Faris Pitches Clemson Past Wake Forest 4-1 Friday

May 13, 2005

Winston-Salem, NC –

Stephen Faris pitched a six-hit complete game to lead Clemson to a 4-1 victory over Wake Forest in front of 644 fans at Hooks Stadium on Friday afternoon. Jesse Ferguson’s two-out, run-scoring single in the eighth and a two-run double by Tyler Colvin in the ninth gave the Tigers the final margin of victory. Clemson improved to 31-19 (16-9 ACC), while Wake Forest fell to 23-24 (11-14 ACC). The win was Clemson’s 10th in a row in the series against the Demon Deacons as well.

Faris (5-3) allowed one run, six hits, and one walk while striking out five to earn the win. It was the Richmond, VA native’s ACC-leading third complete game of the season, as he also went the distance against Georgia and #4 South Carolina earlier this season. In the last three games, Clemson has allowed a total of three runs. Wake Forest starter Brian Bach (2-2) suffered the loss despite holding the Tigers at bay during the middle innings. He allowed four runs on seven hits, while he did not walk a batter and struck out five.

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Herman Demmink led off with an opposite-field double to left field, went to third on Brad Chalk’s sacrifice bunt, and scored on a Taylor Harbin’s groundout to third.

The Demon Deacons evened the score in the third inning thanks to a two-out hit. Casey Sterk led off with a line-drive single to left-center and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Andy Goff. After Faris struck out Brett Linnenkohl for out #2, Matt Antonelli singled through the left side, scoring Sterk.

Bach set 22-straight Tiger batters down in order until Travis Storrer singled through the right side with one out in the eighth inning. The hit extended Storrer’s hitting streak to 14 games. Two batters later, Stan Widmann reached on an infield single. Ferguson, a pinch-hitter, then gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead when he grounded a two-out single through the left side, plating pinch-runner David Williams from second base.

Clemson got to Bach again in the ninth inning when it added two insurance runs. Chalk led off with a double to right field and went to third on Harbin’s single to left. Colvin then ripped another double to right, as Chalk and Harbin both scored. It was Colvin’s 20th double of the season.

Clemson and Wake Forest will play game two of the series Saturday at 1:30 PM.