Clemson completes weekend sweep of James Madison

With Clemson’s series against James Madison already in hand heading into Sunday’s finale, coach Monte Lee sat his team down in their meeting room before the game and told them it was important to keep the same focus from the previous two contests if the Tigers wanted to earn a needed sweep.

Clemson ended up having no issue practicing what Lee was preaching. Reed Rohlman and Seth Beer had three hits and three RBIs each at the plate, and the Tiger bullpen threw 5.2 scoreless innings to beat the Dukes 11-2 on Sunday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

“Great way to finish off the weekend,” Lee said. “Sometimes on Sundays, your guys can lose a little bit of focus and get a little bit too comfortable. I thought our guys did a nice job of staying the course, playing focused and playing a complete ballgame.”

Beer hit his second career home run in a five-run second inning, and Eli White went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a pair of runs scored as the Tigers improved to 5-1 on the season. Clemson totaled 15 hits; Weston Wilson and Adam Renwick each recorded a pair of base knocks, and Chris Okey scored three times.

“Overall, the middle of our order did an outstanding job,” Lee said.

Freshman lefty starter Jake Higginbotham lasted just 3.1 innings for the Tigers. He held JMU (2-5) two runs on five hits, walked three and struck out three in 64 pitches.

“Higginbotham struggled a little bit locating his pitches, had a couple walks, but overall I thought he threw the ball well,” Lee said.

Brooks Crawford (1-0) earned his first career win in relief after tossing 2.2 hitless frames, and Paul Campbell, Ryley Gilliam and Alex Bostic combined to give up just three hits the rest of the way to compliment a Tiger offense that had an 8-2 lead after six innings.

This story was originally published February 28, 2016 at 8:52 PM.