Irish Fall to Clemson in Final Game of the Series
CLEMSON, SC – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish fell to the Clemson Tigers in the final game of the series at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Sunday, April 16. The 6-4 loss drops the Irish to 18-15 on the year and 8-10 in the ACC.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish offense struck first as Zack Prajzner recorded his first hit of the day with a single up the middle. Brooks Coetzee followed as he found the gap and sent it to left center field and scored Prajzner. Coetzee’s RBI double gave the Irish the 1-0 advantage heading into the bottom of the first.
The Tigers tied it up at 1-1 in the bottom frame, but Notre Dame would restore the lead in the second as Estevan Moreno ripped it through the left side for a base hit. Moreno stole second and as TJ Williams recorded a single to third base, Moreno advanced and was able to score on a Tiger fielding error to make it a 2-1 ballgame.
Clemson finished the bottom of the second with two doubles and a base hit to take their first lead of the game 3-2.
Blake Hely started on the mound for the Irish and after recording his fourth and fifth strikeout of the day in the fourth, he was relieved by Radek Birkholz in the bottom of the fifth. Hely pitched 4.0 innings, giving up three runs on six hits.
A scoreless third and fourth inning for both the Irish and the Tigers kept it within one as they were back up to the plate in the fifth frame. After a groundout to open the inning, the Irish would have bases loaded after three straight HBPs. With Carter Putz on third, Brooks Coetzee on second, and Vinny Martinez on first, Casey Kmet scored Putz on sac bunt to the pitcher to tie it up again 3-3.
The Tigers responded with another run in the bottom of the fifth to regain the lead at 4-3.
Williams tallied his second hit of the day in the sixth with a double down the left field line. The Irish and Tigers each recorded a scoreless sixth to keep it at 4-3 heading into the seventh.
Putz would lead off in the seventh and reach via a walk, followed by a Coetzee single to third base to advance Putz into scoring position. Nick Juaire would put both of the Irish runners into scoring position on a sac bunt to the pitcher. Notre Dame tied it up as Putz scored on a wild pitch and made it a 4-4 ballgame.
Clemson would respond with two more runs as they recorded a base hit and two doubles in the bottom frame to take the lead 6-4 heading into the eighth. Will Mercer relieved Birkholz in the seventh, who pitched 2.2 innings, recorded three strikeouts, and allowed three runs on four hits.
Danny Neri would lead off with a single down the right field line, but was followed with a swinging strikeout and a double play to close the top of the eighth.
The Irish held the Tigers scoreless in the bottom of the eighth to keep it at 6-4 with one last offensive opportunity. Prajzner recorded his third hit of the day as he led off the ninth with a double to left center, but was followed with three straight outs to close the final game of the series.
UP NEXT
The Irish will host Valparaiso for the second time this season on Tuesday, April 18 and will face the Western Michigan Broncos on Wednesday, April 19 at Frank Eck Stadium.
Notre Dame will get back into ACC play starting on Friday, April 21 as the Irish host No. 7 Virginia for a three-game series at home.