CLEMSON, SC - - - On a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Clemson, the Tigers (16-2; 3-1 ACC) looked to bounce back from a Friday night loss to NC State (16-3; 3-1 ACC), 4-0. The loss was just Clemson's second on the season in 18 games, and first in the ACC.
While Clemson scored early, NC State commanded the game from the third inning on to defeat the Tigers 6-1.
Up until the bottom of the second inning, neither team could find an offensive spark. After two early walks from Beer and Wharton, Grayson Byrd bunted them over to 2nd and 3rd. Freshman Drew Donathan stepped to the plate and drew a full-count walk, setting the stage for Kyle Wilkie with the bases loaded.
On an 0-2 count, Wilkie singled to left field which scored Seth Beer from third. Clemson closed out the inning with two straight strikeouts from Teodosio and Davidson and the bases loaded. While Clemson put the first runs on the board and took the early lead, they let an opportunity pass them. An opportunity that Clemson would wish they had back.
NC State would answer in the next inning with two singles from Patrick Bailey and Dillon Cooper with no outs. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners over to 2nd and 3rd base. Josh McLain hit a soft grounder to shortstop Logan Davidson that scored Bailey, and tied up the game at 1-1.
Will Wilson started the fourth inning of for NC State with a double to left field. A wild pitch moved Wilson over to 3rd with no outs. Evan Edwards added a sacrifice fly that scored Wilson, giving the Wolfpack a 2-1 lead.
NC State’s onslaught stretched out from the 3rd inning all the way through the 7th. Like clockwork, the Wolfpack added one run every inning to amass a 5-1 lead over the Tigers.
A scoreless eighth inning broke the streak of one run innings for NC State, but they would pick back up in the ninth with a groundout out from Wilson that scored McLain
After the second inning, it just appeared to not be Clemson’s weekend. Following the second, the Tigers combined for just 6 hits the remainder of the game. When a ballclub leaves eight baserunners on and can only put one run on the board, things aren’t working quite right.
With the loss, Clemson falls to 16-3 overall and 3-2 in ACC play. NC State wins the series and improves to 17-3 overall and 4-1 in conference.
Clemson looks to avoid the series sweep tomorrow at 1 pm.
Final Stats from Clemson and NC State