Under the Friday night lights at Stu Gordon Stadium, No. 4 Clemson baseball leaned on timely hitting and a gutsy performance from Aidan Knaak to grind out a 6–4 victory over California in the series opener. With the win, the Tigers improve to 28–5 on the season and 7–3 in ACC play, while the Golden Bears fall to 16–13 overall and 6–7 in the Pac-12.
Graduate Senior Dominic Listi was the spark the Tigers needed, delivering in clutch fashion not once, but twice. His solo shot in the sixth—just his second of the year—ignited a comeback and cut into California’s early 2–0 lead. An inning later, Listi struck again with a two-out, two-run double to put Clemson in front for good.
The Tigers piled on in the seventh, with Jarren Purify roping an RBI double and later scoring on a passed ball to give Clemson some breathing room. Josh Paino added another insurance run in the eighth with a run-scoring single.
On the mound, Knaak (5–0) turned in his longest outing of the season, going 7.1 innings and striking out four. Despite allowing four runs, he limited damage throughout and handed the ball off to Lucas Mahlstedt, who nailed down his 10th save with a clean ninth.
California’s Dominic Smaldino and Jacob French did their best to keep the Bears close, each driving in a run late, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Clemson’s late-inning surge.
Austin Turkington (4–3) was tagged with the loss despite a strong outing, fanning nine and allowing just one earned run over 6.2 innings—hurt by defensive miscues and Clemson’s clutch two-out hitting.
The series continues Saturday at 5 p.m. EDT, streaming live on ACC Network Extra.
