The Tigers came into the series with Miami desperately needing an ACC series win. Miami needed the same thing. And while Clemson fought hard, the series ended up going to the Canes, with the Tigers continuing to see the same issues plague them.
As would become the theme of the weekend, Thursday night saw Miami strike first. Brylan West’s RBI single in the first gave the Canes a 1-0 early lead . They would tack on two more in the third to make it 3-0. But Clemson scratched back. In the 5th, Jack Crighton
reached on an error to score Tyler Lichtenberger. In the 6th, Jay Dillard brought Luke Gaffney home on an RBI single. Lichtenberger scored Ty Dalley on another RBI single and we were all tied up. Ariston Veasey gave Clemson some solid work in relief, going 2.1 innings, striking out 4, and allowing no runs on 1 hit. The game went to the 10th inning, and Clemson’s old nemesis, errors, reared its ugly head. With the bases loaded, a sharply hit ball by Miami third baseman Daniel Cuvet was misplayed by Tryston McCladdie at third, and wound up rolling into the visitors bullpen, putting Cuvet at second and clearing the bases. It would’ve been a tough play for McCladdie to make and get the out, but for Clemson, the site of a fielder being unable to come up with a big play was a sight that has become all too familiar. Miami tacked on two more runs after that, and Clemson’s offense had no answer in the bottom half of the 10th, giving Miami an 8-3 win.
Friday night once again saw Miami strike first, but Clemson quickly responded in the bottom half of the first with Nate Savoie’s two run shot giving Clemson the 2-1 lead. It was a back and forth affair, but Tryston McCladdie made Tiger fans forget about Thursday’s error with two homers and 3 RBIs, as he helped lead Clemson to a 7-6 win (or 6-7, as the kids say these days). Reliever Danny Nelson got his first win of the year and Justin LeGuernic got the save. For Clemson, this was a huge win. It broke a losing streak and set up Saturday’s rubber match.
With Tiger Town a buzz due to the football Spring Game, amongst other big events, Saturday seemed like a good day for Clemson to get an ACC series win and turn the corner. But, it wasn’t meant to be. Miami put up 3 runs in the first, and while Drew Titsworth settled down afterwards, the Tiger offense looked lethargic most of the day. The Tigers were trailing 4-0 in the sixth, and then Derek Williams went deep for a grand slam to make it 8-0 and seemingly close the door.
However, Clemson still had some fight left. Tryston McCladdie got Clemson on the board with a 2 out, 2 run double in the 7th. In the ninth, Bryce Clavon led things off with a homer. Clavon has spent some time recently on the bench, but after returning to the lineup was a bright spot in the Miami series. Jacob Jarrell crushed a three run blast later in the inning to cut things to 8-6 with one out. But Ty Dalley grounded out, and then Luke Gaffney smoked a ball to first, but it was caught by a diving Brylan West to end the game. That continued a theme of the game, where many of Clemson’s hard hit balls found their way into the glove of a Hurricanes fielder.
Clemson falls to 19-10 on the year, and 2-7 in conference play. Clemson will look to rebound Wednesday night against Wake Forest at Charlotte’s Truist Field. This neutral site game will be considered a non-conference game. After that, Clemson heads to the west coast for a three game tilt at Stanford.
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