It’s looking like the Clemson Baseball program will get an early vacation this season after the Tigers were swept on the road by the Louisville Cardinals, dampening an already uphill climb towards their fourth straight postseason appearance.
Game one was an offensive shootout with two different rain delays. The Tigers jumped on the board early with a first-inning Luke Gaffney homer, but the Cardinals immediately responded with two runs of their own. Clemson would tie the game in the third on a Nate
Savoie homer. Louisville broke the tie with a three-run fourth inning, which would be the dealbreaker for Tiger starter Aidan Knaak, who had another tough outing, giving up five runs on seven hits in his four innings of work.
Clemson cut the lead to one in the fifth, but Louisville responded with a five-run sixth inning, expanding their lead to 10-4. We’ll give the Tigers credit; many times, a situation like this was a knockout punch, but Clemson responded with four runs in the seventh to cut the deficit to two. The only problem was the bullpen could not keep Louisville at bay, who responded with the needed insurance in the eighth that nearly sealed the deal. The Tigers’ ninth-inning rally fell short, and the Cardinals took game one, 13-10. Clemson finished with five errors, one of their worst defensive performances of the year.
The Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game two, highlighted by Nate Savoie and Jacob Jarrell each going deep to put Clemson ahead. Despite giving up some hits, Tiger pitcher Michael Sharman cruised to the fourth inning, limiting the damage, but that’s where the wheels began to fall off. Sharman, who has been the most solid piece of the Clemson pitching rotation this season, gave up a leadoff homer to begin the fourth before giving up two more singles. It appeared Sharman was set to get out of the inning before an error by Jack Crighton allowed two runs to score, giving the Cardinals the 4-3 advantage.
Louisville would add two more runs in the sixth inning, ending Sharman’s day and pushing their lead to 6-3. Just as they had done in game one, Clemson battled back again. Scoring three runs in the seventh, the Tigers tied the game at 6 apiece, right back in the fight to force a rubber match. The rubber match would never come, though. Clemson completely collapsed in the eighth, allowing five runs on just one hit. The Tiger pitching staff allowed four hits, and behind them, two defensive errors did the team in. Louisville would go on to win game two, 11-6, clinching the series.
Game three was a lower-scoring, back-and-forth affair for both sides. Louisville jumped out front with a Jimmy Nugent homer in the second, but the Tigers would even things in the third. The Cardinals would immediately answer on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, but Clemson limited the damage to just that. The Tigers responded yet again with an RBI sacrifice fly in the fourth, and yet another answer by Louisville with a two-run homer. It seemed the two teams would keep this up all game when Clemson answered back with a bases-loaded walk, but leaving the bases loaded there would prove to be the deciding factor.
Louisville added an insurance run in the eighth via another long ball, and led 5-3 heading to the ninth. The Tigers led off the ninth by putting two runners on base before a sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third with one out. After a Jay Dillard strikeout, Nate Savoie was intentionally walked to load the bases. Down to their last out, Tryston McCladdie singled up the middle to tie the game at five. The Tigers had a chance to take the lead, but Gaffney flew out to center. The Cardinals couldn’t answer, and the game headed to extra innings.
In the tenth, Clemson got the go-ahead run to third base, but that was as far as they could get. The Cardinals would slap a two-run homer over the left field fence and take game three, 7-5.
It’s the second time this season Clemson has been swept in conference play, and the Tigers have now lost six of their seven ACC series this season.
It’s safe to say the season is shortening up by the day for a Clemson program that has missed the tournament just three times over the last 40 years. It’s really baffling to see how far the program has fallen since about the middle of last season. Despite hosting a regional every year under Erik Bakich, the foundation suddenly feels shaky. There just have not been many bright spots this season, and without the cover of a good football team, the pressure is going to add up quickly for Bakich, as unfair as that is.
Clemson, who now sits at just 6-15 in ACC play, is on track for one of their worst seasons in the modern era. The Tigers have won at least 15 conference games every year except one since 2008, but it looks like that near-impossible feat is unlikely this season. Clemson has nine ACC games remaining, starting with Boston College on Friday evening. It’s going to take a miracle for this team to get into the postseason.
