Clemson made Jack Leggett’s 1,900th career game as a head coach a memorable one, as the Tigers pounded out 17 hits en route to a 13-7 victory over Georgia Tech in front of 1,947 fans at Russ Chandler Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers, who evened the series 1-1, improved to 25-19 overall and 13-10 in the ACC. The Yellow Jackets dropped to 26-18 overall and 10-13 in ACC play.
The win was Leggett’s 1,214th in his 33rd year as a head coach. He moved into a tie for 14th place with Richard Jones, who ended his career as head coach at Illinois.
Spencer Kieboom, a native of nearby Marietta, Ga., totaled a career-high five RBIs thanks in large part to his grand slam in the fourth inning that broke a 2-2 tie. Clemson added four more runs in the top of the fifth inning before the Yellow Jackets responded with four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. However, the Tigers pulled away with two runs in the seventh inning and another run in the ninth inning.
Mike Kent (1-1) entered the game with no outs in the fifth inning and pitched the rest of the game. He allowed just four hits, one run, and no walks with one strikeout in 5.0 innings pitched to earn the win.
Georgia Tech starter Dusty Isaacs (5-3) suffered the loss, as he gave up six hits, six runs, and one walk with two strikeouts in 3.0 innings pitched.
Kyle Wren chopped the first pitch of the game for the Yellow Jackets in the first inning in front of the plate. The ball went over the first-base bag and just beyond the reach of first-baseman Jon McGibbon. Brad Felder could not field the ball along the fence in foul territory down the right-field line and Wren scored on an inside-the-park homer, his second home run of the season, and the rout was on.
