PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Freshman Mac Pavese and sophomore Taylor Pipkins both hit home runs for the Tigers, but Clemson fell short as Pitt claimed the opening game, 8-5, on Friday evening at Vartabedian Field. With the loss, Clemson fell to 25-16 (7-9 ACC), while the Panthers improved to 21-18 (7-9 ACC).
The Tigers strung together nine hits on the day, including Pavese, Pipkins and Jamison Brockenbrough finishing with two hits each. Kiley Channell, Macey Cintron and Marian Collins rounded out the Tigers’ offense.
The Tigers’ bats got going early as Brockenbrough and Channell led off the first with a single and double, respectively. In the fifth pitch of the next at bat, Pavese hit a ball out of straight center for a three-run homer. It was her fifth home run of the year. Defensively, Clemson matched the energy in the bottom half of the inning as junior pitcher Sierra Maness forced a three-up, three-down inning with two strikeouts and a groundout.
In the second, Corri Hicks led off the inning by reaching on an error. Three batters later, she was brought home from second on a single up the middle by Brockenbrough to make it 4-0 in Clemson’s favor.
Pitt got on the board in the bottom of the third with three-straight solo home runs. The Panthers continued to add to the count after a walk, single and back-to-back wild pitches brought the tying run home. The Tigers picked up two outs, including a ground out and a strikeout, but the Panthers took a 5-4 lead on an infield RBI single.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, Pitt extended their lead off of a walk. In the following inning, the Panthers scored a two-run home run.
Pipkins started off the Tigers at bat in the seventh and hit her fourth home run of the season to make the score 8-5. This was the third-straight game Pipkins has tallied a solo home run in after leaving the park in both the second and third game at Virginia Tech last weekend. Clemson went on to get runners on first and second with two outs, but the Tigers left them stranded to end the game, 8-5.
Maness threw five total innings with eight strikeouts as she dropped to 15-7. Graduate Abby Dunning faced three batters in her outing, while Macey Cintron threw 0.2 innings.
Up Next
Clemson continues the series at Pittsburgh on Saturday, April 11 at 7 p.m. with a game on ACC Network.