Reserves Lead No. 6 Baseball To 5-4 Win Over No. 11 Wake Forest In Game Two

April 15, 2000

CLEMSON, S.C. – Pinch-hitter Steve Pyzik added an insurance run by knocking in Khalil Greene in the bottom of the seventh and that proved to be the difference in a 5-4 win over Wake Forest in the second game of a doubleheader at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Mike Calitri, a late entry into the Tiger lineup, also contributed with an opposite-field, two-run homer. Clemson won the opening game 6-5 in 12 innings.

Each team scored twice in the first inning. The Demon Deacons led off the game with a double by Cory Sullivan, who was doubled in by Dan Conway. Danny Borrell, who had walked and then was advanced to third by Conway, scored on a sacrifice fly by Corey Slavik.

Clemson answered in the bottom half of the inning. The Tigers began the inning with a ground out to second by Casey Stone. After Brian Ellis singled and Khalil Greene walked, Patrick Boyd was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Jarrod Schmidt. Schmidt, who was the starting pitcher and batting as the designated hitter, knocked in both Ellis and Greene on a two-RBI single.

The Tigers added another pair of runs in the fourth inning when Mike Calitri hit his second home run of the season to score Schmidt, who had reached on a walk. Calitri was a late substitution before the game. He took the place of Michael Johnson, who was injured in the first game and scratched in the second game just before the first pitch.

Borrell got things going for Wake Forest in the fifth inning with the first of three Deacon hits. After a ground out to start the inning, Borrell doubled and moved to third on a single by Conway. Carlos Brackley knocked in Borrell with a single to pull within one run, 4-3.

Pyzik scored Greene for insurance in the seventh. Sullivan doubled off reliever Nick Glaser to lead off the eighth inning and then was hit in by Borrell. In the bottom half of the inning, the Tigers were retired in order but still led 5-4.

Ryan Johnson led off the ninth inning with a base hit, meaning the tying run was at first base. Nick Blue bunted foul for the third strike and the first out. Sullivan hit a grounder to Jeff Baker, who made an outstanding play to get the out at first. Pinch hitter Jason Aquilante popped up to right field ending the game.

Wake Forest stranded 16 runners on base from 13 hits in game two. Clemson scored five runs on five hits ad only stranded seven base runners.

The starters were the pitchers of record. Schmidt pitched 5.2 innings to get the win. He improved to 6-0 on the season. Ryan Braun was pegged with the loss despite giving up only four hits in five innings of work. Braun stumbled to 2-1 this season. Glaser pitched two innings to record his 11th save of the year.

Clemson improved to 31-8 overall with the pair of one-run wins. The Tigers are now 8-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and are 11-1 in all games decided by two runs or less. Wake Forest fell to 31-11-1 and 11-6 in conference play.

The series concludes on Sunday at 2:00 PM at Kingsmore Stadium.