Vanderbilt edges Clemson to send Tigers to NCAA elimination game
Clemson is hosting an NCAA tournament regional for the third consecutive season, and the Tigers again are facing elimination after Day 2.
No. 2 seed Vanderbilt defeated No. 1 seed Clemson 4-3 Saturday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium to move within one win of advancing to a Super Regional.
The Tigers will face No. 3 seed St. John’s Sunday afternoon at noon in an elimination game (ESPN3/WatchESPN). If Clemson wins that first game, the Tigers would need to beat Vanderbilt Sunday night at 6 p.m. and again Monday at 4 p.m. to advance in the tournament.
“I think we all know what’s at stake tomorrow for our team for this year. I think our guys are fine. They competed as hard as they could. Vanderbilt was the better team tonight, but we’ve got to get ready to play, and that’s the bottom line,” Clemson coach Monte Lee said. “I believe in our club. Our team has won a lot of close games, has come from behind. We’ve won 46 games this year so our guys are used to winning. Our guys will be ready to play.”
Everything appeared to be setting up well for Clemson on Saturday afternoon as Florida State, the No. 7 overall seed and the regional Clemson’s is matched up with in the tournament bracket, was eliminated by Mississippi State on a walk-off home run.
With FSU out of the picture, the Tigers will host a Super Regional if they are able to advance. Clemson now faces an uphill battle to do so after its loss Saturday night.
“It’s not over. We’re not done doing our thing,” Clemson shortstop Logan Davidson said. “We’ve got a resilient team. We’re going to have a long day tomorrow, but we’re going to get it done.”
Clemson got off to a fast start against the Commodores, scoring a pair of runs in the first inning and one in the second to take a 3-0 lead.
Chris Williams and Drew Wharton had RBI singles in the first for the Tigers, and Logan Davidson added an RBI single in the second, but Clemson did next to nothing offensively after that.
The Tigers had four hits in the first two innings and two the rest of the game.
“You’ve got to give them a lot of credit. Their pitching staff executed pitches in big situations,” Lee said. “We just couldn’t come up with the big hit with runners on base.”
Vanderbilt answered right back with three runs in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game at 3.
Julian Infante got Vandy on the board with an RBI groundout before Ethan Paul followed with a two-run homer.
Vanderbilt was eventually able to chase Clemson starter Jake Higginbotham after 3 1/3 innings.
Vanderbilt’s Connor Kaiser drove in the winning run on an RBI single in the fifth against Tigers reliever Mat Clark.
The Tigers bullpen allowed only one run over the final 4 2/3 innings, but Clemson’s offense was unable to capitalize.
Carson Spiers pitched particularly well out of the pen, striking out four in 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.
Patrick Raby earned the win for Vanderbilt, pitching 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Vandy’s bullpen pitched five scoreless innings in the victory.
“We had to turn to the bullpen in the fourth inning and try to piece it together. I thought those guys did an outstanding job and gave us a chance,” Lee said. “The big difference was their bullpen did a great job against us. We had some opportunities with runners on base and they pitched out of some tough spots.”
This story was originally published June 2, 2018 at 11:21 PM with the headline "Vanderbilt edges Clemson to send Tigers to NCAA elimination game."