Late homers lift Clemson past USC Upstate as Tigers remain unbeaten

Clemson’s offense has come up big when it has needed to so far in the 2022 season. That trend continued Tuesday evening against USC Upstate.

The Tigers hit a pair of home runs in the eighth inning to rally past Upstate and earn an 8-5 victory at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

The win improves Clemson to 8-0 on the year heading into this weekend’s rivalry series against South Carolina. Clemson has already earned sweeps over Indiana and Hartford so far in 2022.

Clemson and Upstate were tied at 5 heading to the bottom of the eighth inning when the Tigers’ bats got hot.

Jonathan French led off the frame with his first home run of the season to give Clemson a 6-5 lead, before leadoff man Dylan Brewer hit a two-run homer a couple of batters later to give the Tigers some insurance.

Alex Edmondson earned the win for Clemson, despite allowing two runs in one inning of work. Ryan Ammons closed out the game to earn his second save of the season.

Tyler Corbitt, Cooper Ingle, Bryar Hawkins and French each had multi-hit games for the Tigers. Hawkins went 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs.

Clemson already has eight wins in 2022 after finishing with only 25 wins last season.

The pitching and offense have been spectacular so far this year. Clemson is hitting .329 as a team and is averaging more than 8 runs per game.

As a pitching staff, the Tigers have a 2.59 ERA.

Clemson will get its biggest test so far this season beginning Friday when the Tigers start a three-game series with South Carolina.

Game 1 of the series with the Gamecocks is scheduled for Friday night at Founders Park in Columbia. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Founders Park.

Game 2 is Saturday at Segra Park in Columbia with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m.

The series finale will be played Sunday at Clemson, beginning at 3 p.m.