Tigers Fall To Wake 12-3

March 24, 2001

Box Score

WINSTON-SALEM, NC — The 20th-ranked Wake Forest baseball team beat 10th-ranked Clemson 12-3 on Saturday afternoon at Hooks Stadium to even the series at one game a piece. Senior All-American Cory Sullivan was the star of the game throwing a complete game win and going three-for-five at the plate with three RBI.

“Cory Sullivan showed why he’s an All-American today,” head coach George Greer said. “He starts rallies, continues rallies, gets clutch hits, pitches in big games and does all of that very well. He’s a great player who had a great day.”

The game was never really in doubt as Wake Forest hung a seven-spot on Clemson in the first inning. The Deacons sent 13 batters to the plate and saw three Tiger pitchers in the frame. The inning began when Sullivan’s infield pop-up was misjudged and fell between the third baseman and shortstop for a hit.

Sullivan stole second before Corey Slavik’s double to the right field line gave the Deacons an early lead. Things began to snowball for Clemson as Wake Forest pounded out four hits to go with four walks, a passed ball and a hit by pitch. Sullivan helped his cause with a two-out, two-run single to center field. When the dust cleared, the Demon Deacons had built a 7-0 lead.

That was all Sullivan would need. He scattered nine hits over nine innings and allowed just one earned run. It was Sullivan’s second career start and his first career complete game. As a starting pitcher, Sullivan has an ERA of 1.12 over 16 innings of work.

Jamie D’Antona and Carlos Brackley gave the Deacons insurance runs with their sixth and fifth home runs, respectively. Brackley finished the day with three hits and is on fire as of late. He has raised batting average to .344 on the year.

Wake Forest improves to 18-6 on the year with a 6-2 mark in the ACC. Clemson slips to 16-7 and 4-1 in league play.

The rubber match of the weekend series is slated for Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Kyle Sleeth (4-2) gets the call for the Deacs.

#10 Clemson (16-7, 4-1)        000    001    002    -    3    9    1#20 Wake Forest (18-6, 6-2)    701    002    02X    -    12    13    2