Grice strong on the mound, Amick and Taylor homer as Tigers sweep Louisville

Will Taylor (16) celebrates with his teammates after his homer (Photo by Merrell Mann).

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun May 07 15:04:59 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – Clemson baseball is warming up with the weather.

Caden Grice struck out a career-high 11 batters, and Will Taylor and Billy Amick each homered as Clemson defeated Louisville 7-3 Sunday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, the final game of a three-game sweep.

Grice improves to 5-1 with the win after pitching 6 1/3 innings. He gave up just three hits and two earned runs. He struck out those 11 and walked just two. Clemson improves to 31-17 overall and 14-10 in league play. The Tigers sit second in the ACC Atlantic behind Wake Forest and own the head-to-head tiebreaker over every team behind them in the standings. Louisville falls to 29-18 overall and 9-15 in the ACC.

A single and double allowed the Cardinals to jump out to a 1-0 lead on Grice and the Tigers in the top of the first, but Clemson answered in the bottom of the frame. Cooper Ingle lined a 3-1 pitch to left-center for a one-out double (he’s now reached base in 42 consecutive games), bringing Taylor to the plate. Taylor waited on a 2-1 pitch and drove it over the wall in right for his third homer of the season and a 2-1 lead.

A walk, a throwing error on Grice on a failed pickoff attempt and a single allowed Louisville to tie the score at 2-2 in the top of the second, and the Cardinals looked to add on an inning later after a single and a walk put runners at first and second with nobody out. That brought up Eddie King – who homered Friday – to the plate. Grice got ahead of King 1-2 and the Cardinals attempted a double-steal.

King merely waved at the pitch for strike three and Ingle threw the runner out at third for a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play. The next hitter, Brandon Anderson, lined a shot back at Grice, who caught the ball at his belt, showed the umpire, and dropped the ball on the mound to get out of the inning without allowing a run.

Clemson re-took the lead in the bottom of the third. Jack Crighton stayed hot by smoking a leadoff double to left-center. With one out and the infield in, Ingle laced a ball to center. The centerfielder raced in and tried to grab the knee-high liner. The ball popped out of his glove and Crighton was able to score for a 3-2 lead.

Crighton and Ingle were in the middle of the action again in the bottom of the fifth. Crighton lined a one-out single to left and promptly stole second. He moved to third on a groundout, bringing up Ingle. Ingle worked the count to 2-2 and then shot a single to left to score Crighton for a 4-2 lead.

Billy Amick led off the bottom of the sixth with a bang, launching a homer to left on the first pitch he saw. The homer was his 8th of the season. The Tigers eventually loaded the bases and scored another run on a wild pitch for a 6-2 lead through six innings.

Grice pitched into the seventh but was replaced by Reed Garris after hitting a batter and allowing a single. The runner eventually scored on a sacrifice fly and Clemson led 6-3. However, Louisville gifted the Tigers a run in the bottom of the seventh. Taylor walked to lead off the inning, moved to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a wild pitch, and then scored on a passed ball for a 7-3 advantage.

The Cardinals put two runners on base with two out in the top of the ninth, but Ryan Ammons came in and threw one pitch to induce a fly to left and pick up his fourth save of the season.

The Tigers play four games on the road this week, starting with a mid-week contest at No. 8 Coastal Carolina. The Tigers then travel to Blacksburg for a three-game set against Virginia Tech.