The hitters for both clubs had their way with the pitchers at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, Saturday, but in the end, Clemson’s bats were potent enough to claim an 11-10 win over Stanford.
Clemson DH Collin Priest got the scoring started with a three-run blast in the first inning, forcing Stanford to dip into its bullpen right away. The Cardinal counterpunched with five runs in the second, chasing Tigers’ starter Ethan Darden. Clemson put up a five spot of its own in the home half of the second to take an 8-5 lead.
Stanford put up crooked numbers in the third and the fourth to take a 10-8 advantage into the middle innings. Josh Paino’s long ball trimmed the lead to one and Dominic Listi knotted it up with an RBI single, setting the stage for Jacob Jarrell. The junior catcher led off the sixth inning and teed off on a 1-2 fastball, launching it 423 feet over the wall in dead center field to complete the comeback and put the Tigers up for good.
Lucas Mahlstedt took over from there, throwing three scoreless innings to pick up his 12th save.
Clemson reached base 23 times in the game on nine walks and 14 hits. Priest (2-3, HR, 4 RBI), Paino (2-3, HR, 2 RBI), Listi (2-4, 2 RBI) and Luke Gaffney (3-5, 2B, RBI) all shined offensively.
The third-ranked Tigers (33-5, 11-3) have won eight straight and will go for the sweep at 3 p.m., Sunday.