Clemson baseball splits doubleheader, earns series win at No. 17 Louisville
Clemson baseball earned a series win over Louisville by splitting a doubleheader against the Cardinals on Sunday in Louisville.
The Tigers held on for a 4-3 victory in the first game of the day before falling 5-1 later in the afternoon.
Clemson won Game 1 of the series 3-1 Friday night. Saturday's game was delayed due to weather, forcing the teams to play a doubleheader on Sunday.
In the early game on Sunday, the 12th-ranked Tigers (18-6, 5-4) scored all four of their runs in the fifth inning.
Chris Williams and Drew Wharton drove in all of Clemson’s runs as they each hit two-run singles in the fifth with two outs to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead.
Logan Wyatt drove in a pair of runs for No. 17 Louisville (18-6, 4-5) in the bottom of the fifth inning, and Drew Campbell delivered an RBI in the sixth but it was not enough as Clemson’s bullpen was strong late in the game.
Travis Marr (1-0) earned the win for the Tigers, despite allowing three walks and a run in one inning of work.
Ryley Gilliam pitched the final 1 1/3 innings without allowing a base runner to reach to earn his third save. Gilliam struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth inning.
Logan Davidson had a pair of hits, walked twice and scored a run to lead the Tigers. Williams, Wharton, Robert Jolly and Jordan Greene also had hits for Clemson.
Louisville was led by Devin Mann, who had two hits, a pair of walks and scored a run.
In Game 2, Clemson managed only one run on four hits as Louisville used three pitchers to shut down Clemson's offense.
The Tigers trailed 4-0 after five innings and scored their only run of the game on an RBI single by Greene in the seventh.
Jake Higginbotham suffered the first loss of his career, allowing nine hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Clemson had dropped four consecutive games entering this weekend’s series before winning the first two games against the Cardinals.
The Tigers will return to action on Tuesday when they face Furman at Fluor Field in Greenville.
This story was originally published March 25, 2018 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Clemson baseball splits doubleheader, earns series win at No. 17 Louisville."