Western falls to #11 Clemson

Western Carolina’s undefeated streak against the ACC came to an end on March 28 as the Clemson Tigers took an early lead and never looked back as they knocked off the Catamounts, 15-6 in front of 4,875 fans at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina. The loss drops Western to 14-and-11 on the season while Clemson moves to 17-and-7. Clemson came out early and scored 7 runs over the 1st 4 innings, but Western came back in the top of the 5th as Steven Strausbaugh brought in Blake Murphy on an RBI single to right field then the bases were loaded courtesy of back-to-back singles from John Ingram and Kenny Smith. Strausbaugh scored on a walk by Nick Liles. Ingram scored on a fielder’s choice from Mitchell Hatley, but Liles was forced out at 2nd base. Barrett Shaft drove in the last run of the inning on an RBI single to make cut the lead to 3, 7-4. Clemson would put the game out of reach with 8 runs over the next 3 innings to make it 15-4. In the 8th, Western tried to mount a comeback but could only put across a pair of runs as Murphy drew a walk with 1 out and moved to 3rd base on a pinch hit double from Dylan de Graaf. Murphy scored on and Ingram ground out to the shortstop. Smith rounded out the scoring with an RBI single, scoring de Graaf. Tigers pitching would shut door on the comeback and take the game, 15-6. Smith led the way for the Catamounts going 3-for-4 on the game. Ingram was the only other Catamount to have multiple hits, going 2-for-4. Chris Masters would suffer the loss, going just 2 innings, allowing 4 runs on only 3 hits, walking 3 and striking out 2.