Talented freshman Will Taylor gets a hit in first at bat of college career

CLEMSON — It didn’t take Will Taylor much time to make his presence felt in the first baseball game of his college career.

The talented freshman singled up the middle Friday night against Georgia Tech during his first at bat as a Tiger.

Taylor was the designated hitter for Friday’s game and batted sixth. This was his first live action as a college baseball player after he tore his ACL while playing receiver for the Tigers in the fall.

“It was great to see Will Taylor get his first start — a base hit in his first at bat,” Clemson coach Monte Lee said. “Got on base, scored a run, hit a ball pretty good to right field. He looked pretty comfortable in the box.”

Clemson went on to win Game 1 of the series 9-3. The Tigers improve to 29-17 (7-14) with the victory.

Clemson has been up and down this year and is looking to bounce back after getting swept at Louisville last weekend. Friday night was a good start for the Tigers.

The hope is that Taylor can be a spark down the stretch. Game 2 of the series with Georgia Tech is Saturday at 3 p.m., with Game 3 scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m.

Taylor turned down the opportunity to be a first-round pick in the MLB draft to attend Clemson and play two sports.

The Irmo native made several plays for Clemson during football season, before suffering a torn ACL in Week 5 against Boston College.

He was expected to be a big part of Clemson’s 2022 baseball team before tearing his ACL during football season.

Taylor has all of the tools that you look for in an outfielder, which is what made him one of the top players available in last year’s MLB draft.

Perfect Game lists him as the No. 3 overall and No. 3 college prospect for the 2024 MLB draft.

There may be some rust for Taylor early on, but there is no doubt that he will immediately be one of the most talented players in the lineup.

“He just needs more reps. We have to continue to monitor how he recovers after his first game out there,” Lee said. “My plan is to play him in the field tomorrow. We’re going to probably try to alternate him as far as DH, play the field, DH. We’ll bounce him back and forth. We want to see how he does. This is not going to be a set in stone thing with Will. We have to see how does he feels tomorrow. The plan is to try to get him to the field tomorrow. However, we need to see how he feels when he gets to the ballpark.”