Vanderbilt blasts Clemson, bounces Tigers from NCAAs for second straight year
Clemson players and head coach Monte Lee spoke before the start of the NCAA Tournament about how this Tigers team was ready to forget history and advance out of its own regional for the first time in three years.
Instead, the Tigers were on the wrong side of history once more, as their season came to an end with a regional loss at Doug Kingsmore Stadium for the third consecutive year.
Vanderbilt tied an NCAA Tournament record with nine home runs and Commodores shortstop Connor Kaiser tied a tournament record with 10 RBIs as Vanderbilt destroyed Clemson 19-6 Sunday night. Kaiser also homered three times. He entered Sunday with three home runs on the season.
“The game kind of speaks for itself… It was just one of those nights that you see every so often,” Vandy coach Tim Corbin said.
Vanderbilt’s Stephen Scott hit a solo home run over the Cajun Café beyond the wall in right field in the first inning, and the onslaught was on.
Kaiser’s first homer of the game was a three-run shot, which came in the third inning. Philip Clarke then followed with a solo homer to push Vandy’s lead to 5-0.
Clarke hit his second homer, a solo shot, in the fifth to give the Commodores a 6-2 lead.
Vanderbilt then blew the game open in the sixth, scoring five runs with four of them coming on a grand slam by Kaiser.
Scott hit his second homer of the game in the seventh inning before Kaiser’s third homer, a two-run shot, pushed the lead to 14-6.
Kaiser, who finished 5-for-7 with three homers and 10 RBIs, was asked if he ever had a similar game, even in little league, and responded "not even close."
Julian Infante and Harrison Ray hit back-to-back homers to lead off the eighth as part of a three-run frame. Vanderbilt went on to add a couple of runs in the ninth to cap the scoring.
Clemson was short on pitching after defeating St. John’s 9-8 earlier Sunday afternoon and it showed.
“This is a tough loss, they don’t come any tougher. It was not indicative of our season,” Lee said. “Make sure that our guys get the credit they deserve for a great year.”
Spencer Strider got the start for the Tigers and allowed five runs in 2 1/3 innings. Owen Griffith allowed two runs in 2 2/3; Alex Schnell allowed two runs without recording an out; Travis Marr allowed three runs in 1 1/3 innings; Ryne Huggins allowed four runs in 2/3 of an inning; and Sam Weatherly allowed three runs in 1 2/3 innings. Closer Ryley Gilliam came in and recorded the final out in the ninth.
Chris Williams led Clemson at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs. Kyle Wilkie was 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs and Grayson Byrd added a pair of hits.
“This team made a tremendous run, was extremely consistent. Tonight was a very tough game to end the year on, but it should not define what this team accomplished,” Lee said. “Our guys did a tremendous job this year. I’m very, very proud of them.”
The MLB draft begins Monday and Clemson is expected to have several players selected, including star outfielder Seth Beer.
Beer went 2-for-17 with two homers in the regional and finished the year with a .301 average, 22 homers and 54 RBIs.
Vanderbilt will face the winner of the Tallahassee Regional in a Super Regional. It remains to be seen if the Commodores will host or play on the road. No. 2 seed Mississippi State and No. 3 seed Oklahoma are still playing to advance to a Super Regional after No. 1 seed Florida State was eliminated.
This story was originally published June 3, 2018 at 10:07 PM with the headline "Vanderbilt blasts Clemson, bounces Tigers from NCAAs for second straight year."