How Clemson baseball won an instant classic over rival NC State at the 2025 ACC Tournament
How Clemson baseball won an instant classic over rival NC State at the 2025 ACC Tournament Clemson will take on No. 1 seed Georgia Tech in the tournament semifinals Saturday afternoon.
There are times when you're watching a college baseball game and know that, regardless of who wins, the contest will come down the final pitch.
That's what happened on Thursday night in the quarterfinal round of the 2025 ACC Baseball Tournament at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, when the Clemson Tigers and rival NC State Wolfpack went back and forth. When it was over, the No. 12 Tigers rallied past the 20th-ranked Wolfpack for a thrilling 7-6 victory.
Cam Cannarella had four hits atop the lineup, Jacob Jarrell hit his team-leading 14th home run, and the Tigers advanced to the semifinal round of the tournament where they'll take on No. 1 seed Georgia Tech on Saturday.
The eighth inning was when Clemson's bats had one of its best innings all season. The Tigers (43-15 overall), who trailed 5-4 entering the inning, totaled five hits in the eighth. They got run-scoring singles from Jarrell, TP Wentworth and Andrew Ciufo to take a 7-5 lead they would not relinquish.
Lucas Mahlstedt, the Tigers' All-ACC reliever who is second in the nation with 24 saves, tossed four innings of relief to pick up the win. He struck out NC State (33-19 overall) first baseman Chris McHugh for the game's final out, capping a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Mahlstedt (3-0) got the win in relief of starter Drew Titsworth, who yielded three runs on five hits in five innings. Long reliever B.J. Bailey took over from Titsworth in the sixth but quickly left after allowing hits to all three batters he faced.
Mahlstedt allowed a game-tying single to Alex Sosa but recovered to get a 6-4-3 double play, followed by a strikeout of Matt Ossenfort to end the sixth.
Clemson threatened in the seventh but didn't score. With their eighth-inning explosion, the Tigers finished the night with 16 hits and outhit the Wolfpack, 16-12.
Earlier in the evening, Clemson scored two runs on a pair of perfectly executed squeeze bunts by Ciufo and Jarren Purify to take a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning. Jarrell's home run came with one out in the sixth inning and put the Tigers back on top at 4-3. Clemson and NC State changed leads seven times.
Jack Crighton had three hits including a triple in a 3-for-5 night, while Jarrell, Ciufo and Dominic Listi all had two hits. The Tigers won their five straight game.
Clemson baseball schedule 2025: when will Tigers play next in ACC Tournament?
Clemson will face Georgia Tech (40-16 overall), the ACC's regular season champion, Saturday at 1 p.m. ET in the tournament semifinals. The game will be televised on ACC Network. The Yellow Jackets defeated California, 10-3, on Thursday to notch their 40th win of the season.
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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