The No. 2 Clemson baseball team fell to the No. 12 Wake Forest Demon Deacons by a score of 4-2 at the David F. Couch Ballpark in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
Wake Forest pitcher Chase Burns stole the show in front of the Wake Forest crowd, striking out 16 Clemson batters through seven innings of play. It is a career-high for the Tennessee transfer, which gave the Tigers (37-11, 17-8 ACC) the opening loss to the series. Burns is now 10-1 on the season.
The Demon Deacons (34-16, 13-12 ACC) got most of their offense in the fourth inning, coming from a 3-run blast by center fielder Antonio Morales, whose homer put Wake Forest in a 4-1 lead.
The team had their chance to respond in the eighth inning, responding with one run coming from a Blake Wright RBI single to bring in Alden Mathes. With runners on first and second base and only one out, the Tigers could not cash in. A pair of strikeouts from Cam Cannarella and Jimmy Obertop would leave the Demon Deacons ahead with a two-run lead and two runners stranded on base.
The other run would come from shortstop Jacob Hinderleider, who delivered a solo home run into right-center to tie the game at 1-1 in the fourth inning before Morales’ bomb at the bottom of the frame. Hinderleider would keep his hitting streak going, reaching 14 games in a row with a hit. His homer was his 12th of the year.
Ethan Darden (5-3) would receive the loss in the contest, allowing all four runs coming from six hits in the loss. He pitched seven innings, while Chance Fitzgerald pitched the eighth, which would be the final defensive inning of the game for Clemson.
While Burns began the game, Cole Roland earned the save for the Demon Deacons, which is his fifth on the year.
The team will be back in action on Saturday afternoon. The first pitch is at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network.
