No. 20 Boston College baseball held a firm grip on its rubber match against Clemson on Sunday, but its momentum started drifting once the Tigers scored a leadoff run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
That run came off the bat of Jarren Purify, who clobbered a solo home run to left field for his third around-the-bases trip of the season, cutting Clemson’s deficit to 3-2.
Then, in the bottom of the eighth after reliever Hayden Simmerson put down the Eagles in 1-2-3 fashion, Purify gave the Tigers the lead — their first of the game — at 4-3 with a two-out single through the ride side.
JP comes through‼️@JarrenPurify pokes one through the right side for the lead!
B8 || BOC 3, CU 4
🖥 https://t.co/sj3E7Z2K45 pic.twitter.com/YFK1WbbfYb
— Clemson Baseball (@ClemsonBaseball) May 3, 2026
That was all it took for Clemson to best BC (35-16, 17-10 ACC) and take away its hopes of claiming a seventh league series win this season, as the Eagles and the Tigers split the first two games of the series, which made Sunday’s contest a rubber match.
Simmerson, who notched three strikeouts with only one walk and no hits in the final two frames, picked up the win for Clemson (28-20, 8-16 ACC), while Gavin Soares, the Eagles’ first of two relief pitchers in the matchup, was credited with the loss.
In the first inning, BC jumped into the lead immediately, as Gunnar Johnson reached on a fielding error with runners on second and third. Nick Wang advanced to third base from the error, and Julio Solier — who had generated a lead-off single to start the game — scored the run.
The Tigers responded in the bottom of the second thanks to an RBI sacrifice fly for Jason Fultz Jr., which scored Purify, but that was the only run Clemson mustered against Tyler Mudd, the Eagles’ starter.
The left-hander ended up going only four innings, as BC head coach Todd Interdonato decided to insert Soares into the game in the bottom of the fifth — even though the Eagles possessed a one-run lead and Mudd, who had only thrown 49 total pitches, looked comfortable.
Right after Soares hurled his first inning in scoreless fashion, BC plated its third run of the afternoon on Colin Larson’s RBI single down the right-field line, which brought Ben Williams home to make it 3-1.
Soares managed to silence the Tigers’ bats in the bottom of the sixth, garnering a strikeout in the process, but Clemson’s comeback rally kicked off in the very next frame with Purify’s solo shot.
Interdonato ended up replacing Soares with lefty reliever John Kwiatkowski following the Tigers’ two runs scored in the bottom of the eighth, which started with back-to-back singles from pinch hitter Jackson Moore and Nate Savoie.
After Luke Gaffney grounded out with a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners, Jacob Jarrell was intentionally walked to load the bases. Tryston McCladdie then tied the game with an RBI single to right, and Purify’s heroics sent Clemson ahead by one.
Brand new ballgame. @TrystonMcCladd2 drives in @Jackson26000672 to level it at three!
B8 || BOC 3, CU 3
🖥 https://t.co/sj3E7Z2K45 pic.twitter.com/w0ZPIeuWmb
— Clemson Baseball (@ClemsonBaseball) May 3, 2026
But the pitching change ultimately came too late to salvage the Eagles, who dropped the contest 4-3.
The loss marked BC’s third ACC series defeat of the year, all of which have come on the road (NC State, UNC, Clemson).
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