Five Clemson errors led to four unearned runs as Louisville took a rain-soaked series-opener from the Tigers 13-10 on Friday at Jim Patterson Stadium in Louisville, Ky.
Clemson got home runs from Luke Gaffney, Nate Savoie and Talan Bell, but they were all solo homers. The Cardinals hit two long balls, with one being a two-run shot and the second a three-run blast.
Aidan Knaak suffered his fifth loss of the season (2-5), allowing five runs on seven hits in just four innings of work. Only two of the runs were earned. He struck out four and walked two.
Gaffney’s fourth home run in the past five games, a solo shot with two outs in the top of the first, gave the Tigers (26-17, 6-13 ACC) a quick 1-0 lead. It was Gaffney’s seventh long ball of the season.
The Cardinals (24-18, 8-11) did not stay down long. After Knaak issued a one-out walk in the bottom half of the inning, Tague Davis smashed a 2-1 pitch out over the right field wall, giving Louisville the 2-1 advantage. It was Davis’ 25th home run of the season, which is not only tied for tops in the nation, but also tied a program single-season record.
Savoie got in on the action in the top of the third, launching a one-out solo shot out to left-center to tie the score at 2-2. It was Savoie’s 14th homer of the year.
The Cards picked up three unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth. After Knaak retired the first two hitters, the rain came, and it was falling pretty hard. After allowing a two-out double, Knaak got a ground ball to second for what should have been a routine play to end the inning, but the wet ball slipped from Tryston McCladdie’s hand, and the throw to first was way off the mark, allowing the runner from second to score.
After a short weather delay, Zion Rose had an infield single that put runners on second and third. Davis then singled, his second hit of the game, plating another run. Knaak then got a ground ball to short, but McCladdie would make his second error of the inning when he could not handle the throw at second, and a third unearned run scored, giving Louisville a 5-2 lead.
Clemson would respond in the top of the fifth, getting a two-out RBI double from McCladdie, followed by an RBI single from Gaffney to pull the Tigers to within 5-4.
The Tigers’ defense failed them again in the sixth. With no outs, a runner on first, and once again with the rain coming down, Rose hit a fly ball into shallow right. Both McCladdie and right-fielder Talan Bell converged on the ball, but neither committed to catching it, and it would fall to the ground, putting runners at second and third. On the very next pitch, Tyler Lichtenberger could not handle a chopper to short. Everybody was safe. A run scored, and the bases were loaded, still with no outs. Another run would score on a fielder’s choice before Ben Slanker hit a three-run shot out to left-center, putting the Cards up 10-4.
Clemson would put up a four-spot in the seventh. Bell hit his first career homer in just his fourth official plate appearance with one out. The solo shot out to left made it 10-5. Nate Savoie walked, then McCladdie struck out, before another weather delay, this one lasting in the neighborhood of 90-plus minutes.
After play resumed, Gaffney and Jacob Jarrell both drew walks,, loading the bases. A wild pitch would bring one run home, then a two-run double by Jack Crighton pulled the Tigers to within 10-8.
Louisville loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the eighth. A Lucas Moore single pushed across one run, a sacrifice fly by Rose plated another one and a fielder’s choice one more, pushing the Cards’ lead back out to five at 13-8.
Clemson loaded the bases in the top of the ninth and managed to plate two runs. One came on a bases-loaded walk to Tyler Lichtenberger, and one came on a fielding error on a ball hit by Bryce Clavon.
Baseball In the Rain
Rain pushed the start time back to 6:20 p.m. Then, in the fourth, it started coming down again. And it was coming down pretty good. Despite that, the umpires let play continue until after McCladdie’s throwing error. When it started coming down hard again in the sixth, the umpires once again let play continue, despite Erik Bakich coming out to complain and a bat slipping out of the hand of a batter early in the seventh that went flying into the Louisville dugout. It was finally halted with two outs in the top of the seventh when the bottom fell out, and the umpires had no choice but to stop the game.
Even after that lengthy delay, a light rain continued to fall for most of the rest of the contest.
Talan Bell the Hitter?
The left-handed pitcher had the first two hits of his college career in this one. On top of the solo homer, Bell also singled in the eighth. He finished the night 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Bell made his first start in the field during the Virginia series, where he walked twice in three plate appearances.
Up Next
These two teams will play game two on Saturday, with first pitch set for 7 p.m. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.