CONWAY, S.C. – Lee Sponseller hit a walkoff grand slam in the ninth inning to lift Coastal Carolina to a 9-5 win over No. 10 Clemson at Springs Brooks Stadium on Tuesday night. The Chanticleers took a 1-0 lead in the home-and-home season series and improved to 16-7 overall, while the Tigers fell to 16-5. It was Gary Gilmore’s 900th win as head coach at Coastal Carolina and only Clemson’s second midweek loss in Monte Lee’s third season as head coach.
Robert Jolly, a native of nearby Myrtle Beach, S.C., blasted his second career homer and first of 2018 when he went deep with a solo home run down the right-field line in the top of the second inning. The Chanticleers responded with three runs on three singles in the bottom of the second inning, then they added a run in the third inning to build a 5-1 lead.
In the eighth inning, Logan Davidson, Seth Beer and Patrick Cromwell hit singles, then Chris Williams crushed a three-run homer, his fifth long ball of the year, to tie the score 5-5. But Cory Wood led off the ninth inning with a double. Two walks loaded the bases with no outs before Sponseller belted a grand slam over the wall in right-center.
Jay Causey (1-0) earned the win by tossing 1.2 hitless and scoreless innings, while Carson Spiers (1-1) suffered the loss.
