The last couple of weeks, the ball hasn’t necessarily bounced the right way for the Clemson baseball team. On Friday, the Tigers changed their luck behind a strong start from Mack Anglin in a 5-2 win over Wake Forest at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The win snapped Clemson’s season-high seven game losing streak and marked the Tigers’ first victory since April 9th against Virginia.
Junior utility player Sam Hall got the Tigers off and running as he led off the bottom of the first inning with the double. He advanced to third via a wild pitch on a walk to James Parker; setting the stage for one of the most exciting plays in baseball. Hall recorded his second stolen base of the season, swiping home to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
The game stayed that way until a crazy fifth inning in which the Demon Deacons took advantage of a couple of mistakes behind the plate. After walking on four pitches to begin the inning, Adam Cecere scored on the first of two passed balls committed by Clemson catcher Adam Hackenberg. After a strikeout by Anglin, another passed ball gave Wake Forest a 2-1 lead at the midway point of the game.
Clemson quickly rallied and tied the game on the first RBI of the contest. Hackenberg made up for his mistakes behind the plate by walking and stealing second with one out. Following a walk to Hall, Kier Meredith promptly singled with two outs scoring Hackenberg and tying the game at 2-2.
The Tigers opened up some breathing room in the seventh as Meredith drove in his second run of the contest with a single to right field. On that same play, Bryce Teodosio was able to come in behind Hall on a throwing error by right fielder Chris Lanzilli; upping Clemson’s advantage to 4-2 after seven. The home team added an insurance run in the eighth inning on an RBI double down the left field line by Teodosio.
Anglin pitched a career-long six and a third innings; allowing just four hits, two unearned runs and three walks with a career-high 11 strikeouts, the most by a Tiger in 2021. However, he did not factor in the decision as Geoffrey Gilbert picked up his second win of the season in relief. Nick Hoffman pitched an inning and two thirds to record his first save. Wake Forest starter Ryan Cusick fell to 2-3 on the year; allowing four runs on six hits in six and a third innings pitched.
With the victory, Clemson improved to 16-18 overall and 10-12 in ACC play., while Wake Forest falls to 13-18 on the season and 6-15 in the league. Game two of the series is set for 3pm on Saturday with Keyshawn Askew (1-1: 3.86 ERA) expected to start on the mound for the Tigers.
Monte Lee Postgame Comments
Starting Pitcher Mack Anglin Postgame Comments
Kier Meredith Postgame Comments
