Blake Wright has career day but No. 4 Clemson falls in Game 2 of doubleheader
Georgia Tech stung No. 4 Clemson in the second game of a doubleheader Friday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium to put a damper on what was shaping up to be a banner day for both the Tigers and second baseman Blake Wright.
Capped off by a two-run ninth-inning home run from Mike Becchetti, the Yellow Jackets rallied from a five-run deficit to stun Clemson, 14-12, in Game 2 of the twin-bill. Georgia Tech overcame deficits of 8-3 and 12-7 to score seven unanswered runs to split the series at a game apiece.
The best part of the day for Clemson (35-10 overall, 16-7 ACC) was Wright’s performance. The senior second baseman went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run in the Tigers’ 11-4 victory in Game 1.
In Game 2, Wright extended his hitting streak to 15 games by going 4-for-5 and hitting two home runs to go with a career-high seven RBIs.
Wright scored the game’s first run when he crushed a no-doubt home run on a pitch from Georgia Tech starter Cam Jones that went over the left-field grandstands and out of the park in the first inning.
Wright went deep again in the third inning — his 19th home run of the season — when he sent a 2-0 changeup from Jones off the top of the fence in left for a three-run blast that put the Tigers ahead, 4-1. It was Wright’s third home run of the doubleheader.
Wright struck again in the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth, he turned on an inside fastball from reliever Brett Thomas and drove it to the gap in left-center for his fifth RBI of the game and a 7-2 Clemson lead.
An inning later, Wright lined a run-scoring single to left to give him four hits in four at-bats and his sixth RBI for an 8-3 lead.
And in the seventh, Wright was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to put Clemson ahead, 11-7. Wright finished with 10 RBIs and had eight hits in 11 at-bats over the course of the two games. He now has 64 RBIs for the season.
Other highlights for Clemson included a two-hit performance from Jacob Hinderleider (2-for-6), who had a two-run double off the wall in right-center in the fifth inning. Hinderleider extended his hitting streak to 11 games. He went 5-for-11 in Friday’s doubleheader.
Ethan Darden turned in a quality start in his seventh start of the year for Clemson, allowing three runs and seven hits in six innings.
It was the Tigers’ bullpen who faltered in the loss, with four relievers combining to surrender 11 runs put up by Georgia Tech over the final three innings.
The Yellow Jackets (28-16, 12-11) tallied six home runs in the game — five of which came in the final three innings against relievers Reed Garris, Drew Titsworth, and Austin Gordon.
Gordon (0-2) surrendered three home runs and was the losing pitcher. Drew Burress hit two homers in back-to-back at-bats, and the Yellow Jackets also got long balls from Matthew Ellis and Vahn Lackey in addition to Becchetti’s game-winning blast in the ninth.
Mason Patel (2-2) retired six of the seven Clemson hitters he faced over the final two innings to earn the victory in relief.
Georgia Tech out-hit Clemson, 14-11. Aside from Wright’s four-hit game and Hinderleider’s two hits, Nolan Nawrocki (2-4) had two hits for the Tigers.
Aidan Knaak will face Tate McKee in the rubber match of the series, scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT Sunday. The two teams played a doubleheader Friday due to inclement weather forecast for Saturday.
