Tigers drop sixth straight game, lose series to Blue Devils 5-3

The No. 16 Clemson Tiger dropped their sixth straight game Saturday, as they fell to the Duke Blue Devils--who captured the series--by a final score of 5-3 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

The No. 16 Clemson Tiger dropped their sixth straight game in row Saturday, as they fell to the Duke Blue Devils--who captured the series--by a final score of 5-3 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

The Tigers jumped on top of the Blue Devils in the bottom of the first inning. After Sam Hall signed through the left side of the infield and stole second and third base before he scored on Logan Davidson's sacrifice fly.

After being held scoreless through the first four innings, the Blue Devils took the lead on the Tigers in the top of the fifth inning--as they plated two runs on two hits and a throwing error by Davidson.

The Blue Devils added a three runs in the top of the sixth. A balk by Tiger reliever Holt Jones with bases loaded plated the third run of the game, and a single with two runners in scoring position extended the Blue Devil lead to 5-1.

Sam Hall plated two runs in the bottom of the ninth, as he connected on a home run to left field that cut the lead to 5-3.

Starting pitcher Brooks Crawford took the loss for the Tigers, as he surrendered four runs, two earned, in five innings pitched. Jack Carey (2-0) earned the win in relief, as he allowed two hits, no runs and no walks with two strikeouts in 2.2 innings pitched.

The Tigers entered Saturday's game losers of five straight games, and in third place in the Atlantic Division--three games behind first-place Louisville and one-game back of N.C. State.

Tiger Tracks:

• Clemson is 21-1 when scoring at least five runs--after Friday night's loss-- and 4-13 when scoring less than five runs.
• Duke won two of three games at Jack Coombs Field in the most-recent series against Clemson in 2016.
• The Tigers won both games of a rain-shortened series the last time the Blue Devils visited Clemson in 2015.

Up Next: The Tigers and the Blue Devils will conclude their three-game series Sunday (1 p.m.) at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.