CLEMSON — Tague Davis smashed a two-run home run to left centerfield in the top of the 12th inning, as No. 17 Louisville beat No. 3 Clemson, 8-6, in 12 innings to avoid being swept in the three-game series.

Davis finished the afternoon 3-for-6 with three RBIs. Eddie King, who had a home run in the second inning, also drove in three runs.

Clemson (35-7, 13-5 ACC) was led by Cam Cannarella, who had a home run and drove in two runs, and Josh Paino, who also had a home run.

The story of the game was Clemson’s inability to take advantage of runners in scoring position. The Tigers were an amazing 3-for-22 with runners in scoring position–2-for-19 prior to extra innings) and struck out eight times in those instances, including six times with the bases loaded.

They were 0-for-7 with the bases loaded.

“We are doing an awesome job running a clinic on how to leave guys on the bases. We left a small village out there,” Clemson head coach Erik Bakich said during Sunday’s in-game interview after the third inning.

Cannarella gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when he hit an opposite field dinger in the bottom of the first inning. The home run marked his second homer of the season and scored Dominic Listi, who led off the inning with walk.

In the fourth inning, Cannarella made an unbelievable catch when King blasted a shot to centerfield for what appeared to be a game-tying home run. But as Cannarella showed below, he jumped up an stole what would have been Kings’ second long ball of the day.

Clemson had an opportunity to extend its lead after Cannarella’s homer in the first. Jarren Purify and Collin Priest drew back-to-back walks. However, Jacob Jarrell struck out swinging and Jason Paino followed by hitting into a double-play at short.

The Tigers loaded the bases in the third inning with no outs, but Louisville reliever Justin West struck out Jarrell, Paino and Luke Gaffney back-to-back-to-back to retire the side.

Clemson put runners on first and second with one out in the fourth inning, but Cannarella ground into a double play at second base to end yet another scoring opportunity.

The Tigers load the bases twice in the fifth inning, but was able to only get one run in and that came on a slow roller to third where the only play was a fielder’s choice to first. Purify scored, but the run was unearned due to an earlier error by Cardinals third baseman Jake Munroe.

The second time they loaded the bases in the inning, Ciufo grounded out to third base.

In the sixth inning, the Tigers had Listi on third base with one out, but Priest and Jarrell both struck out to end the threat.

Clemson loaded the bases with one out in the seventh inning, but Listi popped up to second base for the second out and then Cannarella struck out swinging to end the inning once again.

It got worse in the bottom of the eighth inning. Purify tried to steal home with one out but was caught in a run down for a 2-3-2-6 putout. Purify had gotten to third thanks to a lead-off single to right, stole second and then moved to third on a wild pitch.

However, Priest struck out swinging for the first out and Purify was caught stealing before Jarrell flied out to rightfield to end the inning.

Clemson’s missed opportunities allowed Louisville (28-11, 10-8 ACC) to tie the game, 3-3, in the bottom of the sixth inning. King, who homered in the second inning, grounded out to third base to drive in the Cardinals’ second run, while a wild pitch from Bailey allowed Garrett Pike to come home with the tying run.

Chance Fitzgerald and B.J. Bailey combined through nine innings to keep Louisville at bay. They gave up four runs on seven hits, while fanning five. Bailey accounted for working seven of those innings, which was a new career-high for the lefty.

Their defense backed them up well, too. Besides Cannarella’s catch in the fourth inning to save a run, they also turned two double plays, including a 5-4-3 double play in the ninth.

However, three straight bases hits with two outs by Louisville, including a blooper to centerfield by pinch hitter Collin Mowry gave the Cardinals a brief 4-3 lead.

It was brief because Paino homered to right centerfield on the first pitch of the Tigers’ ninth to tie the game. It was a 376-foot bomb that ultimately forced extra innings.

After Louisville got two runs in the top of the 10 inning to take a 6-4 lead, Jarrell got a two-out hit through the left side to score Listi, who started the inning with a walk. Clemson then tied the game and ultimately forced an 11th inning, as Paino hustled down the line and slid into first base to avoid the tag from Davis at first.

The throw was off the mark by shortstop Alex Alicea and Paino’s heads up base running allowed pinch runner TP Wentworth to score the tying run.

Crazy Stat

As bad as Clemson was with runners in scoring position, they were great leading off an inning. The Tigers were 9-for-12 getting the lead off man on to start an inning, including nine of the first 10 innings.

Extra innings

Sunday was Clemson’s 42nd game of the 2025 season and it was the first time one of them went into extra innings.

Pitchers needed

Louisville likely did not have many pitchers left after Sunday’s game. The Cardinals used 10 pitchers in Sunday’s game against the Tigers.

Up Next

Clemson will host No. 5 Georgia on Tuesday at Doug Kingsmore. First pitch is set for 8 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.

—photo by Jason Priester