LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Clemson committed five errors. Louisville scored eleven runs. Four of them were unearned, handed over on throws that sailed, throws that dropped, and a ball that skipped under a glove in left field in the eighth inning while Cardinals runners circled the bases. The Tigers lost 11-6 Saturday at Jim Patterson Stadium, falling to 6-14 in ACC play and losing this series in two games to a Louisville team that barely needed its own offense to beat them.
Same five errors as Friday night. Same result.
Nate Savoie led off the game with a solo homer to center — his 15th — and Jacob Jarrell followed three batters later with a two-run shot to left that scored Luke Gaffney from first. Three runs in the first, just like that. It was supposed to be a different kind of night.
It wasn’t.
The trouble started in the second. Tyler Lichtenberger threw one away trying to get Jimmy Nugent at second base. Two batters later, Tryston McCladdie muffed a relay throw at second on a fielder’s choice, letting another Louisville runner reach. Nobody scored off those miscues directly, but the Cardinals had already gotten the picture: Clemson’s infield was available.
The fourth inning confirmed it. Nugent punished a Michael Sharman fastball into the seats for a solo shot to make it 3-1, and then Jack Crighton dropped a flyball in left field with two runners on. Both scored. Unearned. Both. Louisville led 4-3 on runs that Clemson’s pitcher never actually gave up.
Sharman was fighting all night. He went 5.1 innings and allowed six runs — four earned — on 11 hits, finishing one start removed from going eight at Virginia. That outing held up for a 5-1 win. Saturday he was chased before the sixth was over, the two unearned runs in his line a quiet reminder that the box score never tells the whole story of what happened behind him.
Louisville pushed it to 6-3 with two more in the sixth. Alex Alicea singled in a run, then Zion Rose did the same. Clemson needed a big half-inning. The seventh inning gave them one.
Jarren Purify walked, Savoie took a hit by pitch, McCladdie drew a walk. Bases loaded, nobody out, and Louisville changed pitchers twice trying to stop the bleeding. Luke Gaffney singled through the right side to score Purify. Jarrell reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Savoie. Crighton bounced one to third and McCladdie scored. Three runs. Tied at six.
Whatever hope that created lasted about three minutes.
The eighth inning was the kind of inning coaches put on film as a cautionary tale. Louisville sent 10 men to the plate and scored five runs on one hit. One. The rest came courtesy of two walks, a sacrifice fly, two fielder’s choices, and Jarren Purify committing two errors in the same inning — first a fielding miscue that let a run score, then a throwing error that let two more score unearned. By the time the inning ended it was 11-6. Clemson went to the ninth down five in a game they had tied thirty minutes earlier.
The offense didn’t help its own cause either. One for ten with runners in scoring position. Eight left on base. Jarrell now has 16 home runs and three RBI on the night, and that production disappeared into a game that was decided by throws that didn’t reach their target. The Tigers went 1-for-10 in the same game they gave away four free runs. You can’t do both and win. Not in the ACC. Not anywhere.
Jack Brown got the win for Louisville, entering in the seventh and retiring six of the nine batters he faced. Ethan Eberle started for the Cardinals and gave them six innings on five hits and three earned runs. Hayden Simmerson took the loss for Clemson, dropping to 0-1.
The Tigers are 6-14 in conference play. Game 3 is Sunday at 2 p.m. on ACC Network.
