Clemson, SC — Duke scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to take down Clemson 11-8 on Sunday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Blue Devils, who won the series 2-1, improved to 13-7 (3-3 ACC) while the Tigers fell to 12-8 (1-2 ACC). 

Clemson struck first in the contest with a little help from Duke. In the bottom of the second, the first two Tigers drew walks before an infield single by Blake Wright loaded the bases with one out. Jacob Jarrell hit a hard grounder to third that the fielder bobbled multiple times, allowing all runners to be safe and Clemson to push a run across for a 1-0 lead.

After the Blue Devils put up two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to take a 4-1 lead, the Tigers answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Cam Cannarella started the frame with a leadoff single followed by a Cooper Ingle walk and a fielding error to load the bases. Caden Grice then drove a run in on a RBI groundout while Riley Bertram plated another run on a sac fly to cut the deficit to 4-3.

Clemson reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Taylor reached on a one-out error before back-to-back singles by Grice and Bertram tied the game. Nathan Hall followed with a big two-strike, two-run double down the left field line to put the Tigers on top 6-4.

Duke answered right back in the top of the eighth with a two-run homer to knot the game at 6-6.

The Tigers used some two-out magic in the bottom of the eighth to re-take the lead. Cannarella hit a two-out double into the right-center gap before Ingle brought him in with a backside RBI single for a 7-6 Clemson lead.

The Blue Devils struck back in the ninth to put the game away. After tying the game on a solo homer, Duke took the lead with a RBI double before extending their lead to 11-7 with a three-run homer.

The Tigers put a two-out run on the board in the ninth as Grice led off the inning with a double and came in to score on a RBI single by Wright.

Blue Devils reliever Aidan Weaver (2-1) tossed 1.2 innings to earn the win while Tiger reliever Rocco Reid (0-1) suffered the loss.

Clemson finished the game with nine hits, led by two hits each from Cannarella, Grice, and Wright, while Duke tallied 11 hits in the contest.

Clemson is back in action on Tuesday evening as Winthrop visits Doug Kingsmore Stadium for a 6:00PM first pitch. 

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