Tigers Take Game One Over Wake Forest 6-2

May 16, 2003

Winston-Salem, NC –

Clemson overcame a season-high 16 runners left on base, including at least one in every inning, and Patrick Hogan pitched 6.0 scoreless innings in leading the #19 Tigers to a 6-2 victory over Wake Forest Friday afternoon at Gene Hooks Stadium. The game was suspended Thursday due to heavy rain and finished Friday. The Tigers improved to36-18 overall, 13-9 in ACC play. Wake Forest fell to 29-20 overall, 8-13 in the ACC.

Hogan (3-2) allowed just five hits in earning the win. Hogan started the resumed game Friday and went the entire rest of the way. Wake Forest reliever Adam Hanson (5-4) suffered the loss.

Jamie D’Antona got the scoring started for Wake Forest when he hit a long solo home run to right-center. It was his 21st homer of the season and 58th of his career. It was also the first homer allowed by Jason Berken all season and just the second allowed by a Tiger freshman in 2003 (172 innings).

The Tigers responded with a run in the third inning. Zane Green and Kyle Frank singled up the middle to plate Green and even the score 1-1. However, Clemson stranded two more runners and left five through the first three innings.

The Demon Deacons came right back with a run in the bottom of the third. Steven Malinowski led off with a walk and Adam Bourassa singled to left field. Ryan Hubbard’s sacrifice bunt moved runners up a base and Ryan Johnson brought home a run on a groundout to first.

After the rain delay, Jeff Hourigan led off the fourth with an infield second and advanced to second when Herman Demmink was hit by a pitch. After reliever Adam Hanson retired the next two Tigers, Russell Triplett lined a 1-2 curveball down the left-field line for a two-run double to give Clemson a 3-2 lead. Shortstop Ben Ingold saved at least one more run when he robbed Brad McCann of a base hit on a diving catch.

Clemson continued to put runners on base in the fifth inning. After the first two batters were retired, Hourigan and Demmink singled, and Steve Pyzik hit a line-drive single to right field to plate Hourigan. But the Tigers left two more runners on base.

Hogan worked out of a jam in the fifth inning. The Demon Deacons loaded the bases with one out for Johnson, the team’s leading hitter. But for the second time in the game, he grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Clemson left three more runners on base in the sixth inning after loading the bases with one out, leaving 12 through six innings. The Tigers scored its fifth-two out run in the seventh to take a 5-2 lead when Johnson singled up the middle to plate Green.

Frank then gave Clemson a 6-2 lead when he hit a leadoff homer to right-center in the seventh inning, his eighth of the season.

Demmink led all Tigers with a 4-for-4 performance. Demmink, a freshman from Midlothian, VA, is now 21-for-45 (.467) in ACC games. Slevin also extended his hitting streak to 16 games, while McCann extended his to 13. The Tigers had five players with at least two hits, totaling 15 in all.

Clemson and Wake Forest will play game two of the series Friday at approximately 2:20 PM at Gene Hooks Stadium.