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Seventeen-run fourth inning keys Clemson’s 21-4 win

DURHAM, N.C. (theACC.com) – Clemson isn’t still batting in the top of the fourth inning of Wednesday’s Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship game, but those who witnessed the Tigers’ historic offensive display might be double-checking to make sure.

The final score of Clemson’s 21-4 rout of Notre Dame, called at the end of seven innings due to the tournament’s 10-run rule, only tells a partial story. The second-seeded Tigers spent 54 minutes at the plate in the top of the fourth, tallying an ACC Championship single-inning record 17 runs and sending four home run balls out of Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

The onslaught included, but was not limited to:

• A grand slam and a three-run shot by switch-hitting leadoff hitter Logan Davidson, who connected from both sides of the plate in a game for the second time in six days. Davidson made school history the first time he performed the feat, and Wednesday’s twice-in-the-same inning trick may be hard for anyone to duplicate.
• A two-run homer by junior slugger Seth Beer, who became the first Clemson player since Kyle Parker in 2010 to hit 20 home runs in a season and now has 54 for his career.
• A three-run homer by Chris Williams that hit the famed Durham Bull atop the left field wall and capped the 17-run blitz. Williams scored three runs in the inning for the Tigers, who sent 21 batters to the plate before Notre Dame’s sixth pitcher of the frame recorded the final out.

Afterthoughts included the fact Notre Dame held a 3-0 lead after two innings and a weather delay that halted play for 42 minutes after an inning and a half.

Clemson’s 17-run inning was two shy of the school record and broke the previous ACC Championship mark of 14, which the Tigers also set in 1975 versus Wake Forest and then matched in 1982 versus Georgia Tech.

Davidson’s seven RBI were one shy of the tournament single-game record set by Maryland’s Mike Murphy versus Duke in 1985.

Clemson (44-13) faces Miami (28-25) in Thursday’s 7 p.m. game, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s 5 p.m. semifinal against NC State or Florida State. Notre Dame ended its season at 24-30.

The Tigers finished with 17 total hits with Davidson, Beer, Williams and Kyle Wilkie collecting three apiece. Davidson and Williams each have 15 home runs for the season.

Notre Dame’s Matt Vierling hit his 10th home run of the year – a two-run shot in the bottom of the first that gave the Irish an early lead – and Daniel Jung finished 3-for-3 at the plate.

Reliever Mat Clark (4-0) picked up the win for Clemson on the mound, while Notre Dame starter Cameron Brown (2-2) took the loss.