PITTSBURGH – No. 4 Clemson scored three runs in the first inning and held on for a 4-1 victory over Pittsburgh at Charles L. Cost Field on Friday afternoon to claim the ACC Atlantic Division title, its first since 2010 and its first outright since 2006. The Tigers also took a 2-0 lead in the series, securing their fifth ACC road series win for the first time in school history, and won their 10th ACC road game in a row.
Clemson (42-13, 21-8 ACC) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on Patrick Cromwell’s bases-loaded walk and Drew Wharton’s two-run single. Nick Banman grounded a two-out, run-scoring single in the fourth inning for Pittsburgh (27-24, 11-18 ACC). Seth Beer led off the eighth inning with his 18th home run of the season. Kyle Wilkie extended his hitting streak to 21 games, but Logan Davidson’s 15-game hitting streak came to an end.
Tiger starter Brooks Crawford (8-2) earned the win by allowing just five hits, one run and one walk with six strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched. Ryley Gilliam pitched the ninth inning to record his 11th save of the season. Panther starter Dan Hammer (2-5) suffered the loss, as he yielded two hits, three runs and four walks with four strikeouts in 5.0 innings pitched.
The series and regular season concludes Saturday at 1 p.m., on ACC Network Extra.
