Clemson jumped on Pitt early and never looked back as the No. 15 Tigers hit three home runs in a 13-6 win over the Panthers on Saturday at Charles L. Cost Field in Pittsburgh, Pa. The victory completed a weekend sweep of Pitt to finish the regular season and was the first series win for Clemson since the middle of April.
Collin Priest, Dominic Listi and Jacob Jarrell all went deep for the Tigers. Cam Cannarella also stayed hot at the plate, finishing 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI, while Jack Crighton continued his tear, going 4-for-5 with three doubles, a triple and three runs scored. Priest had three hits and drove in four.
Listi finished with two hits and a walk, including a three-run homer, while Jarrell was 2-for-4 with an RBI on a solo home run and two runs scored. Josh Paino also finished 2-for-3 with a run driven in.
Talan Bell got the start for the Tigers (41-15, 18-12 ACC), with the freshman holding Pitt scoreless over a career-high four innings pitched. He struck out three and walked just one while allowing three hits.
Joe Allen pitched an inning after coming on to relieve Bell, allowing one run on one hit, while walking two. He also struck out a batter in notching the win (4-0). Lucas Mahlstedt pitched the final 1.2 innings, allowing a run on two hits.
Clemson once again jumped on Pitt (27-26, 10-20 ACC) early, registering four base hits in the top of the first. Cannarella singled to start the game, then stole second, the Tigers’ 10th stolen base of the weekend. After he moved to third on a sacrifice fly, Priest smacked a two-run 469-foot bomb to dead-center, putting Clemson up 2-0. It was his 11th home run of the season.
Crighton led off the second with his first triple of the season, followed by a TP Wentworth walk. Andrew Ciufo then hit into a double play, scoring Crighton and making it 3-0.
The Tigers continued to pour it on in the third. After Jarren Purify walked to start the inning, he stole second. A single by Paino put runners on the corners with one out. After a nine-pitch at-bat, Listi then hit a three-run shot out to left, giving Clemson a 6-0 advantage. Jarrell followed that up with a laser out to left, his team-leading 13th long ball of the season, and second of the series, making it 7-0.
Crighton then doubled to right and moved to third on a wild pitch. Wentworth then drove him in with a ground ball to short, giving the Tigers a comfortable 8-0 lead.
Cannarella hit a bases-loaded double with one out in the fifth, putting the Tigers up 10-0.
The Panthers finally got on the board in the fifth with a two-out single from Caden Dulin.
Clemson got one of those runs back in the seventh on a two-out RBI single by Priest, giving the Tigers the 11-4 lead.
Pitt got back-to-back homers off reliever BJ Bailey with two outs in the sixth, cutting into the Tigers’ lead. Jayden Melendiz started it with a two-run shot, with David Pedanou following that up with a solo home run, making it 11-4.
The Panthers scored one time in the eighth on a sacrifice fly.
Priest drove in his final two runs of the game with a one-out single in the ninth, making it 13-5.
Cannarella Continues to Rake
Cannarella had four hits on Thursday, another on Friday, and finished the series off by collecting three more on Saturday. He had nine hits in the sweep of the Panthers. Over the past two weekends, the centerfielder is 14-for-25 and his average now sits at .332.
Hit Barrage
Clemson hitters pounded out 45 hits in the sweep, hitting over .340 as a team this weekend, and the offense was clicking on all cylinders in the series finale. The Tigers had 17 hits on Saturday, were 9-of-28 with runners on base and 6-of-19 with runners in scoring position. The leadoff hitter reached in each of the first five innings.
Crighton Tearing It Up
Crighton was red-hot at the plate this weekend, going 9-for-13 with three doubles, a triple and five runs scored. He also stole two bases in the game two win on Friday. The right-handed hitter has raised his average to .302.
Aggressive Base Running
The Tigers were awfully aggressive on the bases this weekend, swiping 11 bags while being thrown out just once. Cannarella, Paino, Purify and Crighton all had multiple steals. For the season, Clemson is 71-of-84 on stolen base attempts. Purify leads the team with 25.
Up Next
Clemson will head to Durham for the ACC Tournament. If Florida State loses to North Carolina on Saturday, the Tigers would earn a Top 4 seed and not play until Thursday. If the Seminoles were to win, Clemson would play on Wednesday. Seedings and times will be announced on Sunday.