Nate Savoie hit the ball 400 feet in the third inning and 424 feet in the seventh. Michael Sharman went eight innings on exactly 100 pitches and allowed one run. The Tigers beat Virginia 5-1 Friday at Davenport Field at Disharoon Park to even the three-game ACC series at a game apiece.
Sharman was the story from the first pitch. The left-hander worked through six hits, walked one batter, and struck out seven while keeping Virginia off the board in all but the fifth. He retired the side in order three times. The Tennessee transfer came in at 4-1 on the season and leaves Charlottesville at 5-1. Even when the Cavaliers tied it in the fifth, he went back out for the sixth and sat them down 1-2-3, then returned for the seventh and eighth without giving an inch. He kept the ball on the ground when he needed to and let Clemson’s defense clean up the rest. Not a single inning got away from him.
Hayden Simmerson handled the ninth on nine pitches.
Savoie broke the ice with two outs and nobody on in the third. He worked the count against Kyle Johnson and drove the ball 400 feet to deep right for his 12th home run of the season. Solo shot, Clemson ahead 1-0.
Virginia answered in the fifth. RJ Holmes doubled down the left field line, moved to third on a groundout, and came home on a Joe Tiroly fielder’s choice after AJ Gracia drew an intentional walk. Tied at one. Sharman left Tiroly stranded at second and that was the last time Virginia touched home plate. Final tally for the Cavaliers: six hits, one run, 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
The Tigers had their own struggles loading the bases without scoring. In the fourth, Jacob Jarrell walked, Luke Gaffney singled, and Jack Crighton drew a walk to fill the bags with two outs. Jason Fultz Jr. punched out on three pitches to end it. Two more runners were left stranded in the sixth. The offense kept putting men on and leaving them there. Savoie’s bat was the only thing covering for it.
The seventh changed the game.
Fultz Jr. led off with a single to shallow center. Jackson Moore flied out to left. Then Savoie dug in against Kevin Jaxel, who came in at 4-1 on the season, and didn’t miss. The ball left the yard 424 feet away into the left field seats, a two-run home run, his 13th of the year. Three-to-one. Virginia burned two mound visits trying to stop the damage and couldn’t. Jacob Jarrell singled to shallow left. Gaffney singled to center to push Jarrell to second. Bryce Clavon lined a single to right that scored Jarrell, and the Tigers went to the eighth leading 4-1. Jaxel faced 13 batters across two innings, gave up seven hits, and took the loss.
The fifth run came in the eighth the ugly way. Crighton singled to right and Fultz Jr. walked to put two on. Moore was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Savoie struck out with a chance to break it open, but Tryston McCladdie settled into an eight-pitch at-bat and worked a bases-loaded walk to force home Crighton. Five-one, and Simmerson closed the door.
Clemson stranded 13 men and went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Those numbers look rough, but Savoie’s two home runs generated three of the five runs and Sharman kept the game close enough that the stranded runners were an inconvenience rather than a disaster. Savoie went 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Gaffney went 3-for-5 batting ninth and never scored. The LOB count doesn’t disappear because Friday went the right way. Thirteen left against a five-arm staff is a pattern worth watching as this series heads to Saturday.
Thursday night was the opposite. Aidan Knaak struck out 10 Cavaliers across seven innings, gave up three earned runs, and still took the loss after the Tigers went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position in the sixth. Friday was the correction. Sharman was sharp, Savoie was sharper, and the Tigers got the road win it needed.
Clemson is 25-15, 6-11 in the ACC. The rubber game is Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville at 1 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
