Big inning lifts Clemson baseball past Miami, into ACC tournament semifinals

It wasn’t another 17-run inning like Clemson had on Wednesday, but it was enough.

The sixth-ranked Tigers scored six runs in the sixth inning Thursday night against Miami on their way to a 7-1 victory against the Hurricanes in Durham, N.C.

It marked the second consecutive game Clemson used a big inning on its way to a crucial victory. The Tigers scored 17 runs in the fourth inning Wednesday against Notre Dame on their way to a 21-4 victory.

Clemson (45-13) finishes 2-0 in pool play and will play Saturday night against either Florida State or N.C. State with an opportunity to advance to the finals with a victory.

Clemson jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second inning on a groundout by Jordan Greene before Miami tied the score at 1-1 on a Dylan Cloonan RBI triple in the fourth.

The Tigers then grabbed control in the sixth. Drew Wharton led off the inning with a solo homer to give Clemson the lead for good.

The Tigers then scored five runs with two outs. Kyle Wilkie hit an RBI single, Seth Beer added an RBI single and Chris Williams hit at three-run homer.

That was more than enough offense for Clemson’s pitching staff as Brooks Crawford allowed one run in five innings, while Ryan Miller pitched four scoreless innings of relief to earn the win and improve to 6-1 on the year.

This story was originally published May 24, 2018 at 11:31 PM with the headline "Big inning lifts Clemson baseball past Miami, into ACC tournament semifinals."