Tigers answer the bell to clinch series over Irish

Billy Amick notched his second three-hit game of the week and provided the go-ahead run in the seventh. (Clemson athletics photo)

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Sun Apr 16 15:59:22 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON - For every Notre Dame score, Clemson had an answer on Sunday, and that made the difference in clinching the series with a 6-4 win.

Entering last weekend at the basement of the Atlantic Division standings, the victory marked two ACC series wins in a row and a sixth victory in the last eight games for the Tigers, improving to 22-15 (6-9 ACC). Notre Dame dropped to 18-15 and 8-10 in conference play.

The scoring started in the first frame with a two-out RBI double to left field from Irish right fielder Brooks Coetzee, which Clemson left fielder Will Taylor matched with an RBI single to leave things knotted after one.

The Irish struck back for another score in the second after a grounder skipped off Clemson third baseman Blake Wright and toward the Notre Dame dugout, scoring Estevan Moreno from second base.

Clemson matched the Irish offense and more in the second inning with Tristan Bissetta dropping a double in left field that went off a diving fielder’s glove to score one and Cam Cannarella manufactured another run with a groundout.

Notre Dame evened things up again in the fifth inning on a bases-loaded bunt, but reliever Tristan Smith stranded the other Irish runners to keep the score there.

Clemson returned to the lead with Sunday starting pitcher and then designated hitter Caden Grice sending a towering flyball to the left field wall for a sacrifice fly RBI to go back ahead.

After notching two wins in his previous three starts, Grice’s afternoon outing on the mound was less than efficient, getting pulled after throwing 101 pitches in 4 1/3 innings. He scattered five hits and allowed three runs (two earned) with six strikeouts to two walks. His opposite number Blake Hely lasted just four frames and gave up three earned on six hits with five strikeouts to one walk.

The ACC foes went back to trading scores in the seventh inning.

The Irish tallied a fourth one-run half-inning of the game in the seventh after the first two batters reached on reliever Casey Tallent, and after retiring two, Nick Clayton’s wild pitch to the backstop tied the game at 4-all.

In Clemson’s seventh and with two out, Billy Amick totaled his third hit of the day and changed the lead again with the deciding RBI double to the right field gap. After a pitching change, Riley Bertram found the same gap to add another run to the advantage.

Amick tallied two three-hit efforts on the week, after posting three knocks and four RBIs in the win at Georgia on Tuesday. With extra-base hits, he posted four doubles and two home runs this week.

"Billy Amick's entire week really -- the last couple weeks but this weekend he's been one heck of a clutch hitter. None bigger than a two-strike, two-out double to take the lead," Clemson coach Erik Bakich said.

Clayton (3-0) closed out the win with three scoreless innings on his record, including stranding a runner on second base in the ninth. He also pitched 1 2/3 scoreless in the final innings of Saturday's win.

"We have taken so many punches this year and traded blows so many times. It has calloused our minds. It is no big deal now to have lead changes back and forth and to play from a deficit and to play in tight games," Bakich said. "It's like, 'Eh, so what? This is what we do every game it seems like.' There's no deficit that we don't feel like we can come from behind. With all the leads, because we have blown leads this season, there's still that urgency to keep the pedal down. I like that that's a part of our journey and that will help us as we go into the second half of ACC play."

Clemson’s homestand continues on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. looking to complete a season sweep of Georgia.