DURHAM, N.C. – Back and forth, punch and counterpunch, call it what you will.
Clemson’s 7-6 win against N.C. State in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinals featured seven lead changes, five double plays, a squeeze play, and a slash bunt, and perhaps a healthy serving of revenge
“That was one of the most fun games I think I’ve ever been a part of,” Clemson head coach Erik Bakich said following the game. “All of it mixed in just made for just one heck of a college game against an opponent that has given us just a lot of trouble this year.”
A month ago, N.C. State swept Clemson in their three-game regular season series. It was the first of three consecutive ACC regular season series the Tigers lost.
“Sometimes you need adversity to figure out who you are. Your identity is formed and shaped as the season goes on. And we have little bits of adversity in some games, but never really a stretch like that, where for three weeks, it was tough,” Bakich said. “…There’s just no quit. And we saw that tonight many times with the back-and-forth, trading punches type of game. [I’m] very proud of how they fought through the three weeks of losing three series in a row to get back up and be the best we’ve been all season right now.”
In the top of the second, Dominic Listi hit a one-out single to center field, took second on a wild pitch and then stole third. Jacob Jarrell’s fly ball to deep center allowed Listi to score and give Clemson a 1-0 lead.
In bottom the fourth, successive singles by Chris McHugh, Josh Hogue, and Justin DiCriscio pushed McHugh across to tie the game at one apiece, and then Hogue scooted home on a wild pitch for a 2-1 N.C. State lead.
The Tigers punched right back in the bottom of the fifth, getting a triple from Jack Crighton to lead off the inning. Crighton scored on Andrew Ciufo’s bunt back to the mound, and another bunt single by Jarren Purify got Ciufo home for a 3-2 Clemson lead.
In the fifth, the Wolfpack tied the game again, capitalizing on great baserunning by Ty Head, who scored from second on Matt Heavner’s slow roller up the third base line, evading the tag of Clemson catcher Jacob Jarrell.
But Jarrell answered back for the Tigers with a solo homer in the top of the sixth, his 14th of the year, a towering 407-foot shot that soared to center field and dropped into the topiary of the batter’s eye in center field.
Starter Drew Titsworth went five innings for Clemson, allowing three runs on three hits and three walks, striking out three in only his sixth start of the year and third-longest appearance this season.
Titsworth’s replacement, B.J. Bailey, faced three batters and retired none of them, allowing a single to McHugh, a double to Hogue, and a single to Justin DeCriscio that scored McHugh before he yielded to Lucas Mahlstedt. Mahlstedt immediately induced a double play from Alex Sosa, scoring Hogue to tie the game at five.
“He’s pretty filthy,” Jarrell said of Mahlstedt, who threw four innings, allowing one run on four hits to earn the win. “He throws from two arm slots and it really messes with the hitter’s eyes. It’s fun catching him. And then also having the defense behind him, too, to make plays, and we made four double plays tonight. And it’s pretty fun seeing that from behind the dish.”
In the eighth, Clemson got three runs, moving the middle of their lineup around the diamond one base at a time. After Paino led off the inning with a single, he stole second and then scored on a one-out single by Jarrell. Jarrell got to second on a single by Crighton and scored when the next batter, Wentworth, singled. Ciufo, the No. 9 hitter, singled to score Crighton and give the Tigers a 7-5 lead.
In the eighth, DeCriscio reached on a single and advanced to second on a throwing error by Clemson shortstop Andrew Ciufo. Two batters later, he scored on a single by Brayden Frassman to cut the Clemson lead to 7-6, but that was all they could muster. With one out in the ninth, Luke Nixon hit a fly ball to right field that sent Clemson’s T.P. Wentworth back to the warning track, where he secured it for the second out, five feet short of a game-tying home run, a dramatic final flurry before the bell.
In a few weeks, both these team will be in the NCAA tournament, with a berth in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. being the next goal.
“N.C. State’s an Omaha team last year. We’re a super regional team last year. And it kind of felt like tonight was like a super regional or an Omaha type game. Just two evenly matched clubs, trading blows going back and forth a bunch of lead changes,” Bakich said. “You could just tell, each team knew, the margin in these games is razor thin. It’s one swing. It’s one play. It’s one pitch. Because this… this feels like a deep-in-June type of ball game.”
Perhaps there’ll be a rematch in Omaha in June. It’d surely be the main event.
2025 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament Schedule
Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Durham, N.C.
All times Eastern Daylight Time
Tuesday, May 20 – Games Broadcast on ACC Network
No. 16 California 12, No. 9 Miami 2
No. 12 Virginia Tech 7, No. 13 Stanford 4
No. 15 Pitt 13, No. 10 Louisville 11
No. 14 Boston College 5, No. 11 Notre Dame 4
Wednesday, May 20 – Games Broadcast on ACC Network
No. 16 California 14, No. 8 Wake Forest 12
No. 5 Clemson 6, No. 12 Virginia Tech 1
No. 7 Duke 4, No. 15 Pitt 3
No. 14 Boston College 12, No. 6 Virginia 8
Thursday, May 21 – Games Broadcast on ACC Network
No. 1 Georgia Tech 10, No. 16 California 2
No. 5 Clemson 7, No. 4 N.C. State 6
Friday, May 22 – Games Broadcast on ACC Network
3 p.m. – No. 2 Florida State vs. No. 7 Duke – Game 11
7 p.m. – No. 3 North Carolina vs. No. 14 Boston College – Game 12
Saturday, May 23 – Games Broadcast on ACC Network
1 p.m. – No. 1 Georgia Tech vs. No. 5 Clemson – Game 13
5 p.m. – Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner – Game 14
Sunday, May 24 – Game Broadcast on ESPN2
Noon – Championship Game
Photo: Clemson reliever Lucas Mahlstedt threw four innings, allowing one run on four hits to earn the win against N.C. State in the ACC Tournament quarterfinal. (Photo Courtesy of the ACC)
