STANFORD, Calif. – Playing the rubber game of a three-game ACC series on Sunday afternoon, Stanford took a 5-4 lead into the sixth inning only to have Clemon score eight unanswered runs to take a 12-5 victory.
After senior Cort MacDonald broke a 4-4 tie with a two-out double that plated Charlie Bates all the way from first base in the bottom of the fifth, Clemson exploded for five runs on four hits in the top of the sixth to take a 9-5 lead and never looked back. The Tigers would add three more runs in the eighth, as Nate Savoie, Jacob Jarrell and Tyler Lichtenberger all collected RBI-doubles to blow the game open and run the tally to its final of 12-5.
Freshman Teddy Tokheim continued his hot hitting to begin his first season on The Farm, finishing 2-for-4 with his 10th home run – a solo shot that put the Cardinal on the board first in the first inning.
Junior Eric Jeon, who went 2-for-5, also homered for the Cardinal, lacing an 0-1 pitch off the batter’s eye in straight-away center field for his seventh round-tripper of the season. Jeon’s homer handed the Cardinal a 3-2 lead to that point in the game, and Stanford would tack on one more in the inning on an Ethan Hott sac fly to lead 4-2 after four frames.
The Cardinal used eight pitchers in the Sunday setback, with Nick Dugan working the first 3 2/3 innings while allowing two runs on three hits and one walk with two strikeouts. Freshman Mike Erspamer was tagged with the loss and dropped to 0-2 on the season after surrendering four runs on two hits and a walk while recording one out.
Clemson reliever Dylan Harrison was credited with the victory and moved to 2-1 on the year after throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Harrison handed the ball to Danny Nelson for the final two scoreless innings for the Tigers.
Stanford will continue ACC play next week when it travels Louisville for three games beginning Friday at 3 p.m. PT.
GAME NOTES:
- Stanford has homered in 21 consecutive games (52 home runs over the span)
- Eric Jeon went 2-for-5 to extend his reached base streak to 10 games … is hitting .359 (14-for-39) with 10 runs scored, a double, five home runs and seven RBIs in ACC play
- Cort MacDonald finished 2-for-4 and has managed multiple hits in three of his last four games played
- Teddy Tokheim went 2-for-4 … has hit safely in 12 straight games and has multiple hits in eight of his last nine ... owns 12 multi-hit games, has hit safely in 20 of his 23 games played, has an extra-base hit in 14 of the 23, and has reached in 22 straight contests ... has homered in back-to-back contests and five of his last eight games overall … is hitting .400 (20-for-50) with 13 runs scored, seven doubles, six home runs and 16 RBIs in ACC play