Clemson Baseball: Luck of the Irish Too Much for Tigers on St. Pat’s Weekend

Game 1: Notre Dame 9 Clemson 2

Friday night was an ugly start to the series for the Tigers, as Notre Dame capitalized on a pair of errors and a passed ball to jump up 3-0 in the second innings. The Irish went on to add a run in the sixth and eighth innings each before ripping off a four run ninth, including a three-run bomb from Eric Gilgenbach to cap off the win. Irish starter Tommy Sheehen went the full nine innings, giving up seven hits but holding the Tigers to only two runs. Davis Sharpe went six innings, giving up four runs on six hits en route to his first loss of the year (2-1).

Game 2: Clemson 5 Notre Dame 1

Davis Sharpe and Bryce Teodosio fueled Clemson’s four run second with a RBI single and a RBI double, respectively, that got things going for the Tigers. Sharpe scored later in the inning off of a wild pitch, while Teodosio stoke home in the inning due to a botched pickoff attempt by the Irish. Mat Clark pitched a gem for the Tigers going seven innings, holding Notre Dame to three hits and no runs. Clark remains undefeated on the year (4-0). Irish starter Cameron Brown took his second loss of the year, falling to 0-2. The big moment of the day came defensively when Kier Meredith flashed the leather to rob Notre Dame of a homer.

The amazing grab earned the sophomore phenom the number one play on Sportcenter’s Top Ten Plays for Saturday. Unfortunately, Meredith later left the game with an apparent leg injury. No word at this time what the injury is.

Notre Dame 4 Clemson 2

Trailing 2-0 in the eighth, Grayson Byrd came in clutch, delivering a two RBI double to score Jordan Greene and Logan Davidson and tie the game up. Andrew Belcick came in for the Irish and was able to strike out Kyle Wilkie and Bryar Hawkins to end the Tigers’ threat. A pair of leadoff walks in the bottom of the ninth had the Tigers feeling good, but a Bryce Teodosio strike out and a Jordan Greene flyout quickly put the Tigers with two outs. The Greene flyout sent pinch runner James Parker on third, and Bo Majkowski proceeded to steal second. Unfortunately, Sam Hall was unable to capitalize and went down swinging to ring up the third out and send the game to the tenth.

Notre Dame worked the bases loaded with one out. Brooks Coetzee hit a short grounder to Logan Davidson scored the go ahead run, and Hawkins could not come up with Davidson’s hurried throw, keeping the bases loaded with one out. Jared Miller followed it up by hitting what was originally called a double play to Davidson, but upon further review, Miller beat the throw at first by a foot to put Notre Dame up 4-2. Clemson was able to get out of the inning when Zach Prajzner flew out on the next at bat. Grayson Byrd ripped a one out single, but was then thrown out at second in a fielders choice by Kyle Wilkie. Bryar Hawkins then singled, bring the potential game winning run to the plate. The Tigers sent in big hitting freshman Adam Hackenberg to try to tie it up, but the backup catcher hit in to a fielder’s choice, ending the game.

Clemson drops to 14-5, with a 4-2 record in ACC play. The Tigers get a midweek series with College of Charleston this week, playing in Clemson on Tuesday and in Columbia at Segra Park, home of the Columbia Fireflies, on Wednesday. The Tigers will then head up north for a weekend tilt at Boston College.

Notre Dame improves to 8-10, also with a 4-2 ACC record. The Irish will now get to play their first home game(s) of the season as they host #6 FSU this weekend.