SPRINGS BROOKS STADIUM: Coastal Carolina’s lineup attacked Clemson from every angle offensively, scoring in four different ways in a 5-3 takedown of Clemson in front of a record-setting crowd of more than 5,300 in Conway, Tuesday.
The Chanticleers kept the pressure on Tigers’ pitchers by working the count and running the bases aggressively from the outset. Coastal, ranked eighth by Baseball America, never trailed after scoring a pair of first-inning runs on a pair of singles, a walk, a balk, two stolen bases and a sacrifice fly.
Clemson briefly tied the game up after a third-inning opposite-field homer from Tryston McCladdie (3-4) and a fifth-inning RBI single from Cam Cannarella (1-5). But the Chants wasted little time in taking the lead back for good with two runs in the home half of the fifth.
Coastal’s bullpen took over from there, holding the Tigers to one run on three hits over the final four frames. Clemson posted just six hits overall, five singles and McCladdie’s home run.
The Tigers’ hurlers suffered with some control problems, hitting six Coastal hitters. Coastal Carolina batters have now been plunked 130 times, the most in the nation. Walker Mitchell was belted three times by three different pitchers.
The biggest roar from the sellout crowd came after Coastal Carolina southpaw Domonick Carbone closed out the eighth inning. Carbone yielded an RBI single to Luke Gaffney that cut his club’s lead to two. With runners on first and second, Carbone fanned the next two hitters to preserve the lead and send the Chants’ fans into a frenzy. Ryan Lynch pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his fourth save and lower his ERA to 0.66.
In his postgame comments, Coastal Carolina head coach Kevin Schnall said his club has “one of the top three pitching staffs in the country.”
For Coastal Carolina (38-11), Schnall has picked up right where legendary skipper Gary Gilmore left off, putting his program in position to host to a Regional. The Chanticleers, now 21-4 at home, will play host to ULM in a three-game series starting Thursday.
No. 12 Clemson has dropped six of its last seven and is leaking oil down the backstretch of the season. The Tigers (37-13) have just six regular season games remaining, all against conference opponents. Clemson will square off against Duke in a three-game series starting Friday at 6 p.m.
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