Orange Rallies for 6-5 Walkoff Win Over Purple on Sunday to Conclude Fall Baseball Season

Clemson, SC -The Orange team scored two ninth-inning runs to knock off the Purple team by a score of 6-5 to take the weekend series 2-1 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Sunday afternoon.  The visiting Purple squad tallied five runs on eights hits, while the home Orange combined for six runs on 13 hits.In the bottom of the ninth inning, Kevin Bradley drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Andrew Cox.  After a flyout, John Mulkey also walked to put runners on first and second with two out for Maleeke Gibson.Gibson singled to center to score Bradley and tie the score.  However, a bobble by the centerfielder allowed Mulkey to advance to third and then score on a throwing error by the shortstop for the walkoff 6-5 win by the Orange squad.Gibson, Mulkey and Joe Costigan all recorded three hits apiece for the Orange.  For the purple, Jay Baum finished with three hits, while Jon McGibbon had a two-run single in the third inning as part of a three-run frame.The Orange struck first in the bottom of the first inning.  Gibson singled, moved to second on a groundout, and scored on an error.In the second, both teams added a run.  In the top half, the Purple’s Mike Dunster drew a two-out walk and scored on a double by Matt Reed to tie the score 1-1. In the bottom half, the Orange hit three straight singles to load the bases for Gibson, who singled to bring home a run and put the Orange back on top 2-1. The Purple scored three runs in the top of the third inning.  Tyler Slaton led off with a single and Steven Duggar followed with a double to put runners on second and third.  McGibbon followed with a single to bring in both Slaton and Duggar to give the Purple a 3-2 lead.Two batter laters, Baum singled and moved McGibbon to third. A few pitches later, Baum got in a rundown between first and second, which allowed McGibbon to score from third and put the Purple up 4-2.Gibson led off the fifth inning with a walk and moved to second on a groundout. After a walk by Shane Kennedy, Garrett Boulware singled to score Gibson and cut the lead to 4-3. In the seventh inning, both teams added a run again.  Slaton started the top half with a leadoff walk before stealing second.  He scored one batter later on a error to make it 5-3 Purple. The Purple responded in the bottom half.  Kennedy singled to start the inning and stole second base. Three batters later, Cox singled to bring home Kennedy to make the score 5-4 Purple. With the win, the Orange won the weekend series 2-1.  On Friday, the Purple squad won a pitchers’ duel 3-2.  On Saturday, the Orange won 13-7 to even the series. Sunday’s scrimmage concluded fall practice for the Tigers.  They will start the regular season on February 15 when they play host to William & Mary at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Team      1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 9   R  H  E—————————————-Purple    0 1 3  0 0 0  1 0 0   5  8  3Orange    1 1 0  0 1 0  1 0 2   6 13  1