CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Sophomore Taylor Pipkins hit a solo home run, but the No. 7-seeded Clemson Tigers ultimately fell to the No. 10-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels, 4-2, in the opening round of the ACC Championships on Wednesday evening inside Palmer Park in Charlottesville, Va. With the loss, Clemson dropped to 32-20 on the year, while North Carolina improved to 32-18.
The Tar Heels struck first, scoring one in the top of the first off of a single with two outs after a single and walk put runners on first and second. They tacked on an additional two runs in the third to extend their lead to 3-0.
Entering the bottom of the third, Taylor Pipkins started Clemson off hot with a leadoff home run. It was her eighth homer of the season and seventh in the last 14 games. Brockenbrough then singled and advanced to second off of a sacrifice bunt from Channell. Brockenbrough came home on an error that poked through the right side of the field that allowed Mac Pavese to reach.
North Carolina plated a runner off of a home run in the top of the fourth to make it 4-2 in the Tar Heels’ favor. Clemson stayed in the fight with a double play by Marian Collins in the fifth, but Clemson left two runners stranded to end the inning.
The Tar Heels looked to add to their advantage in the seventh inning by getting runners around to second and third, but Abby Dunning forced a fly out and a pop up to end the inning and bring the heart of the lineup back to the plate in the bottom of the inning. Pavese led off the seventh with a single, but Clemson left her stranded to end the game, 4-2. In total, Clemson left 10 runners aboard on the night.
Junior Sierra Maness suffered the loss and dropped to 16-10 on the year after throwing 2.1 innings with one strikeout. Graduate Abby Dunning pitched the final 4.2 innings with four strikeouts in her 27th appearance of the year.
Up Next
The Tigers will await their NCAA postseason placing that will be decided on Sunday, May 10 at 7 p.m. during the 2026 Selection Show.