In a back-and-forth battle, Clemson baseball beat Notre Dame 6-4 for the rubber match win on Sunday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Throughout the game, Clemson (22-15, 6-9 ACC) relied heavily on its pitching staff to go 2-1 in their series against the Fighting Irish (18-15, 8-10 ACC) this weekend.
Caden Grice started on the mound for the Tigers, allowing three runs on five hits in his 4.1 innings as he makes a case for himself as Clemson’s ace. Willie Weiss, Tristan Smith and Casey Tallent saw the mound as well, but it would be Nick Clayton who wrapped up the game and took the win.
Clayton allowed no runs and just two hits in his 3.0 innings pitched. The junior righty currently holds a 1.59 ERA.
In a standout seventh inning, sophomore Billy Amick hit a double to bring in Will Taylor and take the lead after staying tied throughout the game. Amick then crossed the plate himself, thanks to a Riley Bertram double to put the Tigers up 6-4.
Amick went 3 for 4 at the plate on the day, scoring one run himself with three hits to improve his batting average to .379.
“We just tried to pass the baton along in those situations to try to get it to the next man,” Amick said of his team building off of each other to make those run-scoring plays.
Clemson’s pitchers, led by coach Jimmy Belanger, were accredited by head coach Erik Bakich. Bakich is confident that his team is playing better as he continues feeling out his pitching arsenal.
“It’s good to see our guys kind of shrink it down to just be locked in on the moment and taking it one game and one pitch at a time,” Bakich said.
He also noted that pitching is a “meritocracy,” meaning fans can expect any pitcher on the mound at any given time based on ability.
Overall, Clemson’s program is something Bakich is proud of in his first season as head coach.
“Pitching, defense and timely hitting — that’s the recipe for championship baseball. It’s a recipe for postseason baseball,” he said. “I’m very pleased that our team is playing better in those areas.”
Now halfway through conference play, the team is locked in to continue the season.
“But make no mistake, we saw a lot of work to do, but it feels like we’re on the right trajectory,” Bakich added.
The Tigers lost the first game of the series on Friday night, 10-4. They redeemed themselves the following day to take game two 5-1, wrapping up the series finale with a win on Sunday to improve to 6-9 in ACC play.
Clemson will be back in action on Tuesday when it hosts Georgia at 6:30 p.m. EDT. The Tigers’ military appreciation game will be broadcasted on ACC Network Extra.
