‘Cardiac Cats’ strike again as Clemson baseball edges Charlotte with ninth-inning rally
No. 2 Clemson scored four runs in the ninth inning to storm from behind and defeat Charlotte, 14-12, in a wild midweek contest on Tuesday night at Truist Field.
The win was the 16th come-from-behind victory for the Tigers (37-10 overall) this season.
Jacob Jarrell finished 3-for-4 at the plate and broke a 12-all tie in the ninth with a two-run double that scored the eventual winning runs.
The Tigers totaled 15 hits in Tuesday’s victory, and they started collecting them right from the beginning by getting on the board in the first inning. Cam Cannarella hit a two-out RBI triple to score the game’s first run before Jimmy Obertop singled home Cannarella for an early 2-0 Clemson lead.
After Nolan Nawrocki lined an RBI double down the left field line as part of a two-run second inning, Obertop led off the third with a solo home run. It was Obertop’s 16th blast of the year and it gave Clemson a 5-0 lead.
Tigers starter Rocco Reid gave up a pair of third-inning runs before the Clemson bats struck again in the fourth. Jacob Hinderleider launched a three-run home run, his 11th of the year, that made it a 9-2 game on a night where it looked like the Tigers would have their way with a struggling Charlotte (22-27) club.
That all changed a half-inning later.
The 49ers got back into the game in the bottom of the fourth when Shane Taylor clubbed a two-out grand slam home run off Drew Titsworth, punctuating a five-run Charlotte inning and cutting the Clemson lead to 9-7. Counting the fourth-inning rally, the 49ers would go on to score 10 of the game’s next 11 runs to build a 12-10 lead before the ninth inning dramatics started.
Facing Charlotte reliever Joseph Taylor, Cannarella started the rally with a one-out double. Obertop followed with a single to put runners at the corners before Tristan Bissetta plated a run with an RBI sacrifice fly to cut the Charlotte lead to one.
With Clemson down to its last out, Jack Crighton kept the Tigers’ hopes alive with a game-tying triple to right field that scored pinch-runner Devin Parks and set the stage for Jarrell’s game-winning heroics two batters later.
Crighton and Obertop collected three hits apiece for Clemson.
Charlotte attempted one last rally in the bottom of the ninth by getting runners to second and third with no one out against Austin Gordon. Gordon then struck out Dante DeFranco before getting Kaden Hopson to hit a pop up near home plate. With the 49ers down to their last out, pinch-hitter Jacob Goolsby struck out on three pitches.
The Tigers used five pitchers in the game with Gordon earning his eighth save. Jacob McGovern (2-0) earned the win after tossing a scoreless eighth inning. Taylor (2-2) suffered the loss for Charlotte.
NEXT UP
Clemson travels to Winston-Salem for a key three-game ACC weekend series against No. 13 Wake Forest. First pitch Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m. EDT. The game can be seen on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).
