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Clemson baseball shuts out Miami in ACC series finale, remains atop Atlantic Division

Clemson defeated Miami 7-0 on Saturday in the final game of a three-game ACC baseball series in Coral Gables, Florida.

Aidan Knaak pitched seven strong innings as the Tigers (24-3, 7-2), who are ranked No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY baseball coaches poll, posted their first shutout of the season. Cam Cannarella drove in three runs with a pair of doubles as Clemson clinched the series win against Miami (15-12, 7-6).

The Tigers are atop the ACC's Atlantic Division and haven't lost a series against an ACC opponent since being swept by Wake Forest in March 2023.

On Friday, Clemson won 3-2 as Jimmy Obertop had an RBI double and Will Taylor was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for a 2-1 lead after one inning. Jarren Purify added a run-scoring single in the top of the fourth and the Tigers held on from there.

Miami won the series opener 3-2 on Thursday as Jack Scanlon hit a two-run walk-off homer in the ninth inning.

With games this week against USC Upstate and a series at Notre Dame on the 2024 schedule, the Tigers have a chance to add to their best start since 2002, when they started 26-1.

Here are three takeaways from the Miami series:

Clemson's Aidan Knaak shines in series finale

Freshman right-hander Aidan Knaak flourished in his return to his home state as the native of Fort Myers improved to 2-0 with his best performance of the season. He surrendered only two hits in seven innings and struck out 10.

Knaak flashed impressive command. He threw 61 of 92 pitches for strikes and kept Hurricanes batters guessing by effectively mixing his fastball, change-up, off-speed curve and slider. He allowed only one runner to advance past first base.

Clemson's bullpen continues to produce

With the exception of Rob Hughes surrendering a two-run walk-off home run in the ninth inning in Game 1, the Tigers’ bullpen repeatedly came up big in the series, prompting further optimism as Clemson heads into the meat of its ACC schedule.

Reed Garris and Rocco Reid tossed two shutout innings on Saturday, and Nick Clayton, Drew Titsworth and Austin Gordon combined for six innings of scoreless, two-hit ball on Friday. So in the past two games, five Clemson relievers allowed no runs and just two hits, walked two and struck out nine in eight innings.

Clemson on a roll . . . since last April

When Clemson lost the first game of a three-game series at Florida State on April 6, 2023, the Tigers were 17-14 overall and 2-8 in the ACC. But they won the final two games of that series and are 50-8 overall and 29-4 in ACC games since.

They have won 14 regular-season series in a row dating to last season and 10 consecutive ACC regular-season series. The Tigers will put that streak on the line April 5-7 at Notre Dame.

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Scott Keepfer covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at skeepfer@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ScottKeepfer

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson baseball beats Miami in first shutout of 2024 season