Seventh Inning Rally Clemson Sinks Charlotte

CLEMSON, SC The Charlotte 49ers baseball team dropped their first Wednesday contest of the season by a 9-5 decision at Clemson University on Tuesday night (Feb. 21).

Charlotte (3-2) struck first and still led in the sixth inning, but a four-run seventh inning by Clemson (4-0) kept the hosts undefeated all year.

Brandon Stahlman and JD Suarez led Charlotte with two hits, and Stahlman also drove in a pair. Austin Knight hit his second home run of the season with a solo shot over the wall in left field in the third inning. Will Butcher, Kaden Hopsonand Jack Dragum all took one hit, while Dragum and Josh Patrick everyone was jogging.

The Niners threw eight hands early in the game Collin Kramer – who started the season for the second time. It was a welcome sight for CLT baseball fans Christian Lothesappeared in a live match for the first time since the 2021 season, after missing all of 2022 while recovering from injury.

HOW DID IT HAPPEN

After both teams went down in order in the first, the Niners opened the scoring in the second when Stahlman brought home Hopson. Hopson and Patrick drew back-to-back walks to put two on and then with two outs, Stahlman singled up the middle and made CLT’s catcher at second.

The Green and White doubled their lead in the next inning when Knight hit his second long ball of the season. There was no doubt where the ball landed as he turned it over and launched it out of the seating area behind the wall to the left.

Charlotte held the Tigers hitless until the fourth inning, but Clemson picked up three of them in the frame and brought in about four runs to take the lead. A walk loaded the bases and a groundout to first base brought home the first run. The second scored on a sacrifice fly to tie the game, and then a two-run homer to nearly the same spot as Knight’s gave the hosts their first lead of the day.

The Tigers held a two-run lead until the sixth inning, when the Niners struck back. CLT had two runners in scoring position and one out when a costly error by the Clemson left fielder allowed several runs to score. A fly ball hit his path and would have scored Cam Fisher on a sac fly anyway, but the left fielder dropped the ball, allowing the run to score, the runner on second to advance to third, and the batter – Patrick – to advance to second. Consecutive Singles by Dragum and Stahlm then brought green and white.

Charlotte’s second-inning lead didn’t last long as Clemson tied the game in the bottom of the frame. A single and stolen base put a runner in scoring position, and he came home in the same at-bat with a shot to the right side of the infield.

The Tigers carried that momentum into the seventh inning down the stretch, handling the knockout blow with four runs. Four straight hits (three singles and a double) to start the frame brought in three runs and then a triple brought home the fourth to put the hosts up by nine. CLT stranded a runner 90 yards to get out of the inning, but the damage was done and Charlotte couldn’t rally in its final six outs.

NEXT

The Niners return home this weekend at Hayes Stadium to take on the defending Patriot League Champions Army. The series kicks off on Friday (February 24) at 4pm, followed by games on Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 1pm.