Clemson shows up when it matters to take down USC Upstate in the Clemson Regional
Clemson broke open a tie game with a four-run eighth inning to pull away from USC Upstate, winning 7-3 on Friday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in the opening round of regional play. The top-seeded Tigers leaned on timely hitting and clutch pitching to take down the No. 4 seed Spartans and move into the winner's bracket.
Tied 3-3 heading into the bottom of the eighth, TP Wentworth put Clemson back in front with a go-ahead RBI single. Andrew Ciufo followed with a perfectly placed squeeze bunt to bring in another run, and Cam Cannarella delivered the knockout blow with a towering two-run homer to right-center. The blast, his fourth of the season, gave the Tigers a four-run cushion that would hold the rest of the way. Cannarella finished the night 3-for-5 with four RBI and scored twice in a game where he delivered in nearly every big moment.
The eighth-inning surge came after a tense back-and-forth game. USC Upstate jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second on Johnny Sweeney's solo home run off Drew Titsworth—the ninth homer allowed by the Clemson starter this season. The Spartans tacked on another run in the fourth as Scott Newman doubled and later came home on a Gage Griggs RBI single, giving Upstate an early 2-0 advantage.
Clemson responded with a big fifth inning, sparked by TP Wentworth's leadoff single and a nine-pitch walk drawn by Ciufo. Cannarella then lined a two-run double down the left-field line to tie the game at two. He advanced to third on a foul out and came home on Collin Priest's sacrifice fly, putting the Tigers ahead 3-2 for the first time. That lead nearly disappeared the next inning when Titsworth loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the fifth, prompting a critical bullpen call.
Enter Jacob McGovern, who has been lights out since returning from injury in mid-April. The left-hander immediately struck out the first two batters he faced, then watched as Dominic Listi made a diving catch in left field to end the inning and strand all three runners. McGovern went on to dominate the next few innings, tossing 3.1 shutout frames and striking out six of the 11 batters he faced. He's now thrown 12 consecutive scoreless innings and has held opponents scoreless in 10 of his last 12 appearances.
After McGovern exited with one out in the eighth, Clemson turned to Lucas Mahlstedt to close things out. But the submariner gave up a long game-tying home run to Scott Newman on his very first pitch, briefly resetting the score at 3-3. However, Mahlstedt settled down from there and pitched the final 1.2 innings to improve to 4-0 on the season.
Offensively, Dominic Listi played a key role with a 2-for-3 night and two stolen bases. Wentworth was also steady at the plate, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
With the win, Clemson improves to 45-16 and advances to face No. 2 seed West Virginia in the winner's bracket on Saturday night at 6 p.m. The Tigers will look to carry their momentum forward as they continue their push through the regional.
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