CLEMSON — In the second night game in as many days at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, Clemson once again struggled to slow down No. 4 Georgia Tech’s explosive offense.

The 9-3 loss on Friday extended Clemson’s losing streak to three games and dropped the Tigers to 0-2 in conference play. This also marked the first time since 2016 that Georgia Tech has won a series at Clemson.

Despite the loss, Clemson’s (15-4, 0-2 ACC) offense showed early improvement tonight. Through the Tigers’ first five at-bats, Clemson had already matched and surpassed its hit total from the previous game.

Even with that offensive improvement, Clemson just could not execute in the right moments against Georgia Tech (17-2, 4-1 ACC). The Tigers kept making small mistakes, especially with runners on base, and those mistakes were costly when playing a team that averages 13.4 runs per game.

Six different Tigers recorded hits at the plate, including three solo home runs between Jacob Jarrell and Nate Savoie, which accounted for all of Clemson’s runs.

Savoie was the bright spot in Clemson’s lineup and once again showed how important he is to the offense. He went 3-for-4 with two home runs and a single, accounting for two of Clemson’s three runs.

Jarrell launched a home run over the left-center wall in the bottom of the second inning, marking Clemson’s first run of the series after eight scoreless innings between the first two games. The blast was Jarrell’s seventh home run of the season.

On the mound, Michael Sharman made his fourth start of the season for Clemson and his first career start against an ACC opponent. In his outing, Sharman gave up five hits and struck out three. Sharman also kept Georgia Tech’s explosive top three in the lineup limited, holding each of them to 0-3 in their at-bats.

Clemson went to its bullpen three times over the span of three innings. With two outs in the top of the sixth, the Tigers called on junior transfer Hayden Simmerson to come out of the bullpen. Then, in the seventh, facing a two-on, one-out situation, Clemson made another move to the bullpen and brought in reliever Joe Allen. In the eighth, the Tigers brought in their fourth pitcher of the game, Junior Ariston Veasey.

Contrary to the score, Clemson actually out-hit Georgia Tech by one swing with nine hits. And Clemson forced the Yellow Jackets’ lead-off batter, Drew Burress, who hit two homers last night, to go 0-5.

Georgia Tech opened the scoring in the top of the second inning when Vahn Lackey connected on a solo home run, his second of the series, to give the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 lead.

The inning extended after a defensive error from Clemson third baseman Jay Dillard, followed by a free base from Sharman. Parker Brosius capitalized on the opportunity with a double that drove in two runs.

Clemson responded in the bottom of the second inning when Jarrell drove a pitch over the left-center wall, putting the Tigers on the board for the first time in the series.

Georgia Tech added another run in the top of the fourth inning when Carson Kerce delivered an RBI single with one out to extend the Yellow Jackets’ lead to 4-1.

Clemson answered right away in the bottom half of the inning when Savoie hit a solo home run to cut into the lead.

The fifth and sixth were scoreless innings for both sides until Kent Schmidt decided to put an end to the quietness. Schmidt was up to bat with two strikes and the bases loaded and launched the ball 398 feet over right center field to give the Yellow Jackets an 8-2 lead.

Clemson was forced to make their fourth pitching change of the game in the eighth when Allen gave up his third run of the game on an RBI single to give Georgia Tech a lead of seven.

Savoie launched his second home run of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning to add one more to the board for Clemson and make the score 9-3.

Up Next

Clemson will face off against Georgia Tech in the last game of the three-game series Saturday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.