Tigers Walk Off With 9-8 Win Over Winthrop in 10

CLEMSON, S.C. – Kyle Wilkie hit a walkoff single with one out in the 10th inning to lift No. 7 Clemson to a 9-8 win over Winthrop on Tuesday afternoon. The Tigers, who defeated Winthrop for the third year in a row with a walkoff single, improved to 8-0, while the Eagles dropped to 3-6.

Chris Williams hit a three-run homer, his third long ball of the year, in the first inning. Two batters later, Drew Wharton belted a solo home run, his fourth homer of the season, to give Clemson a 4-0 lead. But the Eagles responded with a run in the second inning and four runs in the third inning after a costly error, just Clemson’s fourth of 2018. Winthrop tacked on two runs in the fourth inning and a run in the top of the sixth inning to build an 8-4 lead.

The Tigers rallied with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, keyed by Wharton’s run-scoring double and RBI singles by Grayson Byrd and Wilkie. With one out in the ninth inning, Patrick Cromwell crushed a solo homer, his first of the year, to tie the score 8-8. In the 10th inning, Wharton led off with a walk and moved to third base on Byrd’s single on a perfectly-executed slash-and-run. Two batters later, Wilkie laced a single up the middle to plate Wharton for the winning run.

Freshman Mat Clark (1-0) earned his first career win by striking out both batters he faced in the 10th inning. Ryan Miller pitched 4.0 strong innings in relief, allowing just one run on two hits in 4.0 innings pitched. Macklin Ohs (0-1) suffered the loss.

Clemson plays the No. 23 Gamecocks this weekend in three games at three different sites, beginning with a Friday contest at South Carolina at 7 p.m., on SEC Network.