Stellar Pitching Keeps Clemson From First ACC Series Victory in 3-2 Loss to Irish
CLEMSON S.C.- Monte Lee and Clemson (5-4, 1-2 ACC) show their fight in the third game of ACC play but can't finish the job, losing 3-2 against Notre Dame (4-2, 4-2) in the series' rubber match.
After a lightning-fast start to open up ACC play on Friday, winning 13-7, the final two games for Clemson saw much tighter contests with the combined score of the final two series games finishing 6-3.
"Bottom line is we just got to do a better job of being able to hit with runners in scoring position," Lee said. "We just didn't do it this weekend in two of the three games and it came back to bite us against good Notre Dame club."
Notre Dame and its pitching staff have been the story for the second game in a row. Struggling early, RHP Liam Simon relieved the Irish's second pitcher of the day during the fifth inning and never slowed down afterward, striking out eight batters in 57 pitches with 38 strikes.
Simon pitched 4 innings for the Irish, coming in against Clemson's James Parker for a right-on-right matchup to leave Clemson baserunners stranded. Simon had eight strikeouts and only allowed two hits in his time on the mound, both to Tigers' first baseman Caden Grice. Simon was replaced on the mound with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth inning by Irish infielder Jack Brannigan.
Clemson's consistency on the mound in game three became a massive problem, walking and hitting 15 combined batters between five pitchers for the Tigers.
Lee and the Tigers were also fighting a drop time and had to have the game finished by 3:40, preventing Lee from making some critical coaching decisions down the stretch with runners on base in the bottom of the ninth.
"So, the reason that we played at 12 o'clock today was because we had a 3:40 drop time," Lee said. "So I didn't think that bunting right there (in the ninth) and playing for a tie made a whole lot of sense because we couldn't play extra innings today because of the curfew rule."
Dropping the first ACC series of the season will undoubtedly leave a sour taste in head coach Monte Lee's mouth, considering the next series in ACC play matches Clemson up with No. 25 North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Player of the Game: Caden Grice played a role in game three that James Parker did in game two of the series, as Grice was virtually the only consistent Tiger at the plate Sunday. Grice managed his fourth home run of the past week for the Tigers in the sixth inning, bringing Clemson right back into the game at 3-2 when the ball was hit. Grice now leads Clemson in HR hits this season with four.
Coach's Decision: Cooper Ingle started his first career game for the Tigers on Sunday and was the leadoff batter for Clemson replacing the injured Jonathan French at catcher. The Irish were able to steal multiple bases, taking advantage of Ingle and his inexperience throwing base runners out.
Key play: A bunt with one out and bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning sent Notre Dame runner home and was called safe before review. Ingle was able just to tag home plate before the runner got home, and he lifted his foot up and kept the Tigers within one score going into their last at-bat opportunity.
Stat of the game: Despite the first two games that saw a combined 14-10 score, no bases were stolen for Clemson or Notre Dame until the final matchup saw the Irish steal five bases.
Injury Update: Catcher Jonathan French missed game three against the Irish with a hamstring after starting the first two of the series, and his status moving forward is unknown. French pulled up lame rounding third base against South Carolina last weekend, his first aggravation of the injury.
Up Next: Clemson hosts USC Upstate on Tuesday afternoon for the first and only game between the two teams set at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m., and the game will be televised on ACCNX.