Tigers drop finale to Louisville in extras

Dawson Green by Correspondent -

Clemson played their longest game of the season but fell to Louisville 7-4 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Cardinals hit two solo home runs in the top of the eleventh to take the series finale.

The Tigers only had three hits after the fifth inning.

After Grayson Byrd made a spectacular diving catch in left field for the first out of the second inning, Justin Lavey walked with one out and then stole second a few pitches later. He advanced to third on a balk by Keyshawn Askew and scored on a single to right field from leadoff hitter Lucas Dunn to take 1-0 lead.

Louisville built upon their lead in the third as Nick Fitzgerald leadoff with a single. Fitzgerald then stole second and third base to put himself in scoring position. Zach Britton hit a long fly ball to right field, but Bo Majkowski jumped up and reeled in a would-be home run. Fitzgerald tagged up from third to score easily and Britton was credited with the sacrifice fly. Two pitches later, Henry Davis hit a home run off the top of the left field foul pole to further the Louisville lead to 3-0. That would be the end Askews’ day after only 2.2 innings, giving up five hits, two walks, three earned runs, and striking out four. Sam Weatherly came in for relief to get the final out.

Bryce Teodosio and James Parker hit back-to-back singles to start the third. Sam Hall hit a sacrifice fly to score Teodosio. Logan Davidson stepped up to the plate and hit a two-run home-run, his second long-ball of the series, over the Cajun Café to even the score at three apiece.

The bottom half of the Clemson lineup once again sparked an inning in which the Tigers scored a run. Hawkins and Majkowski started the fourth with back to back singles. After two consecutive strikeouts, Parker drove in Hawkins with a single to give Clemson their first lead of the game. This would be the end of the line for Louisville starting pitcher Bobby Miller. He pitched 3.2 innings, giving up six hits, four runs, and striking out four. Jared Poland came in and got out of the jam without further damage.

In the seventh inning, Dunn hit a single and moved over the second on a sacrifice bunt from Jake Snider. Holt Jones would come in for Weatherly. Dunn would score on a sacrifice fly from Fitzgerald to tie the game at four.

The Tigers looked to take the lead back in the seventh. With one out, Davidson hit a check-swing dribbler to the pitcher who made a throw to first that pulled Logan Wyatt off the base. Wyatt went to apply the tag to Davidson, but the collision caused the ball to fly out of his glove and roll down the right field line. Davidson advanced all the way to third on this error, but Kyle Wilkie struck out and Byrd grounded out to end the scoring threat.

The Tigers looked primed to walk off in the ninth. Teodosio lead off the the ninth with a base hit to left. Parker sacrificed himself to move Teodosio into scoring position with only one out. Hall and Davidson would fly out to the infield to send the game to extra innings.

Carson Spiers entered the game in the tenth for Clemson. Snider singled to right to lead off and Fitzgerald laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Snider to second. Wyatt flew out for the second out and Britton grounded out for the final out of the inning.

Alex Binelas hit a solo homerun to right field with one out in the top of the eleventh inning to give the Cardinals a 5-4 lead. One batter later, Drew Campbell hit another solo shot to right field to increase the lead to 6-4. After two consecutive singles Snider hit a single that drove in the final run for Louisville.

Clemson got two runners on in the bottom of the eleventh, but Davidson struck out looking to end the game.

Spiers suffered the loss after pitching 1.2 innings, giving up five hits, three runs, and striking out one.

Michael Kirian earned the win for the Cardinals. He pitched 3 innings, giving up three hits and no runs.

The Tigers fall to 0-2 in extra-inning games this season. Clemson falls to 24-7 overall and 11-3 in the ACC. The Tigers will face Charleston Southern at home on Tuesday at 6 p.m.