Caden Grice leads Clemson past Charleston as Tigers remain unbeaten

CLEMSON — Caden Grice’s two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning proved to be the difference Tuesday night against Charleston as the Tigers held on for a 2-1 victory at Doug Kingsmore Stadium to remain unbeaten on the year.

Grice hit a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall for an opposite field home run, which ended up being all the scoring the Tigers need.

Clemson improved to 4-0 with the win, while Charleston fell to 3-1 with the loss. The Tigers will return to action Friday, hosting Hartford at 4 p.m.

“What a great win,” Clemson coach Monte Lee said. “It was about pitching, pitching and pitching. That was pretty much the story of the game.”

While Grice provided all of the offense Clemson needed, several Tigers pitchers kept Charleston’s bats from heating up.

Clemson used five pitchers against the Cougars, and the group allowed only five hits and one earned run.

Billy Barlow got the Tigers off to a good start on the mound, striking out 7 while allowing 1 run in 4 1/3 innings of work. The start was the first of the freshman’s career.

“Billy Barlow, in his first start, couldn’t have asked for a better job by Billy,” Lee said.

Jackson Lindley, Geoffrey Gilbert, Alex Edmondson and Ryan Ammons followed to combine for 4 2/3 shutout innings.

Lindley earned the win, allowing one hit and one walk, with one strikeout in 1 inning of work. Ammons picked up the save, striking out the side in the ninth. Charleston stranded 10 runners on base while managing only one run.

“Just super proud of our club and the way that we won,” Lee said. “They had runners on base it seemed like every single inning and we were able to pitch our way out of it. It was all about our pitching staff tonight.”

In addition to hitting a home run, Grice also walked twice. Clemson finished with only five hits as Cooper Ingle was 3-for-4, while Jonathan French was 1-for-3.

“Offensively we really didn’t do a whole lot outside of Caden hitting the two-run homer,” Lee said. “Besides that, just didn’t have much to show for it. But I think that was a testament to the College of Charleston’s pitching staff.”