Clemson came through with some clutch hitting in the late innings to edge Binghamton 3-2 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, Saturday. Trailing 1-0 entering the eighth, Cooper Ingle opened the inning with a walk and reached third on Caden Grice’s double. Blake Wright’s sacrifice fly plated Ingle with the tying run before Cam Cannarella doubled home Grice with the go-ahead run. Cannarella later scored on a wild pitch to cap the rally.
A day removed from scoring 11 runs and pounding out 11 hits, the Tigers struggled mightily at the plate, failing to get a hit with a runner on base through seven innings. Additionally, Clemson saw a pair of potential scoring opportunities erased when runners were doubled off second base. Binghamton starter Gabe Driscoll also picked off a pair of runners to help keep the Tigers off the board.
But in the end, Clemson was able to overcome the Bearcats thanks to Cannarella’s eighth inning heroics and a stellar performance from its pitching staff. Austin Gordon gave Binghamton next to nothing in his first career start, surrendering just five hits and one run over 5.2 innings. Jackson Lindley, Willie Weiss and Tristan Smith handled the last 3.1 innings as the Tigers moved to 2-0. Weiss gave up a run but registered the win and Smith nailed down the final two outs to earn the save in his Clemson debut.
The Tigers go for the sweep over Binghamton at noon, Sunday.
