No. 14 Clemson baseball stays hot, tops Kennesaw State

Clemson scored four runs in the first inning Tuesday night against Kennesaw State on its way to a 9-4 win,its fourth consecutive victory.

The Tigers swept Wake Forest on the road over the weekend and stayed hot to improve to 30-11. The loss drops Kennesaw State to 23-18.

After Kier Meredith opened the bottom of the first inning with a walk, Logan Davidson blasted a two-run homer to left field to give the Tigers a quick 2-0 lead.

Patrick Cromwell drove in a run with a bases loaded walk later in the inning, before Drew Wharton's sacrifice fly gave the Tigers a 4-0 lead.

The Owls cut the lead to 4-2 with a pair of runs in the top of the third inning, but Clemson quickly responded with three runs in the bottom half of the third.

Kyle Wilkie's solo home run pushed the lead to 5-2, before Wharton drove in a run with an RBI single and Meredith pushed the lead to 7-2 with an RBI groundout.

Kennesaw State got to within 7-4 in the fifth, but Davidson had a bases loaded walk in the fifth and added an RBI single in the seventh to finish off the scoring.

The shortstop finished 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs, while Wilkie, Cromwell and Wharton each added a pair of hits for the Tigers.

Spencer Strider earned the win for Clemson, pitching 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief to improve to 4-1 on the year.

Ryan Miller pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings without allowing a hit on his way to earning his fourth save.

The Tigers return to action Wednesday night when they host Presbyterian at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

This story was originally published April 24, 2018 at 10:43 PM with the headline "No. 14 Clemson baseball stays hot, tops Kennesaw State."