No. 3 Tigers Take Series Opener 11-1 Over Cardinal

CLEMSON, S.C. - No. 3 Clemson scored in five of its six innings at the plate and Aidan Knaak pitched 6.0 strong innings in an 11-1 victory over Stanford at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Friday night. The Tigers, who took a 1-0 lead in the series and won their seventh game in a row, improved to 32-5 overall and 10-3 in the ACC. The Cardinal dropped to 18-13 overall and 5-11 in ACC play. The game lasted seven innings due to the 10-run rule.

The Tigers scored two runs in the first inning, including the first on Collin Priest’s run-scoring single, then they plated a run in the second inning on Dominic Listi’s groundout. In the third inning, Jacob Jarrell belted a two-run homer, his eighth of the year, to give Clemson a 5-0 lead. The Cardinal dented the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning on Tatum Marsh’s solo homer.

Clemson responded in the bottom of the fourth inning with a run on a two-out wild pitch. In the sixth inning, the Tigers added five runs on Cam Cannarella’s run-scoring double, Jarren Purify’s run-scoring single, Priest’s run-scoring double and Josh Paino’s bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.

Knaak (6-0) earned the win by allowing just two hits, one run and two walks with six strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched. Cardinal starter Joey Volchko (2-2) suffered the loss, as he surrendered six hits, seven runs (six earned) and five walks with five strikeouts in 5.0 innings pitched.

The series continues Saturday at 6 p.m. on ACC Network.