Justin Hawkins and Jordan Greene give Tigers a spark--with video
DURHAM, N.C.-- There are a bevy of young and very talented members of the Clemson baseball team that have stepped up in big ways this season, but two of the players who have helped lead the Tigers' late season charge to the postseason are veterans Justin Hawkins and Jordan Greene.
Hawkins and Greene accounted for two runs and four RBIs in the Tigers' 7-1 win over the seventh-ranked Louisville Cardinals Thursday in what was a do-or-die game for their postseason hopes.
"Well, they're seniors. They're older players, and Jordan is a graduate, and Jayhawk is a fifth-year senior," head coach Monte Lee said. "Those guys have paid their dues, and it's been up and down, been frustrating for them individually for sure over the course of the year as far as being in and out of the lineup. Jayhawk, when we put him in there we left him in there ever since, and he certainly deserves it.
"So I'm happy for them and I'm proud of them with how they've played down the stretch here and how they played today. We played like a veteran team today, and we had a little bit more of a veteran presence on the field with those guys on the field. So very proud of how those guys performed today and how they've been playing down the stretch."
Hawkins entered this season struggling to find his groove at the plate.
In fact, he did not earn his first start of the season until April 19 against the Duke Blue Devils. Since that time, Hawkins has played a huge role in the Tigers' offense, as he has hit four home runs and has driven in 19 runs--while hitting .241.
“Coming into this year I was struggling a lot at the plate,” Hawkins said. “Everyday our guys come in, we work the same amount. We work really hard. I understand that I haven’t gotten a lot of opportunities but Coach (Monte) Lee is a wonderful coach and he knows who to play in the right moment and every time. With me struggling I figured that maybe there would be a chance and when I got my chance I just had to step up and take it. I feel like this weekend, working through some at-bats in a single game kind of helped me a lot. Everyday our guys show up and work hard and when we get our opportunity we just try to capitalize on it."
With the Tigers now firmly planted in the NCAA Tournament according to Baseball America and D1Baseball.com as a three-seed in the East Carolina regional or Mississippi State regional, the Tigers will lean on the experience of the veterans to hopefully break through to the Super Regional round for the first time since 2010.
“We have great leadership,” Lee said. “It’s the first year where I feel like it’s a player driven leadership. Guys like Logan Davidson, Carson Spiers, Jacob Hennessy, Kyle Wilkie, some of the older guys, Grayson Byrd, Jordan Greene.
“They’ve really done just an unbelievable job of policing the team and setting the expectations. I don’t feel like I’m the one that necessarily has to do all of that now. That’s been the cool part as a head coach, I feel like I’m actually stepping back a little bit and watching them run the team, which is really nice to see.”
Even though the Tigers have had their fair share of ups and downs this season, they still believe that they are a team that is worthy of being in the field of 64.
“We are a heck of a team when we stick to the plan and we know that," Hawkins said. "Like I said earlier, it’s a hard time. It’s baseball, it’s a game of failure so you’re going to fail seven out of ten times. But the way we respond is we keep our head up. We keep grinding and we come to the field to get prepared.”