Clemson celebrates winning the 2023 ACC Baseball Tournament Championship
The Clemson Tigers defeated the Miami Hurricanes on a rainy Sunday afternoon in Durham, North Carolina to capture the 2023 ACC Baseball Tournament Championship. The Tigers got some clutch hitting from Riley Bertram in the seventh inning to spark their comeback. They trailed 5-4 in the seventh inning, when Bertram blasted a pivotal three-run shot to give the Tigers a 7-5 edge. Clemson tacked on four more runs for insurance and the Hurricanes’ bats simply couldn’t get anything going in the final few innings. Once the Tigers got the final out in the top of the ninth inning, the celebration was on in the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Check out the epic celebration below.
Clemson improved to 43-17 overall with the win. They’ve been one of the hottest teams in college baseball and Sunday’s win was their 16th straight victory. The win also brought the Tigers their 16th ACC Championship and their 11th ACC Tournament crown.
Four Clemson head coaches have won the ACC in their first season: Bill Wilhelm in 1958, Jack Leggett in 1994, Monte Lee in 2016, and now Erik Bakich adds his name to the list.
Will Taylor also hit a three-run blast in the seventh inning for the Tigers. Their eight-run explosion in that inning proved to be the difference in the ball game.
The 2023 ACC All-Tournament Team was released on Sunday night, following Clemson’s 11-5 victory over the Miami Hurricanes. Slugger Caden Grice of Clemson won Tournament MVP honors. He’s one of the best two-way players in all of college baseball and he played like it in this year’s tournament. Grice was pivotal in guiding the Tigers to their 11th ACC Tournament crown.
It shouldn’t be surprising that the Tigers had four players named to the 2023 ACC All-Tournament Team: Caden Grice, second baseman Riley Bertram, outfielder Cooper Ingle, and outfielder Cam Cannarella.
Clemson will now await the official release of the 2023 NCAA Tournament field. That will happen during the 2023 NCAA Baseball Tournament Selection Show. It will be nationally televised on Monday, May 29th on ESPN2. The show is set to begin at noon EST.
On3’s Jonathan Wagner has Clemson projected to play No. 4 seed Penn in the Clemson Regional of this year’s NCAA Tournament. For a full look at his field of 64 projections for the 2023 NCAA Tournament you can find that here.
It’s going to be fascinating to see how the Tigers do in the tournament.