The Clemson Tigers took on the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the Quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament, looking to advance to the semifinals to take on Georgia Tech. Clemson took an early 1-0 lead off a Jacob Jarrell sacrifice fly, and after six lead changes the Tigers were able to hold on and secure a 7-6 win. Lucas Mahlstedt picked up the win for Clemson, his third of the season. Anderson Nance was charged with the loss after allowing four runs in 2.1 innings of work. Clemson will now advance to the Semifinals against Georgia Tech, while NC State will wait for the NCAA Regionals draw.
Smart Base Running Gives Clemson an Early Lead
Clemson continued their good base running of late with their run in the second inning coming from heads-up baseball. The inning started with a one-out single by Dominic Listi, who immediately advanced to second on a wild pitch from Dominic Fritton. Listi continued to wreak havoc on the basepaths by stealing third base, after video review proved that he beat the tag from the Wolfpack’s third baseman, Matt Heavner. A sacrifice fly from Jacob Jarrell, which was just deep enough to score Listi, gave Clemson an early 1-0 lead.
Titsworth Gets Out of the Jam in the Third
The Wolfpack got off to a strong start in the bottom of the third inning, but were unable to scratch across a run. Matt Ossenfort reached on a walk and Ty Head singled to put runners on the corners with no outs for Matt Heavner. The Wolfpack’s third baseman did the last thing that he wanted to do, as his grounder to short was turned into a 6-4-3 double play, which left Ossenfort stranded at third base with two away. A strikeout from the leadoff hitter, Luke Nixon, would end the inning and get Titsworth out of trouble.
NC State Takes the Lead in the Fourth; Clemson Takes it Right Back
The Wolfpack put runners on the corners with no outs for the second straight inning, but in the fourth, they were able to cash in. Back-to-back singles from Chris McHugh and Josh Hogue brought up Justin DeCriscio with a chance to do some damage, and the Wolfpack’s shortstop did just that with a game-tying single. Alex Sosa followed up DeCriscio’s single with a double play which put a runner on third with two outs. A wild pitch from Drew Titsworth brought home Hogue to give NC State a 2-1 lead.
But that lead didn’t last long, as a leadoff triple from Jack Crighton and an RBI bunt single from Andrew Ciufo tied the game right back up at two apiece with Cannarella stepping to the plate. The Tigers’ leadoff hitter smashed his third hit of the game into left field to put runners on second and first for Jarren Purify. After Ciufo stole third base, Clemson laid down their second bunt of the inning, which saw Ciufo score and Purify reach first to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead. Collin Priest ended the top half of the fifth with a 4-6-3 double play.
NC State Ties it Up; Jarrell Gives Clemson the Lead Back
The Wolfpack tied the score once again in the bottom of the fifth inning with some heads-up baserunning. Matt Ossenfort started off the inning with his second walk of the night and Ty Head singled, but a beautiful throw from TP Wentworth in right field gunned down Ossenfort at third and allowed Ty Head to reach second base. A swinging bunt to third base from Matt Heavner allowed Head to score from second as Paino threw the ball to first.
Clemson quickly took the lead right back from NC State in the top of the sixth inning. After Josh Paino and Dominic Listi struck out and grounded out, respectively, Jacob Jarrell stepped up to the dish. The Tigers’ leader in home runs added to his total as he cracked one over the center field wall for his 14th of the season to put the Tigers back up 4-3.
Wolfpack Go in Front in the Sixth
NC State got their leadoff hitter on base for the fifth straight inning as Chris McHugh singled and Josh Hogue doubled to put runners on second and third with no one out. Justin DeCriscio came through once again with his second RBI single of the night to knot the score up at four apiece. But the Wolfpack weren’t done there, as Alex Sosa ripped an RBI single of his own into right-center field to take a 5-4 lead. NC State was unable to get anything else going as their fourth double play of the night and a strikeout from Matt Ossenfort ended the inning.
Clemson Takes the Lead in the Eighth
The Tigers took their fourth lead of the game in the top of the eighth inning as they were finally able to get hits with runners in scoring position. Paino led off the inning with a single and then stole second base as Dominic Listi struck out swinging to bring up Jacob Jarrell. The Tigers’ catcher recorded his third RBI of the night as a single into left-center field scored Paino to even the score at five. But the damage wasn’t done there, as an opposite-field single by Jack Crighton put runners on second and first for TP Wentworth. The freshman, who was 0-3 heading into this at-bat, smoked a single down the left field line to score Jarrell, move Crighton to third and bring up Andrew Ciufo. The New York native came through in the clutch with an RBI single to make it 7-5 heading into the bottom of the eighth.
NC State Gets One Back in the Eighth; Mahlstedt Shuts the Door in the Ninth
The Wolfpack cut into the Tigers’ lead once again, as they were able to get a run off of the country’s best closer in the eighth. Lucas Mahlstedt was finally able to get the leadoff runner out for the first time since the first inning, but he allowed a single from Justin DeCriscio and a throwing error from Andrew Ciufo to put a runner on second with one out. A hit-by-pitch to Alex Sosa and a single from Brayden Fraasman would bring home DeCriscio and make it a 7-6 ballgame heading into the ninth inning. Mahlstedt sat down the pinch hitter, Drew Lanphere, Luke Nixon, and Chris McHugh to send Clemson to the Semifinals of the ACC Tournament.
Takeaways
● 5-6-7 – The 5-6-7 part of the Clemson batting order was a huge part of the team’s success in tonight’s game. The trio of Dominic Listi, Jacob Jarrell and Jack Crighton combined to hit 7-12 with a home run, a triple, a walk, and three RBIs to help push Clemson over the finish line. Erik Bakich should strongly consider flipping the 2-3-4 part of the lineup with the 5-6-7 batters, as they have looked much stronger as of late.
● Situational Hitting – In their rough stretch, Clemson struggled mightily with runners in scoring position, but the Tigers’ timely hitting tonight was a huge reason they were able to take down the Wolfpack. Clemson was 8-21 (.381) with runners on base, 5-11 (.455) with runners in scoring position, and 4-5 (.800) with runners on third and less than two outs. If Clemson can continue their strong situational hitting, they can win the ACC Tournament and make a run for Omaha.
Up Next
The Clemson Tigers will take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the Semifinals of the ACC Tournament on Saturday, May 24, at 1:00 PM and available to watch on the ACC Network.
