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Inside Clemson baseball's Jacob Hinderleider, Jarren Purify's 'unbelievable' double play
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- Inside Clemson baseball's Jacob Hinderleider, Jarren Purify's 'unbelievable' double play
CLEMSON — Clemson baseball 's Jacob Hinderleider and Jarren Purify went "Showtime Lakers" in the sixth inning against No. 3 Coastal Carolina.
The No. 6 overall seed Tigers (43-14) defeated the Chanticleers 4-3 Saturday after scoring the go-ahead run in the ninth inning to advance to the Clemson Regional finals. They will face the winner of an elimination game between No. 3 seed Coastal Carolina and No. 4 seed High Point on Sunday at 6 p.m. If Clemson wins, the Tigers advance to the super regional. A loss would force an additional game Monday.
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But, before the ninth, the shortstop and second baseman shifted the game's momentum with their double play. With one out and two Chanticleers runners on first and second base, Coastal Carolina's Dean Mihos hit a chopper in the infield to Hinderleider, who tossed the ball backhanded like Magic Johnson on an alley-oop from his glove to Purify at second to record the second out of the inning.
"That was an unbelievable play by Hindi," Clemson coach Erik Bakich said. "We thought he was going to get the out at first, then he kind of went no-look to Purify."
Hinderleider said that was his third time using the maneuver and acknowledged he was 1-for-2 doing it entering Saturday. He added the last time it was successful was in his sophomore year at Davidson in 2021 against NC State.
"I came back into the dugout, and our head coach (Rucker Taylor) was like, 'Hey, really nice play but don't ever do that again,' " said Hinderleider, who was 5-for-5 Saturday. "In the moment, I just felt like I could get the out at second base, which was going to be huge."
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Then, Purify, a freshman, showed off his savviness. He held the runner that advanced to third on base and baited Mihos to go to second. When the Chanticleer was halfway between first and second, his fate was sealed.
Clemson freshman Jarren Purify (23) celebrates tagging out Coastal Carolina sophomore Dean Mihos (8) to end the the bottom of the sixth inning of the NCAA baseball Clemson Regional at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson Saturday, June 1, 2024.
Purify hawked him down like a linebacker to record the final out of the inning to get out of a jam. He let out an emphatic yell that ignited Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
"I don't know if many people are gonna win that race, trying to outrun Jarren Purify," Bakich said. "But, we knew he was going to run him down, and JP had that look in his eye."
The huge inning helped Clemson limit Coastal Carolina, which kept the Tigers around long enough to make critical hits late to advance in the regional finals.
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Despite the high-stakes game being contested, the Tigers played loose and with confidence. Their experience in coming back from deficits and being in one-run games all year has prepared them for the NCAA tournament stage.
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"We want guys to play out there like it's a playground, improvise and play mentally free," Bakich said. "If we're gonna be champs and we're gonna advance, we're gonna go for plays like that."
Now, the Tigers are one win away from making the super regionals for the first time since 2010. If they reach the College World Series, the play Purify and Hinderleider made will be among the most memorable.
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Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Inside Clemson baseball's Jacob Hinderleider, Jarren Purify's double play
