Tigers Bats Come Alive in 14-3 Victory Over Wake Forest

May 16, 2003

Winston-Salem, NC –

David Slevin and Brad McCann both extended their hitting streaks, and every Tiger starter had at least one hit and a run scored in Clemson’s 14-3 win over Wake Forest in game two of the series Friday at Gene Hooks Stadium. Slevin upped his streak to 17 games, while McCann increased his to 14 games. It was the Tigers 10th win in their last 12 ACC games.

The #19 Tigers upped their overall record to 37-18, 14-9 in ACC play. The Demon Deacons fell to 29-21 overall, 8-14 in the ACC. Since Virginia defeated North Carolina in game one of their series, Clemson is guaranteed of being at least a #4 seed in the ACC Tournament.

Tyler Lumsden (8-1) earned the win, his first in over a month. The sophomore lefthander from Roanoke, VA allowed two runs on five hits in 6.0 innings pitched. He also struck out five. Lumsden improved to 2-0 against Wake Forest in three appearances over two seasons. He has also just allowed two earned runs in 14.1 innings pitched against the Demon Deacons. Demon Deacon lefty starter Tim Morley (2-5) suffered the loss in a starting role.

Ryan Hub gave the Tigers a early 1-0 lead when he hit a long home run to left field in the second inning, his fifth of the season. Two batters later, Steve Pyzik reached on an infield single and came around to score on a triple to right-center by Garrick Evans. Evans was down 0-2 in the count before working the count full.

Clemson rallied again in the third inning with six runs on seven hits, including two by David Slevin brought home McCann with a single through the right side. Two batters later, Roberto Valiente singled through a drawn-in infield to plate two more runs. Three batters later and with the bases loaded, Michael Johnson dove head-first into first base to beat out an infield single to score Valiente. McCann then followed with a two-run single to center to give the Tigers an 8-0 lead.

Slevin, who earlier extended his hitting streak to 17 games, led off the fourth by golfing a homer to left-center, his fifth of the season.

Russell Triplett walked to set up Johnson’s three-run homer.

Wake Forest finally got on the board in the fifth inning after Clemson had scored 17 unanswered runs Friday. Ryan Johnson and Brad Scioletti led off with singles and Jeff Ruziecki walked to load the bases with no outs. Then Ben Ingold singled up the middle to score two runs. But Lumsden induced a double play and got pinch-hitter Doug Riepe to fly out to end the inning.

Evans continued his hot hitting when he laced his second double and fourth hit of the game down the left-field line, scoring Valiente, who had reached on an infield single. Evans was 4-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, three runs scored, and two RBIs. Clemson added another run on an RBI groundout by pinch-hitter Herman Demmink. Five Tigers had at least three hits in the game, including three hits and four RBIs by Johnson.

Clemson and Wake Forest will the series finale Saturday at 1:00 PM at Gene Hooks Stadium. The game will be televised live by Fox Sports Net South.