No. 8 Clemson baseball suffers another lopsided loss to No. 3 Georgia Tech

Kent Schmidt's grand slam in the seventh inning propelled the Yellow Jackets to a 9-3 victory over the Tigers.

Mar. 14, 2026 at 3:21am

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In a matchup of top-10 ACC baseball teams, No. 3 Georgia Tech defeated No. 8 Clemson 9-3 on Friday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Yellow Jackets jumped out to an early lead and broke the game open with a grand slam by Kent Schmidt in the seventh inning. Clemson's Nate Savoie hit two home runs in a losing effort.

Why it matters

This is the second straight lopsided loss for Clemson against Georgia Tech, dropping the Tigers to 0-2 in ACC play. The Tigers were ranked No. 8 nationally coming into the series, so this defeat is a significant setback in their quest to contend for the ACC title and a high NCAA Tournament seed.

The details

Georgia Tech took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a solo home run by Vahn Lackey and a two-run double by Parker Brosius. Clemson's Jacob Jarrell hit a solo homer in the bottom of the second to make it 2-1. The Yellow Jackets extended their lead to 3-1 in the fourth on a run-scoring single by Carson Kerce, but Nate Savoie's solo shot in the bottom half of the inning made it 3-2. In the seventh, Kent Schmidt broke the game open with a grand slam to put Georgia Tech up 8-2. Savoie hit his second homer of the game in the eighth, but it wasn't enough as the Yellow Jackets won 9-3.

  • The series opener was played on Friday, March 14, 2026.
  • The series concludes on Saturday, March 15, 2026 at 3 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.

The players

Kent Schmidt

A player for No. 3 Georgia Tech who hit a grand slam in the seventh inning to break the game open.

Nate Savoie

A Clemson player who hit two home runs in the losing effort.

Michael Sharman

The Clemson starting pitcher who suffered the loss, allowing four runs in 5.2 innings.

Mason Patel

The Georgia Tech relief pitcher who earned the win by tossing 1.2 scoreless innings.

Jacob Jarrell

A Clemson player who hit a solo home run in the second inning.

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What’s next

The series concludes on Saturday, March 15, 2026 at 3 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.

The takeaway

Clemson's lopsided losses to Georgia Tech raise concerns about the Tigers' ability to compete with the top teams in the ACC this season. The team will need to regroup quickly to get back on track and salvage the series.