Durham, NC – No. 5 Clemson scored a combined eight runs in the first three innings and cruised to a 10-4 victory over North Carolina in the ACC Championship at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers, who raised their tournament record to 3-0, improved to 42-17, while the Tar Heels fell to 35-22. It was Clemson’s 15th straight win, the sixth longest winning streak in school history.
The Tigers scored five runs in the first inning, two starts by Grace Caden Grace. Billy Amick followed with a two-run homer, his 12th of the year. Two batters later, Blake Wright hit a solo homer, his eighth of the season. The Tar Heels responded with a run in the top of the second inning on a Hunter Stokely double, then Amick hit a triple lead in the bottom of the second inning. Cooper Engel, who scored 3-for-3 in the game, added a scoring solo in the third period to bring Clemson’s lead to 8-1.
Alberto Osuna hit a solo homer in the fifth inning, then Thomas Frick hit a solo homer in the top of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Cam Cannarella lined up two, two, three, and the second three batters of the game to tie an ACC tournament record and Clemson’s third of the game, which also tied the ACC tournament record. Frick hit his second homer of the game in the ninth inning.
Grice (8-1) earned the win by pitching 7.0 innings, allowing four hits, three runs and one walk with nine strikeouts. North Carolina’s Conor Bouvier (4-4) struggled with the loss, surrendering five runs on five hits in 0.2 innings pitched.
The Tigers advanced to the championship game of the ACC Tournament to play the winner of the semifinal game of No. 1 Wake Forest vs. No. 8 Miami (Fla.) ACC Tournament on Sunday afternoon on ESPN2.
“Student. Incurable problem solver. Amateur baconaholic. Introvert. Infuriatingly humble music fanatic.”