It is time for No. 16 Clemson to really dig deep.

Prior to last weekend, the Tigers had not lost back-to-back games all season. Now they find themselves in a five-game losing streak, the longest for the program in six years.

Friday night the frustration continued as Clemson battled back and forth with Duke, but came up short, 9-8, as the Blue Devils rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth inning. To make matters even worse, both runs came with two outs.

Despite the loss, it was an unbelievable night for Clemson’s Sam Hall. The sophomore, the most versatile player on the roster, was in centerfield due to an eye injury to Bryce Teodosio. Hall went 3-for-5 at the plate with two home runs and three RBI’s.

“Really just hit it hard, line drive backside,” he said. “That’s as simple as I can make it.”

Not only did Hall have a stellar night at the plate, but he also showed his aggressiveness and speed on the base paths as he stole home plate in the bottom of the seventh inning.

“He was a lefty on the mound and he was taking a while,” he said. “His leg lift was really slow and he can’t see me so I knew I had a pretty good shot.

“Luckily it was a curve ball in the dirt so that kind of helped me out too. I knew it was close and I knew I got my hand in but I didn’t know at the time.”

Although the Tigers came out short Friday, the team was pleased with the way the bats responded.

In Tuesday night’s marathon 20-inning game against Georgia, Clemson was 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position. That was not the case on Friday. The Tigers were 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

“(Thursday) we really emphasized that in our practice,” Hall said. “We really emphasized staying inside the ball and learning how to hit to all parts of the field.

“We really practiced bunting yesterday and got a bunt down tonight. That was crucial for us so we really emphasized that yesterday.”

Although it’s a frustrating time for the Tigers, the only thing they can do is try to win the next one and that is what they will try to do today as they take on Duke in the second game of the series at 3 p.m.

“Just stay up,” Hall said. “We’ve run into some tough luck. But that’s baseball, so just stay up and we’ll be fine. Take care of it tomorrow.”