Clemson Bats Take a Step Back in 3-1 Loss Against Irish

CLEMSON, S.C.-Monte Lee and Clemson (5-3, 1-1) regress in their second game of ACC play losing 3-1 to Notre Dame (3-2, 3-2) and will decide the winner in game three Sunday.

The Tigers got off to a rough start in the first inning against the Irish.

A bobbled ground ball by 2B Regan Reid led to a missed double play, and the ensuing at-bat saw Notre Dame slugger Niko Kavadas hit a two-run home run to jump on Clemson early 2-0.

"Had a ground ball we were able to get him out at first base but it was a marginal double-play ball," Lee said. "Ball was hit fairly hard and you know we didn't help and we got an out instead of two, and gave Kavadas an opportunity to come up there in the first inning. That's, you know the tough thing about when you're when your best hitter is sitting there in the four-hole, if he comes up in the first inning, that means somebody is on base. So you know, had we turn a double play their situation could have been a little bit different."

Clemson cleaned up a lot of defensive mishaps after two early runs and earned one back in the bottom of the fourth inning, sending James Parker home on a Cooper Ingle RBI.

The offense ran fairly stagnant for the Tigers outside of their one run, as the Irish pitching staff brought their A-game striking out eight Clemson batters. Irish pitcher John Bertrand carried the pitching load for most of the game, pitching seven innings against the Tigers with only one earned run.

"Give Notre Dame credit," Lee said. "Their pitching staff, John Michael Bertrand and Will Mercer out of the bullpen, both guys threw very well for them. Today thought our pitching staff, our two guys that threw today did a nice job keeping us in the ball game, found the strike zone. Played a great defensive ball game, Max Wagner played really well at third base, Caden Grice made some really nice plays at first, but offensively we just couldn't get anything going."

Clemson only managed four hits throughout the course of Saturday's game after pouring in 13 runs to open the series Friday night and must look to swing the bat better on Sunday if they want to take their first ACC series of the season.

Key Play: A choppy ground ball hit to 3B Max Wagner with bases loaded in the top of the third was handled beautifully to neutralize the Irish base runners and leave Notre Dame scoreless in their only chance of the game with bases loaded.

Player of the Game: Shortstop James Parker was one of the few consistent bats for the Tigers Saturday. Parker was the only Tiger to have more than one hit, going 2-4 on the day and hitting the only double for Clemson.

Stat of the Game: Despite a losing effort, the Tigers cleaned up some mistakes defensively and didn't commit a single error in their second of three against Notre Dame.

Up Next: Clemson hosts Notre Dame on Sunday afternoon for the third and final game of the series this weekend set at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The first pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m., and the game will be televised on ACCNX.

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