Coastal Carolina pounces on Clemson early, pounds Tigers

CLEMSON — It took one inning for Coastal Carolina to score all of the runs it would need Tuesday evening at Clemson.

The Chanticleers scored 10 runs in the top of the first inning on their way to a 16-7 victory over the Tigers at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Coastal scored five more runs in the third inning — scoring the first 15 runs of the game — as Clemson fell to 1-5 in its last six games. The Tigers opened the season 14-0 but are now 15-5.

“It was a tough game. In 22 years of coaching I’ve never seen a first inning like that,” Clemson coach Monte Lee said. “It’s just really hard to put into words. … We just didn’t execute pitches in the first inning.”

Clemson struggled offensively during a four-game losing streak last week, but the offense didn’t have much of a chance with the start the pitching staff got off to on Tuesday.

Billy Barlow got the start for the Tigers and allowed five earned runs without recording an out.

Jackson Lindley then took over on the mound and allowed five earned runs while recording only two outs as Coastal took a 10-0 first-inning lead.

“It just snowballed and spiraled on us out of control in the first inning,” Lee said. “We tried our best to get some guys in there that could stop the bleeding, and unfortunately that momentum was going there way.”

Jay Dill allowed three runs in 1 1/3 inning of work, while Casey Tallent allowed two runs in three innings.

Tyler Johnson was 2-for-4 with two homers and five RBIs for the Chanticleers. Nick Lucky also drove in five runs for Coastal, while Austin White was 3-for-3 with three runs scored.

For Clemson, Dylan Brewer hit a pair of home runs and had three RBIs. Benjamin Blackwell, Cooper Ingle and Max Wagner joined Brewer with multi-hit games.

Clemson returns to action Wednesday, hosting Winthrop at 6 p.m.