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Not in the Cards: Offensive woes doom Tigers in series finale
Purify is tagged out trying to get back to third (Photo by Merrell Mann).

Not in the Cards: Offensive woes doom Tigers in series finale
David Hood David Hood - Senior Writer - Saturday, April 19 2025

CLEMSON – The Cardiac Cats have given Clemson fans plenty of heart attacks over the last few seasons, and while Saturday’s effort was big on heart, the attack was lacking.

Louisville scored twice in the 12th on a two-run homer by Tague Davis to break a 6-6 tie and defeat No. 3 Clemson 8-6 in 12 innings at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, giving the Cardinals a win in the finale of the series. Louisville improves to 28-11 overall and 10-8 in ACC play, while Clemson falls to 35-7 overall and 13-5 in league play.

The game was the first extra-innings contest for Clemson this season.

Clemson scored one run in the ninth and twice in the 10th to keep their hopes alive, but following the Davis homer the Tigers went quietly in the 12th.

Jarren Purify stole four bases, and Cam Cannarella and Josh Paino homered for the Tigers, who put the leadoff hitter on base in seven of the first nine innings. But Clemson was an abysmal 5-for-29 with runners on base (.172) and 3-for-22 (.136) with runners in scoring position. The Tigers were just 1-for-7 with runners at third and less than two out, and left 16 runners on base (including the bases loaded twice).

Starter Chance Fitzgerald gave up a single, a stolen base, and then a walk to the first two hitters, but the next two hitters struck out, and the lead runner was thrown out at third to end the frame with no damage.

Dominic Listi led off the bottom of the first with a walk, and Cannarella fell into a quick 0-2 hole. However, he took the third pitch to left, driving his second home run of the season over the wall for a quick 2-0 lead.

Eddie King led off the top of the second with a long homer to center for Louisville, making it 2-1.

Fitzgerald’s day was done after two innings, and he gave up one run on two hits. He walked one and struck out one in his 31 pitches.

The Tigers loaded the bases in the fifth and scratched out a run on Luke Gaffney’s grounder to third, but Clemson left nine runners on base (and the bases loaded) twice through the first five innings. Clemson put the leadoff runner on base in all five innings, but that runner scored just twice with Clemson hitting .176 (3-17) with runners on base and .077 (1-13) with runners in scoring position.

The Cardinals responded with two runs off Bailey in the top of the sixth, and it was 3-3 heading into the bottom of the frame.

Clemson continued to leave runners on base at an alarming rate, but had the perfect opportunity to score the go-ahead run in the eighth. Purify led off with a sharp single to right and promptly stole second. A wild pitch moved him to third with nobody out, but Priest struck out for the first out.

With a 1-1 count on Jacob Jarrell, Purify broke for the plate but Jarrell didn’t swing and he was thrown out back at third after a rundown.

BJ Bailey did yeoman’s work in relief, and picked up two quick outs in the ninth. But three consecutive singles, the last a flare to center that fell between Purify and Cannarella scored the go-ahead run to make it 4-3 Louisville. Bailey pitched seven innings, giving up three runs while walking three and striking out four.

The Tigers again got the leadoff runner on base in the ninth, but this one scored as Josh Paino drilled the first pitch he saw over the wall in right-center for his eighth homer of the season, tying the score at 4-4.

Louisville quickly loaded the bases with one out in the ninth against Hudson Lee, and Nathan Dvorsky was brought in to face Eddie King. King hit a moonshot that sent McCladdie to the wall in right, but the long out was enough to score the go-ahead run to make it 5-4.

Noah Samol replaced Dvorsky and promptly gave up an RBI single that made it 6-4.

Clemson tied the score in a hectic 10th. Listi led off with a walk, but Cannarella struck out and Purify flew out for two quick outs. Listi quickly advanced to second on catcher’s indifference and to third on a passed ball. Priest walked, and he was replaced at first by TP Wentworth. Jarrell laced a sharp single to right to score Listi, making it 6-5, and Wentworth moved to third.

Paino, the hero an inning earlier, bounced to short, but the throw was high and Paino slid head first under the tag and Wentworth scored the tying run, moving the game to the 11th.

The Tigers return to the diamond Tuesday, hosting a top five Georgia team at 8 pm (ESPNU).

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