FROM ACC RELEASE
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.org) – On an afternoon in which home run balls sailed out of Truist Park at a record pace, seventh-seeded Louisville ultimately packed a larger power supply.
Alex Binelas tied an ACC Baseball Championship record with three home runs, and Ben Metzinger and Henry Davis each homered twice as the Cardinals (28-21) outscored 11th-seeded Clemson 15-10 in the opening game of the 2021 tournament on Tuesday.
The Tigers (24-27) counter-punched with four home runs of their own, including a pair of 400-plus foot shots by Caden Grice that paced Clemson to an early 5-2 lead. The combined 11 home runs by the two teams set a Championship record, breaking previous mark of eight set by Georgia Tech (6) and Miami (2) in the 2008 tournament at Jacksonville.
Binelas finished with six RBI, and Metzinger drove in four runs as Louisville snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 7-8 all-time in ACC Baseball Championship play since joining the league prior to the 2015 season. Evan Webster (2-1), the second of four Cardinal pitchers, picked up the win on the mound.
The three home runs by Binelas gave him 18 for the season, and Davis now has 14 on the year. Metzinger’s home runs were his first two of year.
Clemson’s Grice connected for his 14th and 15th home runs of the season, while Adam Hackenberg finished 4-for-4 with a homer and three RBI. Bryce Teodosio hit his seventh home run of the year.
Reliever Mack Anglin (2-6) took the loss for the Tigers.
Pool B tournament action continues Wednesday night at 7 p.m., when Clemson faces second-seeded Georgia Tech (28-21). Louisville faces Georgia Tech at 3 p.m. on Thursday, and the winner of that game will advance to Saturday’s 5 p.m. semifinal.
OF NOTE
– Three players had hit three home runs in an ACC Baseball Championship Game prior to Binelas on Tuesday, most recently Luke Murton of Georgia Tech in 2006 versus Clemson at the Baseball Grounds in Jacksonville, Florida (the Tigers won the game 16-11 en route to capturing the ACC title).
– Binelas became the first Louisville player since Adam Duvall in 2009 to hit three home runs in a single game.
– Binelas, who went 4-for-5 on Tuesday, now has 62 to RBI on the season, one behind ACC leader Matheu Nelson of Florida State.
