Clemson Edges Wake Forest 6-5

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Winston-Salem, NC -

Clemson scored all six of its runs in the first three innings and held on for a 6-5 win over Wake Forest on Sunday afternoon in front of 1,206 fans at Hooks Stadium. With the win, the Tigers swept the series and improved to 33-19 (18-9 ACC). The win was Clemson's 2,300th in school history, becoming only the ninth team in NCAA history to reach the 2,300-win mark and first team in the southeastern region of the United States to do so. It also meant the Tigers finished their road ACC schedule with a 10-5 record. Clemson also upped its winning streak over Wake Forest to 12 games. Wake Forest fell to 23-26 (11-16 ACC).

With Florida State's win over North Carolina on Sunday, the Tigers and Seminoles remained tied for third place in the ACC standings behind first-place Georgia Tech (21-6) and second-place Miami (FL) (19-7-1). Clemson will play host to the Hurricanes next weekend, while Georgia Tech will play at fifth-place North Carolina (15-9-1). Florida State will also travel to Raleigh, NC to play at sixth-place N.C. State (15-12). Florida State owns the tiebreaker over the Tigers due to winning two of three games in early April.

Lefty starter Robert Rohrbaugh (6-2) earned the win in 6.2 innings of work. All six of his wins have been in ACC contests. He allowed five runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts. Drew Fiorenza picked up his first save as a Tiger. He allowed only one hit, no runs, and no walks with three strikeouts in the final 2.1 innings pitched. Charlie Mellies (2-4) suffered the loss despite tossing a complete game. He allowed six runs on 14 hits, but did not allow a run after the third inning.

Clemson took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. One-out singles by Brad Chalk and Taylor Harbin, along with two wild pitches, put runners on second and third. Tyler Colvin followed with a line-drive single through the right side to score both Tigers.

Matt Antonelli cut the Tiger lead in half when he led off the bottom of the first with a homer to left-center, his fifth of the season. Ben Ingold followed with a walk, meaning he reached base for the ninth-straight plate appearance over three games. J.B. Tucker then hit a ball to deep right field that went off Travis Storrer's glove, allowing Tucker to reach on the single and Ingold to advance to third. Ryder Mathias then hit a line drive, but right to Harbin at second, who doubled off Tucker at first. Rohrbaugh got out of the inning by striking out Brendan Enick looking on a 3-2 fastball.

Three more one-out singles by Ben Hall, Stan Widmann, and Adrian Casanova loaded the bases in the second inning. Herman Demmink then hit a slow roller to shortstop. Andy Goff threw to Ingold at second for the force out, but Demmink just beat the throw to first, allowing Hall to score.

The Tigers kept the pressure on in the third inning. Chalk led off with a walk on four pitches and Harbin doubled to left, advancing Chalk to third. Colvin followed with a hit up the middle past a drawn-in infield, scoring both runners. Colvin never stopped and made it to second on the double. Storrer then singled to the right side, advancing Colvin to third. The hit extended Storrer's hitting streak to 16 games. Two batters later, Hall flied out to center, scoring Colvin on the sacrifice fly to give the Tigers a 6-1 lead.

In the fourth inning, Wake Forest cut the Tiger lead to two runs thanks to its second long ball of the game. A leadoff walk by Tucker and a one-out single to left by Enick put runners at first and second. Matt Miller then hit a towering three-run homer to right field, his sixth of the season.

Tucker cut Clemson's lead to 6-5 in the seventh inning with a two-out, solo homer to left-center, his 12th of the year. But the Demon Deacons could get no closer, as Fiorenza ended the final three innings to earn the save.

Clemson, which totaled 14 hits, was led by Colvin, who was 3-for-5 with a double and four RBIs. Harbin added three hits, including two doubles, while Storrer and Casanova had two hits apiece. Clemson was errorless on Sunday, and committed just one error in the entire series. Antonelli and Tucker paced the Demon Deacons with three hits piece, while Miller added three RBIs on his home run.

Clemson will play host to College of Charleston Tuesday at 7:15 PM at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Clemson 6 (33-19,18-9 ACC)


Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB


------------------------------------------------------


Herman Demmink 3b........  5  0  1  1   0  1  0  0   1


Brad Chalk cf............  4  2  1  0   1  0  2  0   0


Taylor Harbin 2b.........  5  2  3  0   0  0  4  4   0


Tyler Colvin lf..........  5  1  3  4   0  0  1  0   2


Travis Storrer rf........  4  0  2  0   0  0  2  0   0


Andy D'Alessio 1b........  4  0  0  0   0  2  8  1   2


Ben Hall dh..............  3  1  1  1   0  0  0  0   0


Stan Widmann ss..........  4  0  1  0   0  1  0  5   1


Adrian Casanova c........  4  0  2  0   0  0  9  0   0


Robert Rohrbaugh p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0


 Drew Fiorenza p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0


Totals................... 38  6 14  6   1  4 27 10   7


Wake Forest 5 (23-26,11-16 ACC)


Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB


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Matt Antonelli 3b........  5  1  3  1   0  1  0  0   0


Ben Ingold 2b............  4  0  0  0   1  2  5  3   0


J.B. Tucker dh...........  3  2  3  1   1  0  0  0   0


Ryder Mathias c..........  3  0  1  0   1  1  3  2   0


Brendan Enick 1b.........  4  1  1  0   0  2  5  1   5


Matt Miller cf...........  4  1  1  3   0  1  3  0   0


Casey Sterk rf...........  4  0  1  0   0  0  4  0   0


Andy Goff ss.............  4  0  0  0   0  1  2  4   0


Brett Linnenkohl lf......  4  0  1  0   0  1  4  0   1


Charlie Mellies p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0


Totals................... 35  5 11  5   3  9 27 10   6


Score by Innings                    R  H  E


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Clemson............. 213 000 000 -  6 14  0


Wake Forest......... 100 300 100 -  5 11  1


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E - INGOLD(22). DP - Clemson 3; Wake Forest 1. LOB -


 Clemson 7; Wake Forest 6. 2B - HARBIN 2(23); 


COLVIN(21). HR - ANTONELLI(5); TUCKER(12); MILLER(6).


SF - HALL(3). CS - DEMMINK(3).


Clemson                IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF


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Robert Rohrbaugh....  6.2 10  5  5  3  6 28 31


Drew Fiorenza.......  2.1  1  0  0  0  3  7  7


Wake Forest            IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF


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Charlie Mellies.....  9.0 14  6  6  1  4 38 40


Win - ROHRBAUGH (6-2).  Loss - MELLIES (2-4).  


Save - FIORENZA (1).


WP - MELLIES 2(11).


Umpires - HP: Ron Sebastian  1B: Frank Sylvester  


3B: John Kleis


Start: 1:02   Time: 2:22   Attendance: 1206

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