Clemson's Viral 'Hidden Ball Trick' Continues to Be Talk of College Baseball
Clemson baseball has put together an incredible year so far.
With a 44-14 record, they have now won 44 games and 20 in conference play during back-to-back years since head coach Erik Bakich came over from the University of Michigan ahead of 2023.
During this time, Clemson won the ACC tournament last season and their division this year.
However, the Tigers aren't going to be satisfied with some regular season success as they have their sights set on their program's first Men's College World Series title.
As the No. 1 seed in their region, they faced off against 38-win Vanderbilt, 34-win Coastal Carolina, and Big South Conference champions High Point.
Entering ranked sixth-overall in the country, all the pressure was on Clemson with upset-minded teams ready to take out one of the best teams in the tournament.
However, the Tigers held up under that pressure and advanced to their 16th Super Regional and the first one in 14 years.
That was evident in the regional final when facing off against Coast Carolina for the second time in as many days after only winning by one run during pool play on a go-ahead RBI sacrifice fly in the ninth inning.
Clemson ended up dismantling the Chanticleers 12-5 to secure their spot in the Super Regional, but that result has been placed on the back burner compared something that happened on the field.
In the top of the second inning with runners on second and third base with just one out, the Tigers pulled off the infamous "Hidden Ball Trick" and was able to tag out the runner on third.
CLEMSON PULLED OFF THE HIDDEN BALL TRICK 🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/kEeGdB8BS1
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 3, 2024
Third baseman Blake Wright appeared to hand the ball to his pitcher Ethan Darden before slowly going back to his place on the field. With the ball still in Wright's glove, he waited until Coastal Carolina's runner on third base stepped off the bag before tagging him for an out.
This turned out to be an important moment in the game.
With one out and runners in scoring position, Coastal looked poised to take a lead.
Instead, after the "Hidden Ball Trick" was pulled off to incredible success, Darden was able to induce a ground ball and get out of the inning with a 2-1 lead for the Tigers.
Clemson then scored a run in the next four innings and was able to explode late to advance to the Super Regional where they'll face off against the Florida Gators starting June 8 at 2 p.m. ET.
BRAD WAKAI