Clemson ace Aidan Knaak earns ACC honor

Aidan Knaak didn't allow a hit as part of a combined no-hitter for the Tigers at Pitt.

CU Athletic Communications · Monday, May 19 2025

CLEMSON, S.C. - Sophomore righthander Aidan Knaak (Fort Myers, Fla.) was named ACC Pitcher-of-the-Week, announced Monday by the league office. He joined Georgia Tech’s Drew Burress, who was named ACC Player-of-the-Week, in receiving conference accolades. ACC baseball weekly honors are determined by a vote of a select media panel and are announced on Mondays throughout the regular season.

It marked the fourth time in Knaak’s career and second time in 2025 that he was named ACC Pitcher-of-the-Week, as he earned that accolade two times as a freshman in 2024. He became the second Tiger to earn ACC Pitcher-of-the-Week honors four times in a career, joining Kris Benson (6). The ACC began naming a pitcher-of-the-week in 1989.

Knaak combined on Clemson’s first no-hitter in 16 years by pitching 7.1 innings with 12 strikeouts to tie his career high in the Tigers’ 6-1 win at Pittsburgh on Thursday. His career-high-tying 12th strikeout gave him 100 strikeouts on the season, as he became the first ACC player to reach 100 strikeouts in 2025.

Joe Allen and Lucas Mahlstedt combined to pitch the final 1.2 innings to throw the Tigers’ 15th no-hitter in history, third in an ACC game and first in an ACC road game. It was also the first nine-inning no-hitter in an ACC game since 2021.

On the season, he is 8-1 with a 4.25 ERA, .208 opponents’ batting average and 100 strikeouts against 28 walks in 78.1 innings pitched over 14 starts.