Steve Wilkerson went 4-for-4 at the plate and three Tiger pitchers combined to allow only two runs and one walk with 11 strikeouts in Clemson’s 6-2 win over Elon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Tigers, who took a 1-0 lead in the two-game series, improved to 10-8 on the season. The Phoenix dropped to 12-9.
Wilkerson led off the game with a walk and scored the first of three Clemson runs in the first inning. The Phoenix never pulled closer than two runs the rest of the way, as Jonathan Meyer, Patrick Andrews, and Mike Kent combined to allow only two of Elon’s 12 baserunners to score in the game.
Meyer (1-1) pitched 5.0 effective innings to earn the win in a starting role. He gave up seven hits, one run, and no walks with five strikeouts. Kent pitched the final 2.0 innings with three strikeouts while not allowing a hit, run, or walk.
Grant McCoury (0-1), the first of three Elon hurlers, suffered the loss. He surrendered one hit, three runs, and three walks in 0.2 innings pitched. Elon pitchers combined to strand 12 Tigers on base, including seven in scoring position.
In the first inning, Wilkerson, Jason Stolz, and Richie Shaffer led off with walks to load the bases with no outs, then Phil Pohl lined a single to center to score Wilkerson. Brad Felder reached on a fielder’s choice to first as Stolz scored and Pohl was retired at second base. Spencer Kieboom then lined a sacrifice fly to right-center to score Shaffer, giving Clemson a 3-0 lead.
