Louisville Downs Clemson 15-10, Teams Combine to Set New Home Run Record
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - There was no shortage of offense in the opening game of the ACC Tournament on Tuesday as Louisville beat Clemson 15-10.
The two teams set a new ACC Tournament record by combining to hit 11 home runs on the day, with Louisville hitters accounting for seven of those long balls and the Tigers hitting four. The previous record of eight was set back in 2008.
Alex Binelas had three of the home runs for Louisville, while Henry Davis and Ben Metzinger each had two for the Cardinals. Freshman Caden Grice hit two for Clemson with Bryce Teodosio and Adam Hackenberg also going deep for the Tigers.
"Neither team expected the ballpark to play that small," Monte Lee said. "But there were a lot of balls hit that would have gotten out of any ballpark today too. There were a couple there that were hit down the right-field line that barely got out but there were quite a few baseballs today that were absolutely tattooed."
Louisville had its way with Clemson pitchers, pounding out 19 hits on the day, with 10 of those going for extra bases.
"We just couldn't find an answer pitching-wise," Lee said. "I think it's pretty self-explanatory. Keyshawn( Askew) struggled, we got Mack (Anglin) in, obviously understanding that we got to win today's game, and you know Mack got hit some, Paul (Labriola) got hit some and bottom line is we just didn't pitch good enough."
Clemson got the scoring started early as Grice hit the first of his two home runs, a two-run shot to left-center, giving the Tigers an early 2-0 lead. Louisville would respond with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to tie it right back up.
The two teams would go back-and-forth over the next four innings with the Cardinals taking a 10-8 lead after five. However, Louisville would break it open in the bottom of the sixth by scoring four times to take a 14-9 lead.
Hackenberg led the way at the plate for Clemson going 4-4 with 3 RBI on the day. Teodosio was 2-4 with 4 RBI, while Grice finished the day 2-5 with 2 RBI.
The loss means Clemson has no chance at advancing past pool play and drops the Tigers to 24-27 on the season. It also guarantees Clemson will finish with its first losing season since 1957, while the program will also miss the NCAA Tournament for just the second time since 1986.
"I think they're down in the dumps right now," Lee said. "Obviously that was a tough loss but I think we all knew what the day represented for us that our season pretty much was dependent upon today's game and I think the guys knew that."
Player of the Game: Hackenberg went 4-4 on the day, with a home run and 3 RBI.
Stat of the Game: (11) The number of home runs in the game which set a new ACC Tournament record that had stood since 2008.
Up Next: Clemson will finish up its season on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. when the No. 11 seed Tigers take on No. 2 seed Georgia Tech.