When Clemson baseball desperately needed it, Caden Grice asserted himself as a one-man dynamo. The two-way star from Greer smacked two home runs and threw five solid innings on the mound to lead the Tigers to a 14-5 rout of Georgia Tech in game three of their ACC series in Atlanta. The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Tigers and improved their record to 15-10 overall and 2-4 in Atlantic Coast Conference action. The Yellow Jackets, who claimed the series with victories on Friday and Saturday, fell to 16-8 on the season and 5-4 in the league.
Grice initially set the tone on the mound in his fourth start of the season. The left-hander kept Georgia Tech off the scoreboard until the fifth, recording three strikeouts through the first four innings. As a matter of fact, all three of his K’s were the final outs of the first, third, and fourth innings. His work allowed the Clemson offense to build a comfortable five-run lead midway through the game.
Leading 1-0, the Tigers plated four runs in the fifth on a pair of doubles from Blake Wright and Cooper Ingle, along with a wild pitch. However, it was in the sixth inning when Clemson put the game on ice. The visitors scored seven runs, matching a season high for runs in an inning, thanks to homers from Grice and Wright. Grice added a second long ball in the eighth for good measure, concluding the day 2-for-4 at the plate with 2 HRs, 3 runs scored, and 5 RBIs. Wright collected three hits and four RBIs in his five plate appearances.
The Yellow Jackets rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth, but Willie Weiss was able to record the final two outs to close out the game.
Clemson is back in action on Tuesday as the Tigers will be in Columbia to face the College of Charleston at Segra Park. First pitch is set for 6pm.
