Patience does pay off.

It was Clemson’s patience at the plate in Game 2 of Saturday’s win over Maine that led to Sunday’s offensive explosion in Game 3. The Tigers recorded 22 hits and had home runs from Chase Pinder and freshman Seth Beer in blasting the Black Bears, 19-2, at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

“When they have to put the ball in the strike zone, it could be trouble for them … Baseball is crazy. When the team is on we feed off each other and that is what we did today,” Pinder said afterwards.

On Saturday, the Tigers drew eight walks and were hit be three pitches. The 11 “free 90s” as head coach Monte Lee likes to say, forced Maine pitchers to have to throw strikes on Sunday. The end result was three doubles and two home runs, plus 17 RBIs by the Clemson batters.

Pinder totaled two hits in four at-bats, including a three-run home run that got the Tigers rolling. Clemson scored 11 runs in the fourth and fifth innings as they pounded out 11 hits in the process. Pinder’s three-run blast to left field gave the Tigers a 5-1 lead in the fourth inning. They finished the inning with a 6-1 lead.

“Hitting is contagious. I thought you could really see how guys relaxed once Pinder hit the three-run homer. That’s kind of when we opened it up,” Lee said. “Guys were just really, really locked in. One thing about our offense is guys really try to buy in to what we get them to do in terms of their approaches.

“They see, if you get a good pitch to hit and you do not try to do too much and stay in the middle of the field and use the other side of the field with two strikes and just keep adjusting to what the pitchers are doing … I felt like we did a really, really good job of that.”

Clemson (2-1) upped its lead to 13-2 by the end of the fifth inning when it recorded seven runs on seven hits, including a grand slam from Beer, who sent a pitch in the seats in right field to blow the game wide open.

Beer also had two hits in three at-bats and drove in four runs.

“I told you. I knew he would,” Lee said about Beer’s fifth inning blast. “There are just not that many guys that are that locked in. Seth is one of those guys that he is not only a powerful hitter, but he is also a guy that knows which pitches he handles well in the strike zone.

“He laid off some pitches and he does not try to do too much even with two strikes. Even the home run he hit was a two strike-pitch that he stayed on. And because he is so strong he just stayed through the ball and hit it out of the ballpark. He is going to be a special, special player for us.”

Clemson will play James Madison next weekend at Doug Kingsmore Stadium as it begins a three-game set on Friday at 4 p.m.

If you haven’t already order your copy today of Guts & Glory – Tales of Clemson’s Historic 2015 Football Season to help you celebrate and remember this special season.