CLEMSON — Aidan Knaak struck out eight, Andrew Ciufo drove in three runs and Jarren Purify hit his second homer of the season as No. 11 Clemson knocked off Davidson 7-4 on Friday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in game one of a three-game weekend series. The victory extends Clemson’s winning streak to 11 games.

Ciufo finished 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk and three runs driven in. Purify went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Luke Gaffney also had a hit and drove in two.

Knaak went five innings, allowing two runs on four hits. Along with the eight strikeouts, he walked just one hitter, picking up his second win of the season (2-0).

Lucas Malhstedt held Davidson scoreless over the final 2.1 innings, recording his fourth save of the season.

The Tigers got on the board early. Purify and Cam Cannarella had back-to-back one-out singles in the bottom of the first, followed by a fielder’s choice by Gaffney that drove in Purify and made it 1-0 Clemson.

The Wildcats would break through in the third. After putting runners on second and third with two outs, M. O’Shaughnessy singled into right, driving in both runners, giving Davidson a 2-1 lead.

Clemson would put runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Ciufo’s line-drive single to center plated one run to tie the game at 2-2, but Tristan Bissetta would be thrown out trying to advance to third from first on the play, ending the inning.

The Tigers would retake the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Dominic Listi walked to lead things off and Purify followed by notching his second single of the game. After Cannarella hit into a fielder’s choice putting runners at the corners, Gaffney hit a sacrifice fly to deep right putting the Tigers on top 3-2.

Clemson added to its lead in the sixth. Jarrell walked with one out before Bissetta singled, putting runners at first and second. Ciufo then singled to right, driving in Jarrell, giving him his second RBI of the game. After Listi was hit for the second time to load the bases, Purify drove in Bissetta with a sacrifice fly to left, putting the Tigers up 5-2.

The Wildcats got two of those runs back in the seventh on two-out RBI singles by Eli Putnam and Cider Canon to pull within a run at 5-4. With the bases loaded, Mahlstest came on in relief and struck out pinch hitter Adam Katz to strand all three runners and preserve the one-run lead.

The Tigers would load the bases in the bottom half of the seventh with two outs. Ciufo would work a walk, driving in his third run of the game and pushing the Tigers lead back out to two at 6-4.

Purify added a solo shot out to left, his second homer of the season, to extend the Tigers’ lead to 7-4 in the eighth.

Up Next

The same two teams do battle tomorrow in game two. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.