Notre Dame baseball scored three runs early in Friday's series opener against No. 2 Clemson, but that was nearly enough to hold off the Tigers.
Clemson scored all seven of its runs in the final four innings in a 7-3 victory at Notre Dame's Frank Eck Stadium.
The Irish lit up the scoreboard first with a solo home run by left fielder David Glancy in the first inning. A two-run double by second baseman Estevan Moreno in the second inning gave Notre Dame a 3-0 lead. But Notre Dame's bats went cold with only three more hits in the final seven innings.
Notre Dame starting pitcher Matt Bedford kept Clemson scoreless in 4 2/3 innings of work. The right-handed senior allowed two hits and three walks with five strikeouts.
Reliever Nate Hardman, who started his outing by picking off a runner in the fifth inning, surrendered the first run to the Tigers in sixth inning. Clemson managed a two-out rally with a hit batter, a single and an RBI single to scratch out a run.
Notre Dame's failure to score runners on second and third with just one out in the seventh inning proved to be a bad omen. With catcher Carson Tinney on third and Moreno on second, center fielder TJ Williams struck out. Then following an intentional walk of Glancy, first baseman Connor Hincks also struck out.
Clemson took the lead in the eighth inning. A pair of RBI doubles by Blake Wright and Jacob Hinderleider tied the game. Then Will Taylor hit a two-run homer to put the Tigers on top.
Clemson added two more runs on a Jimmy Obertop homer in the ninth inning. Notre Dame reliever Ricky Reeth (1-4, 6.91 ERA) allowed all the Clemson damage in the final two innnings to take the loss. He gave up six runs on seven hits with one walk and one wild pitch in 2 2/3 innings.
Clemson (26-3, 8-2 ACC) and Notre Dame (14-13, 2-11) will meet for game two on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN2. Notre Dame is expected to send righty Jack Radel (2-0, 2.96) to the mound against lefty Ethan Darden (4-0, 5.23).
Clemson scored all seven of its runs in the final four innings in a 7-3 victory at Notre Dame's Frank Eck Stadium.
The Irish lit up the scoreboard first with a solo home run by left fielder David Glancy in the first inning. A two-run double by second baseman Estevan Moreno in the second inning gave Notre Dame a 3-0 lead. But Notre Dame's bats went cold with only three more hits in the final seven innings.
Notre Dame starting pitcher Matt Bedford kept Clemson scoreless in 4 2/3 innings of work. The right-handed senior allowed two hits and three walks with five strikeouts.
Reliever Nate Hardman, who started his outing by picking off a runner in the fifth inning, surrendered the first run to the Tigers in sixth inning. Clemson managed a two-out rally with a hit batter, a single and an RBI single to scratch out a run.
Notre Dame's failure to score runners on second and third with just one out in the seventh inning proved to be a bad omen. With catcher Carson Tinney on third and Moreno on second, center fielder TJ Williams struck out. Then following an intentional walk of Glancy, first baseman Connor Hincks also struck out.
Clemson took the lead in the eighth inning. A pair of RBI doubles by Blake Wright and Jacob Hinderleider tied the game. Then Will Taylor hit a two-run homer to put the Tigers on top.
Clemson added two more runs on a Jimmy Obertop homer in the ninth inning. Notre Dame reliever Ricky Reeth (1-4, 6.91 ERA) allowed all the Clemson damage in the final two innnings to take the loss. He gave up six runs on seven hits with one walk and one wild pitch in 2 2/3 innings.
Clemson (26-3, 8-2 ACC) and Notre Dame (14-13, 2-11) will meet for game two on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN2. Notre Dame is expected to send righty Jack Radel (2-0, 2.96) to the mound against lefty Ethan Darden (4-0, 5.23).
