Bats are hot as Tigers scrimmage in Doug Kingsmore

Will Taylor homered in Friday's scrimmage.

by Brooks Thomason - Correspondent - Fri Feb 02 18:19:44 GMT-04:00 2024

A warm afternoon led to hot bats for Clemson baseball.

Clemson Baseball’s season preparations opened up with a scrimmage Friday afternoon in Doug Kingsmore Stadium as Team Purple knocked off team Orange 12-10 in 5 1/2 innings. A high-scoring scrimmage saw the bats scorching hot for lots of Clemson hitters.

The first inning started with some fireworks from both sides. Orange started with good plate discipline; after a walk by Alden Mathes, Nolan Nawrocki hit a double off the wall, leading Blake Wright to a two-RBI single to bring in both runners.

Purple Team answered back quickly. After an 11-pitch walk to Cam Cannarella, Will Taylor launched a two-run shot over the left-center field wall, and Cooper Blauser and Andrew Ciufo both launched solo shots to give Purple a 4-2 lead at the end of the first.

In the second, Tristan Bissetta pulled an RBI double down the right field line for Orange, but Will Taylor hits a 2 RBI double off the wall, and then Jimmy Obertop hit a two-run moonshot 427 feet to make it eight runs in two innings for purple.

The bats stayed hot, as Jacob Jarrell scorched a two-run shot in the third, and Jacob Hinderleider smacked a solo shot to eat into the lead, but with two outs, Will Taylor hit a perfect blooper to score two runs.

At the end of the third, the teams had combined for 16 runs off of 15 hits.

In the top of the fourth, left-handed pitcher Rocco Reid goes under ten pitches, gives up no hits, and can claim the first zero on the scoreboard on the day. In the bottom half, a bad throw to first from shortstop led to a run for purple.

In the top of the sixth, Nick Clayton is the last person on the bump. Now hitting for the orange team, Cooper Blauser launches a two-run blast to get his second home run of the day. Jarren Purify hits a triple off the wall, driving in a run on top of it. After five and a half innings, Clemson ended the scrimmage. The Tigers ended with 23 hits.