Clemson Baseball Rallies but Outlasted by Wake Forest in ACC Slugfest

The Clemson Tigers fell to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Saturday in one of the most entertaining baseball games of the season to this point.

Wake Forest (19-5, 7-1 in ACC) took a 10-0 lead in the game, only to see the Tigers (22-3, 3-2) rally to throw a scare in the Demon Deacons late in the game, before they pulled away, 12-10.

The Demon Deacons did most of their damage in the third inning, as they scored eight runs, fueled by Jimmy Keenan’s grand slam. Kade Lewis hit a three-run homer that gave Wake Forest a 10-0 lead.

That took care of Clemson starter Ethan Darden, who was pulled after 2.2 innings and gave up nine hits, eight runs (six earned). He didn’t walk a batter and struck out two.

The Clemson bullpen did what it could to keep the game from getting any more out of hand and the Clemson offense chipped away at the lead. The Tigers scored four runs in the third, four more runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth.

In fact, the Tigers nearly climbed the mountain. In that sixth inning, Jacob Jarrell slammed what would have been a game-tying home run, only to see Wake Forest’s Javar Williams make a fantastic catch as he reached over the wall.

Clemson had other chances to tie the game in the final three innings, cut couldn’t cash in as they left 11 runners on base.

Jarrell had a huge game at the plate, as he went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs. Jarren Purify went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs.

The loss came after the Tigers took the first game of the series, 5-1, behind another terrific performance by right-handed sophomore pitcher Aidan Knaak.

He threw six innings, giving up two hits and striking out 10 hitters. This came a week after he set a career-high 12 strikeouts in seven innings against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

He allowed only one run and two walks against a Wake Forest squad that entered the game fourth in the nation in runs per game (10.2).

Lucas Mahlstedt pitched 1.1 innings to record his national-best eighth save of the year.

The Tigers didn’t flash the power at the plate, as they scored runs on a sacrifice fly by Collin Priest, a two-RBI single by Luke Gaffney, a two-out RBI double by Tryston McCladdie and a sacrifice fly from Dominic Listi.

Sunday’s finale starts at 3 p.m.