Instant Replay: No. 2 Louisville 4, No. 7 Clemson 2
By: trey-mccurry May 13, 2017

The Clemson Insider looks back at No. 7 Clemson’s 4-2 loss to No. 2 Louisville on Friday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

 

What happened?

The Cardinals (44-6, 21-4 ACC) took an early lead on a solo homer from the second batter of the game. Louisville would extend their lead to 3-0 in the third as a two-out error would allow two unearned runs to come in. Another unearned run in the fourth stretched the Cardinal lead to 4-0. The Tigers (37-13, 16-9 ACC) were finally able to get on the scoreboard in the sixth. Andrew Cox led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a fly ball before coming in to score on Kyle Wilkie’s two-out RBI single. Following walks to Logan Davidson and Reed Rohlman loaded the bases, Chase Pinder hit a RBI infield single to cut the deficit to 4-2. Clemson would threaten again several times, but could not pull any closer as Louisville took game one of the series.

 

Game-Changing Moment:

The game had two critical moments. The first came in the top of the third inning. With the Cardinals already holding a 1-0 lead, they had two runners in scoring position with two outs before a Davidson error allowed both runners to come in to score and extend the lead to 3-0. The other key moment came in the bottom of the eighth. The Tigers loaded the bases with no outs as Davidson walked, Rohlman was hit by a pitch, and Pinder reached on a bunt single but Seth Beer hit into a double play and Chris Williams flew out to end the threat.

 

What went right?

Charlie Barnes pitched well but took a tough luck loss after allowing four runs (one earned) on seven hits in 6.0 innings. Patrick Andrews tossed 1.1 scoreless innings while Alex Schnell finished off the game with 1.2 scoreless innings. Cox had a game-high four hits while Pinder also had three hits as Clemson outhit Louisville 11-8 in the game.

 

What went wrong?

The Tiger wasted opportunities in almost every inning, stranding 16 runners in the game with 12 of those left in scoring position. Two critical errors allowed three unearned runs and provided the Cardinals with the margin of victory.