Aidan Knaak and Jake Knapp put together great pitching performances on Thursday night. This led to key wins for both Clemson and North Carolina, their respective teams.
Aidan Knaak Has a Career Day Against the Pittsburgh Panthers – Clemson started their series against Pittsburgh on the right foot with a 6-1 win on Thursday. The story of the night was the Tigers ace Aidan Knaak. He went 7 1/3 innings and struck out 12 batters. These were career-highs for Knaak in his almost two full seasons with Clemson.
Despite allowing an earned run, the sophomore right-hander allowed no hits in the performance as well.
Clemson head coach Erik Bakich was thrilled with the pitching and talked about it postgame.
“It was just what the doctor ordered,” Bakich told Clemson Sports Information following the game. “Elite pitching covers up a lot of things…It was just what this team needed at this time.”
Joe Allen and Lucas Mahlstedt came in for relief against the Panthers and continued where Knaak left off. Both relievers gave up no hits, and it led to the 15th no-hitter in Clemson’s history. It was also the first no-hitter in an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) game since 1976.
Knaak made sure to credit the relievers that came in after him postgame.
“It was an outstanding performance from the whole pitching staff,” Knaak told Clemson Sports Information. “Joe [Allen] came in when there was adversity shown, and subby [Mahlstedt] picked him up.”
Jake Knapp Throws a Complete Game in a Win Over Florida State – In a pivotal weekend series for the national landscape of college baseball, the North Carolina Tar Heels started in the win column as they defeated Florida State 8-3.
Jake Knapp, the Tar Heels’ ace, threw a complete game and earned the win. He threw a total of 115 pitches, struck out seven Florida State hitters, and had no walks.
He did not let the Seminoles’ offense get going much. Beyond the no walks in the game, he also allowed just four hits through the full nine innings.
North Carolina head coach Scott Forbes talked about Knapp’s incredible performance.
“I thought he was in total control,” Forbes told Inside Carolina. “He didn’t walk anybody. He set the tone for us, and it was a complete team win.”
Knapp also described what was working for him postgame as well.
“It was just a product of the situation we were in,” Knapp told Inside Carolina. “Florida State is aggressive, and that was something we talked about. We knew we were going to find quick outs if we were in the zone. So, the plan was just to attack.”
For Knapp, this was the sixth time he had pitched seven or more innings in a start. He did so last weekend against North Carolina State when he went eight innings and gave up just one earned run.
Up Next – Clemson and North Carolina will continue their final series of the weekend against Pittsburgh and Florida State respectively. Both teams are looking for series wins during Friday’s action.
The first pitch between Clemson and Pittsburgh is at 3 p.m. EDT. The first pitch between North Carolina and Florida State is at 7 p.m. EDT.
Photo: Clemson’s Aidan Knaak (19) pitches during an NCAA baseball game on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in Durham, N.C. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)
