On paper, this should have been a relatively easy weekend for Clemson baseball. However, nobody told the Coastal cellar-dwelling Pitt Panthers they weren’t supposed to compete against the ACC Atlantic Division front-runners. After rallying for a 6-4 win on Friday, Clemson had to fight tooth and nail to pull out its conference series with Pittsburgh two games to one by splitting Saturday’s doubleheader 4-8 and 9-2. The two teams bumped Sunday’s game up to the back half of a twin bill due to anticipated weather in the Upstate, and the Panthers were ready to go from the outset.
Game #1: The Panthers scored eight runs in the first four innings, and Jack Sokol was tremendous on the mound as Pittsburgh leveled the series with an 8-4 win over the Tigers. Sokol pitched 6.0 scoreless innings to earn the win, allowing five hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Tiger starter Ethan Darden suffered just his second loss of the year, giving up five runs in only two innings of work.
After plating two runs in the first and a single run in the second, the Panthers broke the game wide open with a four spot in the third. Josh Spiegel’s three-run homer was the only long ball of the game for Pittsburgh, but it was just what the Panthers needed to build a seven-run cushion.
The Tigers scored a run in the seventh inning on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Cam Cannarella, and Blake Wright added a three-run homer of his own in the ninth, but it wasn’t nearly enough to prevent Pittsburgh from picking up just its 15th win of the season and 5th ACC triumph.
GM #1 Box Score
Game #2: Behind the pitching of freshman righthander Aidan Knaak and the power of Jimmy Obertop, Clemson stormed back to win the series with a 9-2 victory over the Panthers in the final game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Knaak pitched 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing four hits with eight strikeouts, but was overshadowed by the Tigers’ catcher. Obertop tied a school record with three home runs as Clemson notched its 900th all-time ACC regular season win.
Obertop’s day at the plate included a two-run homer in the first inning, a two-run shot in the fifth, and a solo big fly in the bottom of the eighth inning. He is the 18th player in Clemson history to hit three homers in a game and the third to accomplish the feat this season. Will Taylor and Blake Wright have also recorded a hat-trick this year.
Knaak (4-0) earned the win by not allowing a Panther to advance past second base. Pittsburgh starter Ryan Reed (0-5) suffered the loss as he surrendered eight hits, five runs (three earned), and one walk with three strikeouts in 4.0 innings pitched.
The Tigers travel to Athens to take on the Georgia Bulldogs Tuesday night at 7 p.m.