NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The No. 25/RV Clemson Tigers fell to Notre Dame in six innings on Saturday afternoon, 11-3, at Melissa Cook Stadium. With the loss, Clemson dropped to 21-10 (5-3 ACC), while the Fighting Irish improved to 13-17 (3-5 ACC).
Senior Jamison Brockenbrough tallied two runs for the Tigers and hit her fourth home run of the year. Additional hits came at the bats of Macey Cintron and Kylee Johnson, while Marian Collins and Corri Hicks both notched RBIs.
The Fighting Irish struck first in the bottom of the second inning after an error put a runner on third that came home on a fielder’s choice. The Tigers responded in the third with two outs. After Taylor Pipkins was hit by a pitch, Brockenbrough walked and Kiley Channell advanced them both on a sac bunt. Three straight walks by Julia Knowler, Collins and Hicks resulted in both Pipkins and Brockenbrough scoring to give Clemson the 2-1 lead.
Notre Dame reclaimed the lead in the bottom half of the inning after a hit by pitch and error put two on with no outs. Clemson went to the bullpen to bring in freshman Keira Crosby in relief. Two singles and a fielder’s choice brought home three runners that gave the Fighting Irish a 5-2 edge.
Brockenbrough cut into Notre Dame’s lead with a solo home run in the fourth, but the Fighting Irish added two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to extend their lead to 7-3. Notre Dame added an additional run in the bottom of the fifth, and capped the game with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take game two, 11-3.
Graduate Abby Dunning started in the circle and went two innings with one strikeout as she dropped to 6-5 on the year before being replaced by Crosby. Crosby pitched 1.2 innings before Macey Cintron made her third appearance in the circle. Cintron pitched 0.1 innings, and freshman Lexie Hames threw 1.1 to round out the Clemson pitching staff.
Up Next
The Tigers conclude the series against the Fighting Irish on Sunday, March 22 at noon on ACCNX.