Clemson Tigers Overcome Davidson Wildcats to Extend Baseball Winning Streak

Another quality outing from pitcher Aidan Knaak and a home run from Jarren Purify helped the Clemson Tigers defeat the Davidson Wildcats, 7-4, on Friday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

The contest was the first of a three-game series with the Wildcats, which marks the Tigers’ last weekend set before starting ACC action next weekend against Notre Dame.

Clemson (13-1) also extended its winning streak to 11 games, dating back to the Tigers’ trip to Arlington, Texas, last month when they defeated VCU on Feb. 21.

The series will continue on Saturday at 3 p.m., with Sunday’s finale set for 2 p.m.

Friday starter Aidan Knaak (2-0) provided another solid effort for Clemson, as he allowed four hits, two runs and one walk in five innings. He also struck out eight. With the Tigers up, 3-2, by that point he was in line for the victory.

From there, the bullpen handled the rest, with Lucas Mahlstedt wrapping up the game with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just one hit and one walk. He struck out three.

Jacob McGovern, who relieved Knaak in the sixth inning, gave up the other two Davidson runs, which made it a 5-4 Clemson lead.

The Tigers’ offense victimized Davidson starter Wilson Perkins (1-3) just enough to get him out of the game in the sixth inning, as he allowed seven hits, five runs and three walks with three strikeouts.

Purify had three of the Tigers’ nine hits on offense, which included his second home run of the season. That leadoff shot in the eighth inning gave the Tigers their final run. He went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.

Tristan Bissetta and Andrew Cuifo both had two hits. Bissetta went 2-for-3 with a run scored while Cuifo went 2-for-3 with three RBI. He drove in two of those runs on singles while the third came in on a bases-loaded walk.

Dominic Listi, Clemson’s leadoff hitter, saw his 12-game hitting streak come to an end as he went 0-for-3 with a walk. He was also hit by a pitch.

Davidson’s Noah Jouras batted leadoff and went 3-for-5 with a run for the Wildcats.

Before the Tigers host Notre Dame next weekend, they’ll get in two more non-conference weekday games at mid-week, as they’ll host Liberty on Tuesday and Wednesday.