Seventh-Ranked Clemson Completes Sweep of #13 Florida State With 11-2 Win Sunday

May 14, 2006

Clemson, SC-

Five Tigers had at least two hits as #7 Clemson completed a three-game sweep of #13 Florida State with an 11-2 win Sunday in front of 4,582 fans at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Tigers extended their winning streak to 11 games and improved to 39-13 overall and 21-6 in the ACC. The 21 conference wins tied the Clemson record for regular season conference wins, as the Tigers also had 21 ACC wins in 2005. The Seminoles dropped to 37-15 and 14-12 in the ACC.

Herman Demmink, Brad Chalk, Marquez Smith, Taylor Harbin, and Andy D’Alessio each had two hits apiece for Clemson. Dennis Guinn had two hits to lead the Seminoles offensively.

Jason Berken (8-3) pitched 6.2 innings, and allowed two runs on seven hits while striking out three to pick up the win for the Tigers. Mark Sauls (1-1) allowed three runs (two earned) in 2.0 innings pitched and suffered the loss for Florida State.

With the win Clemson extended its winning streak in ACC games to 10, the second time in 2006 the Tigers have had a 10-game conference-winning streak. Sunday’s win also marked the 21st consecutive season that Clemson has totaled at least 39 wins in a season. In addition to a three-game sweep of Duke earlier in the week, the Tigers won six ACC games in a seven-day period for the first time with the win over Florida State.

Chalk extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single to left in the first, but was stranded at second.

The Tigers loaded the bases with no outs in the second. Travis Storrer walked, Harbin was hit by a pitch, and D’Alessio walked. Stan Widmann then hit an RBI fielder’s choice groundout to third that scored Storrer.

Tony Thomas, Jr. singled to lead off the second, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Danny Diaz. A wild pitch moved Thomas to third, and he scored on Shane Robinson’s pop out to right that was caught by Harbin who was moving away from the infield as he caught the ball. Jack Rye walked, and went to third on a single through the right side by Guinn. Buster Posey followed with a single up the middle to score Rye. Ryne Malone singled to center, but Chalk threw Guinn out at the plate to end the inning.

Demmink extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single to lead off the third. Chalk then singled through the right side to move Demmink to third. Smith singled through the left side to score Demmink. Tyler Colvin then hit a fly ball to left, but Ryan Strauss misplayed the ball as Robinson was coming over from center, which loaded the bases for the Tigers. Storrer hit into a groundball double play, but Chalk scored as Clemson regained the lead.

Widmann singled with one out in the fourth, moved to second on a ground out by Adrian Casanova, and then stole third. Demmink singled to center with two outs to score Widmann, and Chalk followed with a walk. Smith then hit a three-run home run to left-center, his 10th long ball of the season. Colvin tripled to right-center which extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

Clemson opened the fifth with back-to-back home runs. Harbin hit the first pitch of the inning out to left, his fourth homer of the season. D’Alessio followed with a long ball to right, his 18th home run of the year. Combined with Smith’s homer in the fourth, Clemson hit three homers in a five-batter stretch. The Seminoles had given up just 18 home runs all season entering Sunday’s game.

Storrer was hit by a pitch with two outs in the sixth, and D.J. Mitchell came on as a pinch-runner. Harbin followed with a double down the left-field line to score Mitchell. D’Alessio singled through the right side to score Harbin.

Alex Martin, Steve Richard, and Daniel Moskos combined for 2.1 scoreless innings of relief for the Tigers.

Clemson hit .354 as a team in the three-game series against the Seminoles, who were fifth in the nation in ERA entering the series.

The Tigers picked up their fifth three-game sweep of Florida State, the first since 2000. Clemson also swept the Seminoles in 1972, 1992, and 1996.

Clemson returns to action Tuesday at 7:15PM when it plays host to College of Charleston.