Duke Knocks Off Clemson 5-1, Putting Tigers Postseason Hopes in Jeopardy
CLEMSON- On a night when the Tigers didn't need a whole lot of offense, the bats went cold in a 5-1 loss to Duke, putting Clemson's postseason hopes in serious jeopardy.
The Tigers got a quality start from Mack Anglin, as the redshirt freshman went 6.2 innings allowing just 3 runs on 5 hits. However, two of those hits came in the form of solo home-runs off of the bat of Blue Devils first basemen Chris Crabtree, which would prove to be all Duke needed.
"I gotta have a word with the baseball gods, I guess," head coach Monte Lee said. "I feel like I'm living the right way but karma doesn't seem to be helping me so far, or our team."
CF Joey Loperfido would add a two-run shot in the ninth, providing some insurance, and giving the Blue Devils a 4-run cushion as the Tigers came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth.
Duke starting pitcher Jack Carey kept the Clemson hitters off-balance all night, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits through 7 innings of work, striking out 9, and walking none. Marcus Johnson pitched the final 2 innings, while not allowing a hit.
"Give Duke credit, Jack Kerry, their starting pitcher did an outstanding job tonight, quite honestly," Lee said. "You know, he was the difference in the ballgame. You know he really did a good job of executing pitches and we just didn't do a good enough job of swinging the bat."
Lee did what he could, having Adam Hackenberg and Jonathan French both in the lineup, as well as moving Caden Grice out to right, in an effort to get his biggest bats opportunities in one of the season's biggest games.
It wasn't enough, though, as the Tigers were just 1-7 with runners on base and 0-2 with RISP, as Clemson mustered just 4 base hits on the night.
"I thought we took way too many pitches on the outside corner; fastball and the slider away from us," Lee said. "If you look at our hits, all four of our hits, we hit the ball the other way where we did a good job in those at-bats of staying on pitches and just using the whole field. Felt like we got ourselves in a lot of two-strike counts by taking some pitches on the outside corner. We got to do a better job of competing on the outside part of the plate."
The Tigers fall to 24-24 overall and 16-18 in ACC play as the team's postseason hopes appear to be on life support. This Clemson team now finds itself in what can only be considered as must-win situations over the final two games of the regular season.
"Well, it is critical, I mean it's the biggest game of the season, no doubt about it," Lee said. "We got to win this game to get back into the series. To win the series we got to win tomorrow and I think our guys know it's a huge game tomorrow."
Player of the Game: P.J. Labriola came on in relief of Anglin in the 7th, with two on and two out. The freshman would get out of the jam with no damage done and hold the Blue Devils scoreless for 1.1 innings, keeping the Tigers in the game.
Stat of the Game: (0) Duke pitchers did not allow a single walk to Clemson hitters.
Up Next: Game 2 between Clemson and Duke is set for Friday night at 6 p.m in Doug Kingsmore Stadium and will be televised by the ACCNX.