Clemson burned through seven pitchers Wednesday night and none of them had answers. Wake Forest scored in every inning of a 15-4 rout at Truist Field, ending the game in seven innings on the run rule and handing the Tigers their worst loss of the season.
The night went sideways before most fans had settled into their seats. Starter Dylan Harrison recorded just two outs, giving up three runs in the first on two hits and a walk. Dalton Wentz got plunked to start the frame, Javar Williams walked, and Luke Costello singled to load the bases. Matt Conte cleared them with a triple to right-center that put Wake Forest up 3-0 before Clemson touched a bat.
Then it got worse.
Head coach Erik Bakich was ejected in the middle of the second inning. The exact cause wasn’t immediately clear, but the Tigers were already trailing 3-0 with their starter knocked out and their bullpen warming. Whatever happened between Bakich and the umpires, his team played the final five innings without him in the dugout.
Noah Samol steadied things briefly, getting through the second with just one run allowed. But Eston Simpson gave back three more in the fourth. Wake Forest had 10 hits through four innings. The Demon Deacons were swinging at everything and connecting.
Clemson scratched across a run in the third when Tryston McCladdie launched a solo homer to left, his eighth of the year. McCladdie has been one of the few consistent power threats in the lineup during conference play, and the swing was pure. Didn’t matter. Wake Forest answered with three in the bottom of the fourth to push the lead to 10-1.
The Tigers showed some fight in the fifth. Jacob Jarrell got hit by a pitch. Bryce Clavon ripped a double, Ty Dalley singled, and suddenly the bases were loaded with nobody out. McCladdie walked to force in a run. Jack Crighton singled through the left side to plate another. Luke Gaffney grounded out to score a third.
Three runs. Bases loaded, nobody out, and Clemson could only push across three. That’s been the story for weeks now.
Trailing 10-4, the Tigers needed their bullpen to hold. Instead, Ariston Veasey walked into the sixth and walked right back out. He didn’t record an out. Hit Costello with a pitch, walked Williams, walked Wentz, and Kade Lewis singled to make it 12-4 before Danny Nelson took over. Nelson wasn’t much better. Two more hits, another walk, three more runs. Blake Schaaf’s two-run single was the dagger. 15-4.
Peyton Miller got the final out of the sixth. Mercifully.
Bryce Clavon was the lone bright spot in the Clemson lineup, going 3-for-4 with a double and two stolen bases. Clavon has been swinging a hot bat, and his line was the only one worth keeping from this box score. Crighton added two hits. Everybody else either went hitless or managed a single knock.
Wake Forest’s offense was relentless from top to bottom. Williams drove in four. Conte had two hits and three RBI. Schaaf went 2-for-4 with two RBI. They hit three triples as a team. The Deacons put the ball in play, found gaps, and ran the bases hard.
Marcelo Harsch picked up the win for Wake Forest, giving up three runs over 2.2 innings. Rhys Bowie started and was wild, walking four in 2.1 innings but still limiting the damage to one run. The Wake bullpen locked it down after that.
Clemson falls to 19-11 on the year. The record still looks fine on paper, but the ACC slide that started weeks ago isn’t stopping. The pitching depth that carried the Tigers early in the season hasn’t been there in conference play, and Wednesday’s seven-man parade to the mound was the worst version of that problem.
Clemson opens a three-game series against Stanford on Friday. The Tigers need to figure out their pitching rotation before then. Because what happened in Charlotte can’t happen again.
