Clemson opens season with shutout of Indiana

CLEMSON — The 2022 Clemson baseball season is underway and off to an outstanding start.

The Tigers shutout Indiana 9-0 on Friday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in the first game of a three-game series. Clemson can clinch the series with a win in Game 2 on Saturday at 3 p.m. The series finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday.

This was the first ever meeting between the ACC and Big Ten programs.

Clemson starting pitcher Mack Anglin showed why he is the staff’s ace with a nearly flawless start. The righty did not allow a hit in 5 innings of work.

Anglin struck out eight and walked two while tossing 82 pitches.

The Tigers gave him plenty of help early offensively. Cooper Ingle scored Dylan Brewer on an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning, before Chad Fairey gave Clemson a 2-0 lead later in the first with an RBI single of his own. Blake Wright followed with a single to score Caden Grice and push Clemson’s first-inning lead to 3-0.

Dayton transfer Benjamin Blackwell gave Clemson a 4-0 lead in the next inning as he homered on the first pitch he saw as a Tiger.

Clemson added a couple of runs in the fourth on an error and a sac fly. With the game already out of reach, Clemson scored two runs in the seventh and one more in the eighth.

Grice, who is a preseason All-American, finished 3-for-5 with 3 runs scored. Ingle went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs. Indiana finished with only three hits.

If Clemson can get a series win, or potentially a sweep, it would mark a nice start to the year for Monte Lee’s club. Indiana finished 26-18 last season and was the preseason No. 6 team in the Big Ten for 2022.

The Tigers were picked to finish fifth in the ACC Atlantic in 2022 after a disappointing 25-27 campaign in 2021.