Clemson slugger Riley Bertram delivers pivotal three-run blast in ACC Tournament Championship vs. Miami
Riley Bertram hasn’t hit many home runs in his five years of playing college baseball, (3). He delivered a massive one on Sunday afternoon against the Miami Hurricanes in the 2023 ACC Tournament Championship game. Bertram blasted a three-run shot in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Clemson a 7-5 lead. With his team trailing 5-4 on a rainy Sunday afternoon in Durham, North Carolina, Bertram delivered the goods when his team needed it the most.
Check out the pivotal blast below.
It was Bertram’s first home run as a Tiger and it could not have come at a better time. His teammates had been giving him grief about not hitting any home runs during the 2023 season. Well, they can’t give him as much grief anymore. Which is why he hit them when the silencer when he trotted the bases.
Clemson ended up pouring on four more runs in the seventh inning to take a 11-5 advantage. They ended up winning the 2023 ACC Baseball Tournament Championship, 11-5. Clemson has been one of the hottest teams in college baseball during the past month. They’ve won 16 straight games and 26 of their last 29.
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.
The 2023 ACC All-Tournament Team was released on Sunday night, following Clemson’s 11-5 victory over the Miami Hurricanes. Slugger Caden Grice won ACC 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 NCAA Tournament.