‘We’re rolling right now’: How Clemson baseball has rallied to save its season
Kier Meredith knew the ball was gone before he even finished his swing. The Clemson veteran took the time to watch it, to savor the towering flight of the ball over the right-field fence.
Still holding his bat, Meredith took a few steps out of the left-handed batter’s box, flipped his bat in the air and let out a primal scream. Seconds later, his Clemson teammates gathered around home plate to mob him.
Meredith’s three-run homer in the eighth inning blew open a close-fought Wednesday night bout with USC Upstate, a game the Tigers won, 9-2. But that moment was bigger than just one swing or one game.
Meredith’s homer was an exclamation point on a transformative, late-season run by the Clemson baseball team. Two weekends ago, the Tigers were reeling — sitting at 15-18 on the season with an RPI outside of the top 70.
On Wednesday night, Meredith and the Tigers (22-18, 15-12 ACC) won their seventh straight game.
“We’re rolling right now,” an excited Meredith said after the game. “We’re playing really good baseball. The mojo, the vibes, the energy’s been good in the dugout. And so we just wanted to keep the momentum that we’ve had in the past few weekends and bring it into this week. So we came out with a lot of energy tonight.”
The emotions were visible in Clemson’s home dugout all game long — and for good reason. With their postseason hopes fading, the Tigers rallied to save their season, sweeping both Wake Forest and a then-No. 7 Louisville team in consecutive weekends. In the process, the Tigers have rocketed up the RPI, currently ranking 40th in WarrenNolan.com’s live rankings. And D1Baseball.com projects Clemson as a No. 3 seed in its most recent NCAA tournament projections.
Wednesday night’s win represented a full-circle moment for Clemson, who fell to the same USC Upstate team, 12-2, at home March 9. At that point in the season, the injury-riddled Tigers struggled through a six-game losing streak.
“I told them after the game: ‘Look where we were last time we played USC Upstate, and look at where we’re at now,’” head coach Monte Lee said. “And we’ve still got a lot of season to go. We all understand that, but in this moment right now for us to play the game that we played tonight, it just says a lot about our kids.
“They never gave in. They got they got punched in the face, and they’ve been punched in the face at different times during the season, my guys show a lot of toughness. They’re a very resilient group.”
The Spartans (30-10) are a postseason team in their own right, ranking seven spots higher than the Tigers in the RPI, and the win should only help bolster Clemson’s postseason resume.
But as Lee said himself, there’s a lot of season left to go. After wrapping up their seven-game homestand, the Tigers will play their next two weekends on the road at Georgia Tech (21-18, 15-12) and Florida State (23-16, 15-12), respectively. In between, on May 11, the Tigers will host rival South Carolina for the final game of their three-game series.
The Gamecocks won the first two games back in February, but the Tigers are different, healthier team now. They’ve found stability at the top of their weekend rotation, with redshirt freshman right-hander Mack Anglin seizing the Friday role and funky left-hander Keyshawn Askew solidifying Saturday. Freshman Caden Grice might be the team’s most exciting freshman since Seth Beer, leading the team with a .348 average and 12 homers while also pitching out of the bullpen.
But it’s been the team’s veterans, like Meredith and shortstop James Parker, who have fueled Clemson’s recent run more than anyone else, Lee said. A fourth-year outfielder who has battled injuries throughout his career, Meredith has started 35 games for the Tigers this season and ranks just behind Grice with his .414 on-base percentage. Additionally, second baseman Sam Hall’s return from injury has added a jolt to the top of the lineup, with Hall hitting .350 through 13 games.
“Quite honestly, it’s just the older guys in the program that have stepped up and just given us that calming presence on the field and that consistency that we needed,” Lee said. “It’s going to be up to the older guys, just continuing to get the ship going in the right direction and putting the team first and grinding out at-bats, making plays on defense, and our pitching staff just pounding the strike zone.
“If Clemson doesn’t beat Clemson, we’re pretty dang good, and we can play with anybody in the country.”
Next Clemson Baseball Game
Who: Clemson (22-18, 15-12 ACC) vs. Georgia Tech (21-18, 15-12)
When: 6 p.m. Friday
Where: Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia
Watch: Streaming on ACC Network Extra
