DURHAM, N.C. — No. 5 Clemson scored eight combined runs in the first three innings and cruised to a 10-4 victory over North Carolina in the ACC Tournament at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers, who upped their tournament record to 3-0, improved to 42-17, while the Tar Heels dropped to 35-22. It was Clemson’s 15th win in a row, tied for the sixth-longest winning streak in school history.
The Tigers scored five runs in the first inning, started by Caden Grice’s two-run double. Billy Amick followed with a two-run homer, his 12th of the year. Two batters later, Blake Wright belted a solo homer, his eighth of the season. The Tar Heels responded with a run in the top of the second inning on Hunter Stokely’s double, then Amick laced a two-run triple in the bottom of the second inning. Cooper Ingle, who went 3-for-3 in the game, added a run-scoring single in the third inning to up Clemson’s lead to 8-1.
Alberto Osuna hit a solo homer in the fifth inning, then Tomas Frick hit a solo homer in the top of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Cam Cannarella lined a two-out, two-run triple, his second three-bagger of the game to tie an ACC Tournament record and Clemson’s third of the game, which also tied an 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 starter Connor Bovair (4-4) suffered the loss, as he surrendered 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 No. 1 Wake Forest vs. No. 8 Miami (Fla.) ACC Tournament semifinal game on Sunday at noon on ESPN2.
