CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson baseball faced off against No. 2 Wake Forest on Thursday evening in the first game of the three-game series. Wake Forest handed Clemson the 8-3 loss in the series opener. With the win, the Demon Deacons improved to 24-3 overall and 8-2 in the ACC, while Clemson fell to 16-11 overall and 2-5 in the ACC.

Wake Forest struck first against Clemson when first baseman Nick Kurtz hit a homer to right field, bringing in two RBIs early in the first inning. The performance at the plate for the Demon Deacons picked up again in the fourth inning when second baseman Justin Johnson hit another home run for Wake Forest, this time sending the ball straight out of right centerfield of Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The homer was one of three runs for Wake Forest in the fourth inning, extending the team’s lead to 5-0.

Wake Forest was able to hit freely at the plate due to the solid performance of starting pitcher Rhett Lowder. The junior starter for the Demon Deacons kept Clemson scoreless through the first five innings of the game. Lowder pitched for seven innings, picking up six strikeouts and only giving up two runs.

The Tigers weren’t able to answer offensively through the first five innings of the game, only picking up four hits. It wasn’t until the sixth inning that Erik Bakich’s squad was able to make a breakthrough. Left fielder Will Taylor got the momentum rolling after hitting a double. Soon thereafter, first baseman Caden Grice hit a single that was followed by a costly error by Wake Forest, which allowed Taylor to bring in the first run of the game for the Tigers. After reeling off some impressive hits through the remainder of the inning, Wake Forest escaped the inning with a 5-2 lead.

Clemson’s starting pitcher Austin Gordon pitched for five innings on Thursday. Despite the offensive mentality from Wake Forest at the plate, Gordon was able to hold the Demon Deacons to five runs and six hits before Jay Dill came out of the bullpen to relieve Gordon in the top of the sixth inning.

Wake Forest sealed the victory in the eighth inning when catcher Chris Katz homered to left field, bringing in three RBIs. With three more runs scored, Clemson looked to B.J. Bailey to bring some magic out of the bullpen. Bailey was able to help the Tigers escape the eighth inning only after Wake Forest widened its lead to six runs.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Tigers made their final push to put pressure on Wake Forest. With the bases loaded, Benjamin Blackwell flied out to centerfield, which allowed Taylor to run in and bring the score to 8-3. However, with Wake Forest’s continued solid performance from the mound, the Tigers were not able to capitalize on any other scoring opportunities through the remainder of the game.

En route to the loss, the Tigers picked up eight hits. Taylor led the team, going 3-for-4 and picking up two runs.

The Tigers look to level the series against the Demon Deacons on Friday night at 6 p.m. at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.