By Will Vandervort / Photo by Liz Condo, theACC.com.

DURHAM, N.C. — When Zack Erwin saw he was not named one of the six pitchers voted on the All-ACC Baseball Team earlier this week, he was a little aggravated about it.

“I was frustrated,” he said.

On Thursday, Erwin turned that frustration into joy when he outpitched First-Team All-ACC pitcher Kyle Funkhouser in Clemson’s 7-2 victory over third-ranked Louisville. Erwin picked up his fifth win in his last six starts by limiting the Cardinals to one run in eight innings of work.

“He wasn’t a first, second or third teamer in the ACC so he had a little chip on his shoulder about that,” Clemson head coach Jack Leggett said. “He’s pitched well for us all year long. He’s only had a couple bumps in the road early, but other than that he has really stepped up for us, he’s gotten continually better.”

Erwin came into the Louisville game with almost an identical record as Funkhouser and better statistics all the way across the board. They are both tall and Erwin is a lefty. So why is Funkhouser a potential first-round pick and Erwin isn’t?

“You just have to come out and prove you are a good pitcher and what other people think really does not matter,” the Clemson junior said. “There was a chip on my shoulder to go out there and prove that I could hang with him.”

Erwin (7-4) just didn’t hang with Funkhouser, he outplayed and outpitched him. When Funkhouser needed an out-pitch to get out of trouble, he failed to deliver as Clemson racked up seven runs and recorded 10 hits on the righty.

When Erwin was in a jam like he was in the second inning when Louisville already had one run in and had runners on second and third with two outs in the second inning, he went to his off-speed fastball and got Devin Harriston swinging for one of his 11 strikeouts.

“You know, if you are left handed and you throw 90 miles an hour, you’ve got a chance to pitch for a while,” Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell said. “He’s a talented pitcher. It could have been a different game if we got a two-out hit there in the second and just in the third, he did a good job, he kept us off balance.”

In the third inning, when the Cardinals (43-15) had runners on second and third with one out, Erwin got Brendan McKay swinging for the second out and then did the same to Zach Lucas to end the inning. After that Erwin settled in and allowed just three hits over the next six innings, while recording nine of his 11 strikeouts.

“His breaking ball was really good tonight, which is the best I’ve seen it. Got up on top of it, threw it with confidence, had good conviction with it,” Leggett said. “And his fastball, he was able to spot his fastball. You know, 11 strikeouts and no walks, that’s a pretty good ratio and that’s going to always keep you in the hunt, keep you in the game.

“But he’s worked hard. He’s a good athlete, and he’s really improved since he’s come to school.”

In his last six starts, Erwin is 5-1 and has gone to at least the sixth inning in all six contests. In fact, he has gone at least eight or more innings three times, including in Thursday’s win over the Cardinals in the ACC Tournament.

In his last six starts, Erwin has recorded at least nine strikeouts in three games and has given up no more than four runs in an outing. In his last two starts, he has allowed just one run and nine hits in 15 innings or work.

“I don’t think anything has been different, at least on my end,” Erwin said. “I have come out and have tried to do the same thing every time and fortunately my team has been playing well behind me the last couple of games.”

Leggett says the difference on Erwin from the start of the season to now is simple – it’s his confidence.

“Zack’s a kid, kind of soft spoken you can tell, he doesn’t say much but he has some confidence in his pitching ability,” Leggett said.

“He went off in the summer and played up in the Cape and got some confidence there, and that’s rolled into this year. So I’m really proud of how he’s improved and come along.”