Clemson unable to complete sweep, falling to Stanford

Clemson had too much ground to overcome in the final stages of Sunday's action, falling to the Cardinal (file photo).

Grayson Mann - Staff Writer - Sunday, April 13 2025

CLEMSON - Clemson's reputation as the "cardiac cats" certainly never puts them out of the fight.

Stanford's late home run in the ninth ensured it wouldn't be added to that list of improbable comebacks. Clemson had too much ground to overcome in the final stages of Sunday's action, falling to the Cardinal 11-6.

Clemson moves to 33-6 (11-4 ACC), with the loss snapping an eight-game winning streak.

LHP B.J. Bailey’s start on the mound got off to a rough start very quickly. He surrendered back-to-back doubles facing his first two batters.

Then, Stanford’s Jimmy Nati drilled a two-run homer, giving the Cardinal an early 3-0 edge before most fans settled in the seats.

Clemson found a quick start of its own, with Cam Cannarella notching a single to get the Tigers on base. A wild pitch gave him access to second, and Purify’s drive down the left side cut into Stanford’s three-run lead.

The Tigers continued to suffocate Stanford’s lead in the second inning, with Jacob Jarrell and Jack Crighton logging back-to-back hits, sending Jarrell home to cut the Cardinal advantage to one.

Soon after, Josh Paino kept the momentum going with a single of his own, putting Crighton in scoring position. Andrew Ciufo made sure Stanford’s early lead would disappear, with his sac-fly sending Crighton home, knotting things up at three.

Clemson and Stanford traded scoreless outings in the third, but the Cardinal quickly broke that stalemate in the fourth. Trevor Haskins notched a two-run homer to bump the visiting Cardinal lead to two. Bailey’s day would conclude shortly after, with Hudson Lee assuming operation control. Despite a change in conductors on the mound, Stanford’s offensive push continued in the fifth.

The Cardinal broke off two more runs, stringing together hits to put Lee in a tough spot minutes into his duties on Sunday. Leading 7-3, Stanford loaded the bases, and the offensive onslaught continued, adding three more runs to that total, giving the visiting offense plenty of cushion to avoid the sweep.

Clemson chipped into that sizeable lead at the bottom of the fifth with Purify and Collin Priest's RBI singles sending two Tigers home, cutting Stanford's cushion to five runs.

With two runners on and two out at the bottom of the sixth, it appeared the Tigers rediscovered some offensive juice to surge back into the matchup. Cannarella was set to bat but struck out, seemingly squandering Clemson's momentum in the process.

Despite holding Stanford to three straight scoreless innings through Chance Fitzgerald's efforts, the Tiger offense couldn't string together runs, and they were unable to complete the sweep over the Cardinal.

Clemson will look to bounce back in the win column, hosting Louisville on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.