The Clemson Insider looks back at No. 6 Clemson’s 5-2 loss to Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon at Frank Eck Stadium in South Bend, Ind., to open the three-game series.

What happened?

The Fighting Irish (13-16, 5-8 ACC) took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a two-run homer. The Tigers (23-7, 8-5 ACC) cut the lead in half in the third. Grayson Byrd led off with a single and Kier Meredith drew a walk before a sac bunt and sac fly by Jordan Greene brought in Byrd to make it 2-1. Notre Dame got the run back in the fourth but Byrd answered with a solo homer in the fifth to cut the lead to 3-2. The Fighting Irish would add insurance runs in the seventh and eighth to claim the 5-2 win.

Game-Changing Moment:

The game changed in the seventh and eighth innings. In both frames, Clemson loaded the bases with one out but was unable to push a run across. In the bottom of each inning, Notre Dame was able to come up with the clutch hit scoring a run in both innings.

What went right?

Meredith made his Tiger debut, going 2-for-3 with a single and a triple. Byrd hit a homer as one of his two hits and Seth Beer also had two hits in Clemson’s eight hit attack. The Tigers also drew eight walks in the contest. On the mound, Carson Spiers tossed a scoreless inning of relief while the defense did not commit an error.

What went wrong?

Jacob Hennessy battled on the mound, but ended up allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks with just two strikeouts in in 6.2 innings. Offensively, Clemson struggled to build innings and get the clutch hit as they stranded 12 runners in the contest.