Clemson vs Georgia Tech ACC Baseball Tournament Recap

Clemson 9, Georgia Tech 3

The Clemson Tigers jumped on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets early, and never let up in a 9-3 win at the ACC Baseball Championship.  

Tigers first basemen Richie Shaffer set the tone for the game with a three-run home run to the opposite field at Greensboro, North Carolina's NewBridge Bank Park in the first inning for a 3-0 lead, a lead the Tigers would never relinquish.  

In the fourth inning, the Yellow Jackets and Tigers traded runs to make it 4-1, and Clemson added another in the fifth for a 5-1 lead. Clemson and Georgia Tech then traded zeros on the scoreboard before the Tigers cracked the game wide-open in the seventh to make the score 7-2, having Georgia Tech coach Danny Hall and pitcher Jake Davies thrown out in the process. Hall argued that Tigers batter Addison Johnson was out for bunting outside the batter's box towards the start of the inning. He later argued a check swing, and the last straw was a ball/strike grievance that brought an immediate ejection. Hall came out of the dugout furious and had choice words for the umpire. After recording the third out, the Yellow Jackets' pitcher, Davies, said something on his way to the dugout to draw an early exit as well. 

Georgia Tech appeared to have momentum from Hall’s tirade against the umpire in the eighth, thanks to a leadoff home run by third baseman Matt Skole, but Tigers reliever Kyle Brady came in and struck out the two batters he faced to end the inning. Clemson added two more runs on leftfielder Kyle Parker's solo home run and Brad Miller's RBI single to complete the 9-3 final score. Brady added two more strikeouts in ninth to close the game out.

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Clemson received much-needed quality starting pitching from lefty Will Lamb on Saturday. After the Tigers gave up 22 runs in their first two ACC Baseball Championship games, Lamb went 6 1/3 innings for the win with 4 strikeouts, 2 earned runs, and only 2 walks. The best attribute for Lamb – not seen in the previous two games this week – was that he threw strikes consistently. Clemson coach Jack Leggett preaches throwing strikes and working quickly – Lamb did him proud on Saturday.

Clemson’s big hits and plays came from unexpected sources on Saturday with freshmen catcher Spencer Kieboom and first baseman Richie Shaffer being key factors in the win. In only his second start of the season, Kieboom went 3 for 4 and scored 2 runs. Shaffer relished his move up the lineup to fifth, posting a 2-for-4 day with a three-run home run and scoring three times. Centerfielder Addison Johnson made his mark on defense by robbing Skole of a home run in the second inning and making another outstanding catch at the wall on what would have been a sure double by Tech centerfielder Jeff Rowland in the fifth.

The Tigers and Yellow Jackets both finished 1-2 in round-robin play, tying for last in their group. The two losses for the Yellow Jackets could knock Georgia Tech out of contention for a national seed, but the Jackets will host next week when the NCAA Tournament pairings are announced on May 31. Clemson had an outside shot at grabbing a regional with a strong performance this tournament, but now is all but assured of traveling as a 2 seed to another regional.

By: Brandon Rink
DFN Sports Senior Guest Writer