Stanford University has quite a baseball tradition. The Cardinal have made 19 appearances in the College World Series, winning two national championships and finishing runners-up on three separate occasions. However, their history never included a regular season meeting with the Clemson Tigers. After Friday night, the visitors from the West Coast might be fine if they never met again.
The Tigers bombed the Cardinal 11-1 in seven innings to open up their ACC series at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The win, Clemson’s seventh straight, improved the Tigers to 32-5 overall and 10-3 in the ACC. Stanford fell to 18-13 on the season and 5-11 in the league.
The Tigers got the party started early, scoring two runs in the first inning before picking up a single run in the second on Dominic Listi’s groundout. In the third, Jacob Jarrell belted a two-run homer, his eighth of the year, to give Clemson a 5-0 lead. The Cardinal battled back to plate their run of the game in the top of the fourth on a Tatum Marsh solo home run.
Clemson responded in the bottom of the fourth inning with a run on a two-out wild pitch. In the sixth inning, the Tigers exploded for five runs, including a pair of run-scoring doubles by Cam Cannarella and Collin Priest, along with a Josh Paino bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. Priest drove in a pair of runs and scored twice on the evening, while Cannarella collected a pair of two-baggers.
Aidan Knaak remained perfect on the season by allowing just two hits, one run, and two walks with six strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched. Cardinal starter Joey Volchko (2-2) suffered the loss, as he surrendered six hits, seven runs (six earned), and five walks with five strikeouts in five innings on the mound.
The series continues Saturday at 6 p.m.