Clemson Drops Season Finale, 6-5
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The No. 21/20 Clemson Tigers battled back from a four-run deficit, scoring five runs in the final two innings, but ultimately dropped the series finale to Notre Dame, 6-5. The Tigers move to 31-15 (13-8 ACC), while Notre Dame moves to 24-20 (8-13 ACC).
Clemson finished the game with 10 hits, the 11th game in 2024 that the Tigers have tallied double-digit hits. Alex Brown, McKenzie Clark and Alia Logoleo all led the team with two hits, with Brown and Clark both tallying RBIs and Logoleo scoring one run. Arielle Oda finished the game with three RBIs off one hit and one run scored.
Notre Dame struck in the bottom of the first inning. The first two batters tallied a hit followed by the third batter reaching on an error that allowed a run to score. With two outs, the Fighting Irish were able to capitalize on a pitch for a three-run homer to take a 4-0 lead after one.
The Tigers continued to push things offensively by getting at least one baserunner in the first three innings and loading the bases in the fifth, but left them all stranded through the stretch to allow Notre Dame to keep the lead. In total, Clemson left 11 runners stranded.
Clemson made its push in the top of the sixth to cut Notre Dame’s lead down to one after Logoleo singled and came around to score with two outs as Oda knocked a double off the right field fence. Maddie Moore drew a four-pitch walk to put two on with two outs. Brown stepped up with an RBI single up the middle, and Clark added an RBI single to center to make it 4-3 in favor of the Fighting Irish after six.
The Tigers kept their offense moving into the top of the seventh with back-to-back singles from Valerie Cagle and Lindsey Garcia. JoJo Hyatt came in to pinch hit with one out and reached on a fielder’s choice as Julia Bomhardt, who was running for Cagle, was ruled out at first. With two outs and runners at the corners, Oda sent a hard chopper at Notre Dame’s shortstop that took a funny hop that allowed Kylee Johnson and Kennedy Ariail, who were running for Garcia and Hyatt, to score and give Clemson the 5-4 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh.
Notre Dame was able to get its first two batters on following an error and a single before Clemson could pick up an out. The Fighting Irish went on to load the bases and only one out, and Clemson turned to Millie Thompson in the circle. She struck out the next batter at the plate, but the Fighting Irish were able to come up with a hit with two outs through the left side to score two and take the game, 6-5.
Junior Brooke McCubbin started in her 11th game of the year. She pitched 1.1 innings and faced 10 batters as she moved to 10-3 on the year. Senior Regan Spencer entered in the bottom of the second inning and pitched five innings with two strikeouts as she moved to 8-3 on the year. Thompson picked up one strikeout in her 0.1 inning of work.
Up Next
The Tigers conclude the regular season next weekend with a three-game series at Louisville. Clemson is set to square-off against the Cardinals on Friday, April 26 at 6 p.m. on ACCNX. The Tigers continue the series on Saturday, April 27 at 1 p.m., before concluding the regular season on Sunday, April 28 at noon.