Aidan Knaak, Erik Bakich on 'magical' Clemson baseball no-hitter vs ACC foe
Aidan Knaak, Erik Bakich on 'magical' Clemson baseball no-hitter vs ACC foe
Aidan Knaak etched his name into the Clemson baseball history books on Thursday night at Charles L. Cost Field in Pittsburgh.
The sophomore right-hander teamed with Joe Allen and Lucas Mahlstedt on a combined no-hitter for a much-needed 6-1 Clemson victory over the Pitt Panthers in ACC play.
Knaak threw 7 1/3 innings in the no-hitter, the 15th in Clemson history and the first since 2009. He allowed one run and four walks, tying a career-high 12 strikeouts and throwing 112 pitches.
According to Clemson Sports Information director Brian Hennessy, it was the Tigers' first no-hitter against an ACC opponent since April 17, 1976 (vs. Virginia) and their first ever no-hitter on the road against a conference foe.
"Talk about just what the doctor ordered," Clemson coach Erik Bakich said on the field afterwards. "Elite pitching covers up a lot of things. Not just elite pitching, we had an outlier unicorn. Awesome performance and just what this team needed at this time."
Entering Thursday's game, the opener of the final regular-season series before next week's ACC Tournament in Durham, N.C., Clemson (39-15 overall, 16-12 conference) had dropped eight of its last 10 games.
"It was special, magical," Bakich said. "Awesome night. Huge tip of the cap to Aidan Knaak, Joe Allen and Lucas Mahlstedt combining for that. Just a great way to set the tone and a great way to be 1-0 to start the series. There's a lot of work left to be done in this series, but for this whole team to be part of a historic night is very special."
Knaak, who improved to 8-1 with a 4.25 ERA in his 14th start of 2025, was quick to credit Allen, Mahlstedt and teammates afterwards.
"Outstanding performance by the whole pitching staff," Knaak said. "Joe came in when there was adversity shown and picked me up. Then Joe faced some adversity and Subby (Mahlstedt) picked him up. All together, great pitching staff, not to mention Jacob Jarrell behind the dish making it all happen. Really proud of this win."
Jarrell finished 4-for-5 at the plate with his team-leading 12th home run of the season. His four hits were a career high. Jack Crighton (2-5), Jarren Purify (2-5) and Andrew Ciufo (2-4) all added two hits apiece as Clemson totaled 13 hits. Purify hit his fifth home run of the season to lead off the eighth inning.
Pitt scored its only run in the bottom of the eighth on a wild pitch from Knaak after he had walked the leadoff man.
The Tigers, ranked No. 13 in this week's USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, will look to get their first series win since taking two of three from Louisville back on April 18. First pitch for Game 2 in the series is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET Friday. Right-hander Drew Titsworth (4-1, 4.31 ERA) is slated to start for Clemson. The game can be seen on ACC Network Extra.
Watch the full postgame comments below.
Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
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