Easter Sunday brought Game 3 and sunny skies to Doug Kingsmore as the Tigers looked to avoid a sweep from the Duke Blue Devils.
This weekend has been a rough one as the Tigers dropped their sixth straight game on Saturday. Duke has exposed a weakness of the Tigers, hitting balls short into outfield. Not once during this series have I seen a player hustle for the ball, let alone hustle to make a huge play. If this continues the Tigers are looking at long series versus Georgia Tech next weekend and North Carolina State in May. This is a completely different team from what we have seen earlier this season.
The Tiger pitching staff has struggled against the Blue Devils this weekend and Jacob Hennessy took to the mound and looked to give the Tigers some kind of momentum.
Things did not look good from the start for the Tigers. Kennie Taylor would strike first for the Blue Devils hitting a homerun through centerfield giving the Blue Devils an early 1-0 lead.
A Kyle Wilkie single would tie the game in the bottom of the first. Wilkie would send Logan Davidson rounding third on his way to home and an error would advance Wilkie to second and Grayson Byrd to third.
Clemson would fall behind 4-1 in the top of the second inning after Duke brought in 3 runs, including a second home run by Joey Loperfido.
Davis Sharpe was able to find his way home to cut the score to two runs after a Sam Hall single. The score stood 4-2 Duke in the bottom of the second.
Duke pulled further ahead with an unearned run scored by Matt Mervis. The Blue Devils took at 5-2 lead heading to the bottom of the third.
Jacob Hennessy’s time on the mound was short-lived. Hennessy pitched 3.0 innings, allowed seven hits, five runs and saw his ERA shoot up to a 4.15. Hennessy was replaced by Luke Sommerfeld. Somerfeld was able to come out and quickly retire the three at bat for a 123 inning.
In the fifth, Duke added two more runs to extend their lead 7-2 on a Chase Cheek triple. Then adding another on a Ethan Murray single making it 8-2.
Clemson would strike back in the fifth and bring in six runs including a Grayson Byrd solo homer and a Grand Slam by Justin Hawkins. But a 9th inning homer by Matt Mervis pushed the Blue Devils to a 9-8 win over the Tigers and a series sweep. The Tigers losing streak now extends to seven games.
The Tigers look to bounce back against Winthrop Tuesday at 6.
