By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
CLEMSON, S.C. – One streak was ended and another continued at Doug Kingsmore Stadium Wednesday afternoon, as the Tennessee Tech baseball team fell to Clemson on the road, 7-4.
The Tigers (26-16) snapped an eight-game losing skid with the win while the Golden Eagles (17-22) advanced their streak of consecutive games with a home run to 15 straight.
Clemson took an early 2-0 lead in the contest, but Tech answered in the second with a trio of base hits. Freshman John Dyer led things off with a single to left center field. Nathan McMeans singled through the left side two batters later and junior Gavin Johns followed with an RBI base knock up the middle.
The Tigers scored two more in the third before the purple and gold received their long ball for the game. Sophomore Jason Hinchman provided the drive, blasting his Ohio Valley Conference-leading 19th round tripper to left center field.
Logan Davidson of the Tigers delivered his own two-run dinger to right center field in the bottom half, making it a 6-2 contest. Clemson snagged one more insurance run in the seventh to increase the lead to 7-2.
In the eighth, the Golden Eagles looked to mount a rally, with Hinchman drawing a one-out walk and advancing to third on a double down the third base line by Dyer. Junior Anthony Carrera followed a pitching change with his own two-bagger, rifling a shot down the right field line to drive in a pair and clip the deficit to 7-4.
Freshman Thomas Saliba tossed two scoreless frames in the contest with a pair of strikeouts. Sophomore Tyler Sylvester completed an inning and a third. After loading the bases with no outs in the eighth, he rallied to strike out the side and keep Clemson off the scoreboard.
The Golden Eagles return to Cookeville for an OVC weekend series against in-state rival Belmont beginning Friday with a 4:00 p.m. CT tilt at Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex.
Photo by Tony Marable