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The No. 6 Clemson Tigers took Game 1 of a big weekend series against No. 13 Wake Forest with a 5-1 victory in ACC baseball play Friday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
With the win, Erik Bakich's Tigers improve to 22-2 overall and 4-0 in ACC play. Wake Forest falls to 18-5 while suffering their first loss of the year in conference action after opening with back-to-back sweeps of Notre Dame and Miami.
Here are some takeaways and instant reactions from Clemson's Friday night win over rival Wake Forest.
Entering this weekend's Top 25 matchup, the Tigers had scored 32 runs in the first inning of games this season. That trend continued in a big way Friday.
Wake Forest ace Logan Lunceford was wild early, walking the first three batters he saw -- Dominic Listi, Jarren Purify and Cam Cannarella -- to load the bases with no one out. Lunceford had issued only nine walks in 27 innings entering the game, but the Tigers took advance of his control issues.
An RBI sac fly by Collin Priest plated the game's first run, and Luke Gaffney followed with a two-run single to make it 3-0. Tryston McCladdie came through with a clutch two-out double to make it 4-0 against Lunceford, who came into the night with the fourth best ERA among ACC starters at 1.33.
Lunceford, who suffered his first loss of the season, mostly settled down after that and didn't allow another run until an RBI sac fly from Listi in the fourth. But with the Tigers' big first inning, Wake Forest had to play catchup the rest of the afternoon and evening.
After posting a career-high 12 strikeouts in last week's 2-1 win over Notre Dame, Aidan Knaak followed it up by striking out 10 Wake Forest batters. He'd allowed just one hit until giving up a solo home run to Wake Forest leading hitter Kade Lewis in the sixth inning.
Lewis' home run snapped a string of 14 2/3 straight scoreless innings from Knaak, who avoided a jam in the third when he allowed a two-out single to Marek Houston with a runner on base. The Deacs ran themselves out of the inning when Matt Scannell got caught in a rundown between second and third.
For the season, Knaak improved to 4-0 and lowered his ERA to 3.41 in six starts. He now has 22 strikeouts while allowing three hits over his last two starts.
Right-hander Drew Titsworth retired five of the seven batters he saw, but a leadoff single and a two-out walk in the eighth caused Bakich to bring in right-hander Lucas Mahlstedt for a four-out save. Mahlstedt didn't disappoint, striking out Jack Winnay on a tailing slider with a 3-2 pitch to get out of trouble in the eighth.
In the ninth, Mahlstedt gave up a one-out single but rallied to get pinch hitter Cam Nelson on a groundout before overpowering another pinch hitter, Cuyler Baxter, for a strikeout to end the game. Mahlstedt picked up his eighth save and lowered his ERA to 1.02 in 17 2/3 innings this season.
Clemson baseball schedule 2025
Clemson and Wake Forest will resume their series Saturday at 2 p.m. ET. Left-hander Ethan Darden (3-0, 2.08 ERA) is scheduled to make his sixth start of the season and will face Deacs left-hander Matthew Dallas (3-0, 3.74). The game can be streamed through ACC Network Extra.
Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson baseball wins huge Top 25 series-opener over Wake Forest
Continue reading...
With the win, Erik Bakich's Tigers improve to 22-2 overall and 4-0 in ACC play. Wake Forest falls to 18-5 while suffering their first loss of the year in conference action after opening with back-to-back sweeps of Notre Dame and Miami.
Here are some takeaways and instant reactions from Clemson's Friday night win over rival Wake Forest.
Clemson bats remains hot in first innings
Entering this weekend's Top 25 matchup, the Tigers had scored 32 runs in the first inning of games this season. That trend continued in a big way Friday.
Wake Forest ace Logan Lunceford was wild early, walking the first three batters he saw -- Dominic Listi, Jarren Purify and Cam Cannarella -- to load the bases with no one out. Lunceford had issued only nine walks in 27 innings entering the game, but the Tigers took advance of his control issues.
An RBI sac fly by Collin Priest plated the game's first run, and Luke Gaffney followed with a two-run single to make it 3-0. Tryston McCladdie came through with a clutch two-out double to make it 4-0 against Lunceford, who came into the night with the fourth best ERA among ACC starters at 1.33.
Lunceford, who suffered his first loss of the season, mostly settled down after that and didn't allow another run until an RBI sac fly from Listi in the fourth. But with the Tigers' big first inning, Wake Forest had to play catchup the rest of the afternoon and evening.
Aidan Knaak turns in another gem in ACC play
After posting a career-high 12 strikeouts in last week's 2-1 win over Notre Dame, Aidan Knaak followed it up by striking out 10 Wake Forest batters. He'd allowed just one hit until giving up a solo home run to Wake Forest leading hitter Kade Lewis in the sixth inning.
Lewis' home run snapped a string of 14 2/3 straight scoreless innings from Knaak, who avoided a jam in the third when he allowed a two-out single to Marek Houston with a runner on base. The Deacs ran themselves out of the inning when Matt Scannell got caught in a rundown between second and third.
For the season, Knaak improved to 4-0 and lowered his ERA to 3.41 in six starts. He now has 22 strikeouts while allowing three hits over his last two starts.
Clemson bullpen steps up again in another Friday night ACC victory
Right-hander Drew Titsworth retired five of the seven batters he saw, but a leadoff single and a two-out walk in the eighth caused Bakich to bring in right-hander Lucas Mahlstedt for a four-out save. Mahlstedt didn't disappoint, striking out Jack Winnay on a tailing slider with a 3-2 pitch to get out of trouble in the eighth.
In the ninth, Mahlstedt gave up a one-out single but rallied to get pinch hitter Cam Nelson on a groundout before overpowering another pinch hitter, Cuyler Baxter, for a strikeout to end the game. Mahlstedt picked up his eighth save and lowered his ERA to 1.02 in 17 2/3 innings this season.
Clemson baseball schedule 2025
Clemson and Wake Forest will resume their series Saturday at 2 p.m. ET. Left-hander Ethan Darden (3-0, 2.08 ERA) is scheduled to make his sixth start of the season and will face Deacs left-hander Matthew Dallas (3-0, 3.74). The game can be streamed through ACC Network Extra.
Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson baseball wins huge Top 25 series-opener over Wake Forest
Continue reading...
