March 12, 2017
By Michael Scholl
CLEMSON, South Carolina — The Notre Dame baseball team was stifled offensively in the series finale at Clemson and fell to the ninth-ranked Tigers, 4-0.
Matt Vierling had a pair of doubles for the Irish, while Nick Podkul added a pair of base hits. Brad Bass battled through 5.1 innings, allowing four runs, before giving way to Evy Ruibal. Ruibal was solid out of the pen, conceding just one hit over the final 2.2 innings.
Key Innings
Bottom First
The Tigers took advantage of a one-out walk by Robert Jolly to take a 1-0 lead. After the walk and a steal of second, Bass struck out Seth Beer for the second out of the game, but Chris Williams singled through the left side to score Jolly. Bass struck out Andrew Cox to end the inning.
Bottom Third
Clemson struck again in the third on one hit. After Bass struck out Grayson Byrd for the first out, Chase Pinter doubled to left-center. A wild pitch allowed Pinder to move up 90 feet to third before Jolly delivered with a sacrifice fly to left to plate the run. Bass induced a Beer groundout to end the inning.
Bottom Fourth
The home team added a pair in the fourth innings. Cox and Weston Jackson delivered consecutive one-out singles, setting up runners on the corners. A wild pitch scored Cox from third before a second wild pitch moved Jackson up to third. With the infield in, Logan Davidson hit a chopper to first and Jung’s throw home wasn’t in time to get Jackson at home. Jordan Greene bounced into a 4-6-3 double play to end the frame. Clemson took a 4-0 lead into the fifth inning.
On Deck
With Notre Dame on spring break, the Irish will travel to Davidson, North Carolina, to take on Mik Aoki’s alma mater on Tuesday, March 14. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. ET and the contest can be heard live on WatchND and 103.1 FM in South Bend.
— ND —
Michael Scholl joined Fighting Irish Media in August 2016, coordinating communications for the baseball program and assisting with the football team at his alma mater. The South Bend native earned a degree in political science from the College of Arts & Letters in 2009 before going on to work in athletics communications at Providence College, Vanderbilt and Cincinnati.