Long Balls, Sharpe Propel Tigers to 5-1 Win over No. 8 Louisville

CLEMSON, S.C. – Logan Davidson, Kyle Wilkie and Elijah Henderson each hit a home run and Davis Sharpe tossed 6.2 strong innings in No. 13 Clemson’s 5-1 victory over No. 8 Louisville at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Friday night. The Tigers, who took a 1-0 lead in the series, improved to 23-7 overall and 10-3 in the ACC. The Cardinals dropped to 23-7 overall and 9-4 in ACC play.

Justin Lavey’s run-scoring double with two outs in the second inning scored the game’s first run. Davidson responded with a three-run homer, his eighth of the season, in the third inning, then Wilkie hit the next pitch over the fence for his first homer of the year. They were the first two homers allowed by Reid Detmers in 2019. Henderson then led off the fifth inning with his first career home run.

Sharpe (5-1) earned the win by giving up just four hits, one run and one walk with seven strikeouts. The freshman righthander allowed just one Cardinal to advance past second base during his outing. Holt Jones pitched the final 2.1 innings to record his third save of the season. Detmers (5-2) suffered the loss, as he yielded four hits, five runs and two walks with 10 strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched. Detmers had surrendered just five combined runs in his first seven starts of 2019.

The series continues Saturday at 5 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.