By R.L. Bynum

Carolina battled a red-hot Clemson team well on Friday night, but lost a heartbreaker in the ninth inning.

After the Tar Heels tied it in the top of the ninth, Blake Wright ended the game with an RBI single to right with two outs in the bottom of the inning to give No. 7 Clemson a 5–4 victory at Doug Kingsmore Stadium for the series win and the Tigers’ 11th consecutive victory.

In the bizarre top of the ninth, Clemson fielders lost pop-ups from Alberto Osuna, Colby Wilkerson and Jackson Van De Brake in the lights. Van De Brake’s hit went for an RBI double that scored Colby Wilkeson on a close play at the plate.

Carolina (33–21, 14–13 ACC), which has lost three in a row, jumped to a 3–0 lead in the second inning on Patrick Alvarez’s three-run homer in his first start since fracturing his left hamate bone on April 13. It would have been a grand slam, but Hunter Stokely got picked off first base after singling.

For the second consecutive night, Carolina’s starting pitcher only lasted 3⅔ innings. Jake Knapp, coming off an impressive win over N.C. State, gave up five hits, four runs and three walks with three strikeouts.

Knapp threw 11 consecutive balls as Clemson (38–17, 19–10) tied it with three runs in the third inning. Knapp hit a batter with a pitch with the bases loaded to force in one run before Billy Amick hit a two-run single. Clemson took a 4–3 lead on Cam Cannarella’s sacrifice fly in the fourth inning.

Ben Peterson relieved Knapp and was outstanding, giving up three hits and two walks while striking out three in four shutout innings. Dalton Pence retired the only batter he faced, and Matt Poston (3–3) gave up the run in the ninth inning.

NOTES —In Saturday’s 1 p.m. finale (ACC Network), Clemson will start junior left-hander Caden Grice (6–1, 3.60 ERA) and Carolina hasn’t named a starter. … Center fielder Vance Honeycutt was again out of the lineup with a lower-body injury. … Casey Cook walked twice to extend his on-base streak to 42 games. … Clemson trimmed its deficit in the all-time series with UNC to 103–97–1 and 51–33–1 in games at Clemson. … The Tar Heels fell to 5–16 against teams currently ranked in the D1 Baseball Top 25.