The sports gods were having a little fun with the Clemson fan base on Thursday night. While the men’s basketball team was trying to hold off Arizona in the “Sweet 16,” the baseball team was locked in an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel in their series opener at Miami. Unfortunately for the diamond Tigers, good fortune would only smile on Brad Brownell’s club.
Just as Dillon Hunter was breaking free for his only basket of the night to seal a 77-72 win over Arizona, Jack Scanlon was stepping to the plate for the Hurricanes. With the tying run at second and nobody out, Scanlon launched a Rob Hughes offering over the right field fence to give Miami a 3-2 walk-off win, ending a terrific pitching matchup between the two teams.
While the Tigers used three pitchers to limit the Hurricanes to three runs on nine hits, Miami relied on just one guy on the mound, and he was all they needed.
Junior Gage Ziehl tossed a complete game, allowing two runs on seven hits with a season-high fifteen strikeouts. The New York native threw 118 pitches to record his second win of the season. Hughes took the loss, facing just two batters in the ninth inning.
The top third of Clemson’s batting order struggled against Ziehl, with Cam Cannarella, Nolan Nawrocki, and Blake Wright going a combined 0-for-12 at the plate with seven strikeouts. Nawrocki did drive in Clemson’s second run of the game on an RBI groundout. Right fielder Alden Mathes hit a solo HR in the second inning to get the Tigers on the board and tie the game at 1-1.
Game two of the series is set for Friday night at 7 p.m. in Coral Gables, Florida.
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