LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The No. 22/21 Clemson Tigers scored three runs in the top of the fifth and seventh innings to seal a 6-5 comeback victory in the opening game of the series at Louisville in Ulmer Stadium on Friday evening. The Tigers improve to 32-15 (14-8 ACC), while the Cardinals fall to 25-22 (6-13 ACC).
Maddie Moore and Alex Brown went 2-for-2 with Moore scoring two runs and Brown tallying an RBI and scoring one. Freshman Julia Knowler also tallied two hits for three RBIs, while Arielle Oda, Julia Bomhardt and Kennedy Ariail all scored a single run.
Louisville capitalized in the first inning with clutch hitting with two outs. After a single, the Cardinals plated a runner off a double hit into fair territory in left field to hold a 1-0 advantage.
The Tigers loaded the bases in both the fourth and fifth innings but weren’t able to score any runs until the fifth. Aby Vieira opened the inning getting hit by pitch and was joined on the bases by Oda and Moore with no outs. Brown picked up the first RBI of the game with a sac fly to left to plate Bomhardt, who was running for Vieira. Knowler added two RBIs of her own with a base-clearing double to make it 3-1 in favor of the Tigers.
Louisville responded with four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to reclaim the lead, 5-3. Clemson came back in the top of the seventh with another three runs that would go unanswered to allow the Tigers to clinch the series-opening game. After Moore and Brown both reached to leadoff the inning, Knowler knocked a one-out double off the wall to score Moore. Valerie Cagle was intentionally walked to load the bases which allowed Lindsey Garcia to tally an RBI off a sac fly and even the game at 5-all. Alia Logoleo recorded the go-ahead RBI with a single to center that scored Ariail from third. Clemson made quick work in the bottom of the seventh to clinch the game, 6-5.
Regan Spencer started in the circle for the 14th time this season. She pitched four innings with two strikeouts before senior Millie Thompson replaced her in the fifth. Thompson pitched three innings with two strikeouts while improving to 6-5 on the season.
Up Next
The Tigers square off against the Cardinals for game two of the series tomorrow, April 27 at 1 p.m. on ACCNX.
