Clemson holds off William & Mary to clinch series

Clemson built a 7-3 lead on William & Mary and held off a late rally to defeat the Tribe 7-6 Saturday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

The Tigers (2-0) clinched the series after recording a pair of one-run wins.

Clemson fell behind for the second consecutive game against William & Mary as the Tribe led 2-0 entering the bottom of the third inning. But Andrew Wharton had an RBI groundout and Seth Beer homered to left to tie the game at 2.

Beer finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and had a double, in addition to his home run.

Clemson took its first lead of the game in the fourth inning on an RBI double by Patrick Cromwell. William & Mary tied the score at 3 in the following frame before Clemson took control in the sixth.

Cromwell had an RBI single in the sixth, and Logan Davidson walked with the bases loaded to give Clemson a 5-3 lead.

The Tigers pushed the lead to 7-3 in the seventh as Cromwell walked with the bases loaded and Chris Williams scored on a wild pitch.

The Tribe scored three runs in the eighth to cut the lead to 7-6 but did nothing in the ninth as Clemson held on for the victory.

Cromwell finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a double.

Freshman Spencer Strider earned the win for Clemson, despite allowing four earned runs in three innings.

Carson Spiers earned the save by pitching the final 1 2/3 innings without allowing a hit.

The teams will play game 3 of the series Sunday at 3 p.m.

This story was originally published February 17, 2018 at 7:23 PM with the headline "Clemson holds off William & Mary to clinch series."