Baseball Falls to Clemson in 12-Inning Contest
COLUMBIA – Andrew Ciufo’s solo home run in the bottom of the 12th gave Clemson a 5-4 win over the University of South Carolina baseball team on Saturday afternoon (March 2) at Segra Park, home of the Columbia Fireflies.
Clemson led 4-1 going into the top of the ninth, but Will Tippett, who also homered in the fifth inning, singled and moved to second on a fielding error. Blake Jackson then tripled to right field to score Tippett. Jackson would trot home as Ethan Petry belted his fourth home run of the year, a two-run shot to right to tie the game at four.
Garrett Gainey pitched 3.2 innings of relief, striking out six and allowing just the one hit in the 12th, taking the loss. Eli Jones allowed two runs with four strikeouts in 4.1 innings in the start.
Tippett, Dylan Brewer and Talmadge LeCroy had two hits apiece to pace Carolina’s offense. Tippett also scored two runs.
POSTGAME NOTES
- This is the first extra-inning game in the series since Feb. 27, 2021, when Carolina won 3-2 in 11 innings.
- Petry now has 27 career home runs at Carolina.
- The two teams combined to strike out 26 times and leave 23 men on base.
- There were 9,284 fans in attendance at Segra Park.
UP NEXT
Carolina and Clemson move the series to Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson, S.C., on Sunday afternoon (March 3) at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
