty up to bat with their destiny in their own hands. Their hands failed them in the end, as two ground balls and a strikeout from relief pitcher Lucas Mahlstedt wrapped things up.

B.J. Bailey earned the win for the Tigers after relieving Brendon Bennett in the top of the second, throwing four strikeouts while allowing only one hit and one run in four innings. Liberty’s Josh Swink earned the loss, allowing four runs and five hits in only two innings.

“B.J.’s been a really good guy to bridge the earlier part of the game to the middle or later innings,” Bakich said. “We keep giving him the ball because he loves pitching, and he loves being out there, and he’s pretty darn good at it.”

The Tigers stay home at Doug Kingsmore Stadium to face Liberty again tomorrow at 4 pm.