CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson’s late comeback push was not quite enough, as the Tigers (18-7, 1-1 ACC) had the fourth-longest winning streak in program history snapped in a 5-3 loss on Saturday against No. 14/16 Duke (16-7, 1-1 ACC). Maddie Moore led the offense with two hits and two RBIs, raising her season batting average to .492. Today’s game marked her tenth multi-hit and her seventh multi-RBI game of the year.
Clemson opened the scoring in the first. Alex Brown walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch that allowed Maddie Moore to knock a single into center to bring her home. After a scoreless second, Duke answered in the third. The Blue Devils loaded the bases and with two outs, took their first lead of the weekend on a double that scored two.
Duke tacked on two more in the fourth. A single and a sac bunt put a runner on second and a double brought her home. The next batter singled through the middle to plate one more run and stretch the lead to 4-1. Freshman Macey Cintron came in to relieve Brooke McCubbin, who dropped to 5-3 on the year after finishing with three strikeouts today, and after a runner left early on a steal attempt, a fly ball landed in left fielder Sam Minish’s glove for the third out.
After a 1-2-3 fifth inning, a leadoff home run in the top of the sixth stretched the Blue Devils’ lead to four. The Tigers immediately answered in the bottom of the inning. Moore hit a leadoff home run for her sixth homer of the year 76 mph off the bat over the centerfield wall and cut the deficit to three runs. Sophomore Julia Knowler came up next and, on a 2-2 count, brought the Tigers one run closer with a shot 244 feet out to right center, her ninth on the season.
In the top of the seventh, two straight walks put two runners on with no outs and brought Reese Basinger out of the Tigers’ bullpen to try to keep the Blue Devils’ lead at two. Basinger would go on to retire all three batters she faced in the inning, striking out one for her 56th punch out of the season. The bottom of the inning saw the Tigers go down in order for their first loss since February 15.
Up Next
Clemson and Duke will square off in the rubber match on Sunday, March 9 at noon. Action is available to watch on ACCNX, and fans can purchase tickets to catch all the action at McWhorter here.
