Darden Leads No. 2 Tigers Over Fighting Irish 3-2

NOTRE DAME, IND. – Sophomore lefthander Ethan Darden pitched 7.0 strong innings to lead No. 2 Clemson to a 3-2 victory over Notre Dame at Frank Eck Stadium on Saturday. The Tigers, who took a 2-0 lead in the series and won their fifth game in a row, improved to 27-3 overall and 9-2 in the ACC. The Fighting Irish dropped to 14-14 overall and 2-12 in ACC play.

With the victory, Clemson secured its 15th regular-season weekend series win in a row dating to 2023. That includes 11 straight in ACC regular-season play.

Darden (5-0) earned the win in a career-long outing. He allowed just five hits, one unearned run and no walks with five strikeouts. Austin Gordon pitched 1.1 innings to record his fourth save of the year. Notre Dame starter Jack Radel (2-1) suffered the loss, as he yielded three hits, two runs and three walks with three strikeouts in 5.0 innings pitched.

Estevan Moreno lofted a sacrifice fly in the third inning to score the game’s first run, then Jacob Hinderleider led off the fourth inning with his seventh home run of the season to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. Cam Cannarella gave Clemson the lead with a solo homer, his fifth of the year, in the fifth inning. Blake Wright doubled the Tigers’ lead in the seventh inning with a sacrifice fly.

The series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.