Photos by Clemson Athletics
Friday night’s opener between Clemson and Georgia State wasn’t decided until the final out when Billy Amick’s grand slam delivered a dramatic walk off victory for the Tigers. There was no such drama at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, Saturday, as Clemson dominated from start to finish and took both ends of a doubleheader 10-2 and 10-7.
The Tigers (10-6) got the bats going early and never trailed as they locked up their fourth and fifth straight wins. In Game 1 of the doubleheader, Riley Bertram opened the scoring in the third with a two-run single. The very next batter, Nathan Hall, blew the game open with a three-run homer to left. Amick, Friday night’s hero, would later cap the scoring with a two-run triple. Reed Garris (1-0) got the win after throwing 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, retiring all five batters he faced. Freshman righthander Joe Allen was just as impressive, shutting out Georgia State over the final four innings to earn his first career save.
Game 1 Box Score
The series finale followed a similar script with Clemson racing out to a six-run lead after three innings. With Cam Cannarella on base following a leadoff single, Will Taylor launched his second home run of the season to put the Tigers on top. Clemson posted three more runs in the second on singles from Cooper Ingle and Taylor. The Tigers lineup was back at it in the third as Benjamin Blackwell drove in Hall with a double.
Finding themselves down big, Georgia State rallied against the Clemson bullpen, but it was too little, too late. Caden Grice started the finale and held the Panthers scoreless through three frames. Righthander Nathan Dvorsky didn’t fare as well, giving up three earned runs in the fourth. Nick Clayton (1-0) surrendered a pair of runs in the fifth but bounced back with a clean sixth and picked up the win. Jackson Lindley gave up two runs before striking out the side to finish off the sweep.
Clemson will look to extend its winning streak when they play host to the College of Charleston at 4 p.m., Tuesday.
