No. 12 Tigers Outlast No. 16 Yellow Jackets 9-4 To Advance to ACC Championship Game
DURHAM, N.C. - Jacob Jarrell’s grand slam in the third inning gave No. 12 Clemson the lead for good in its 9-4 victory over No. 16 Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers, who won their sixth game in a row and upped their record in the tournament to 3-0, improved to 44-15 on the season. The Yellow Jackets, who were 1-1 in the tourney, dropped to 40-17 in 2025.
The Yellow Jackets took advantage of an error on a potential inning-ending double play grounder to score two runs in the first inning, then Drew Rogers belted a solo homer in the second inning. Jarren Purify grounded a run-scoring single in the third inning. Four batters later in the frame with two outs, Jarrell blasted a grand slam, his 15th long ball of the year, second grand slam of the season and third career grand slam.
Georgia Tech cut Clemson’s lead in half in the fourth inning on Will Baker’s two-out, run-scoring single. In the seventh inning, Cam Cannarella ripped a single to score a run and extend his hitting streak to 18 games. Later in the frame, the Tigers tacked on a run on an error. TP Wentworth lined a two-out, run-scoring double in the eighth inning to give Clemson an 8-4 lead. Collin Priest added a solo homer, his 12th of the year, in the eighth inning.
Joe Allen (5-0) pitched 1.1 scoreless innings in relief to earn the win, while Jacob McGovern pitched 4.0 innings to record his second save of the year. Georgia Tech starter Brady Jones (7-3) suffered the loss, as he gave up five runs on three in 3.0 innings pitched.
The Tigers advance to play the winner of Saturday night’s game between No. 2 seed Florida State and No. 3 seed North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game on Sunday at noon on ESPN2. Clemson is the designated visiting team and occupies the first-base dugout.
