Wake Forest University
Clemson (ACC Tournament)
Top Seed Clemson Knocks Off Wake Forest
5/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 24, 2006
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - No. 2-ranked and top seed Clemson cruised past the No. 8 seed Wake Forest, 13-1, Wednesday night in the fourth game of the 2006 ACC Baseball Tournament at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
The Demon Deacons will face No. 5 seed Miami at 1 p.m. Thursday in an elimination game.
Wake Forest committed three errors, walked five batters, hit two more and even mixed in a passed ball, balk and had a runner picked off.
The Tigers improved to 44-13 overall, while the Deacs dropped to 33-21. Clemson has won 16 straight overall with 13 of those coming against teams in the ACC.
Demon Deacon starting pitcher Eric Niesen (3-2) was charged with the loss. The sophomore went just 3.2 innings and was charged with six runs, five earned, on five hits. The southpaw struck out five, but was hurt by three walks and two hit batters. All three free passes issued by Niesen came around to score, as did one of the hit batters.
Clemson's P.J. Zocchi (6-0) picked up the victory with 6.0 solid innings. The redshirt sophomore allowed four hits and one earned run. He struck out three and issued just a single walk. The Tigers' pitching staff has walked just one batter over the four games against the Deacons. Clemson has outscored Wake Forest, 52-5, along the way.
Marquez Smith and Taylor Harbin each had three hits for the Tigers. Brad Chalk and Smith each drove in a pair. D.J. Mitchell, replacing an injured Travis Storrer, went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI.
Freshman Evan Ocheltree went 2-for-2 with a pair of singles for Wake Forest. Freshman Allan Dykstra belted a towering, solo home run in the top of the fourth inning.
Wake Forest nearly grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when redshirt junior Brendan Enick belted Zocchi's offering to the right field wall, but Mitchell reached up and over the wall to rob the designated hitter of a solo home run.
The Tigers jumped out to a 4-0 lead with four runs in the bottom of the second inning. Tyler Colvin led off the inning with a single and Harbin followed with a walk. After a failed sacrifice bunt attempt from Andy D'Alessio, Stan Widmann drew a walk to load the bases. Mitchell followed with a two-run single back up the middle. Mitchell also moved into scoring position when Wake Forest center fielder Eric Williams threw to third base. With two runners in scoring position and the infield in, Dustin Hood mishandled a ground ball allowing the third run to score and Herman Demmink followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0.
The Deacons drew within three runs, 4-1, on Dykstra's mammoth bomb in the top of the fourth inning. The blast, which sailed completely out of the ball park to right field, was Dykstra's 15th of the season and first since April 15.
Clemson answered back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth inning. Niesen plunked Casanova with one out and then walked Brad Chalk with two outs before Smith and Colvin followed with consecutive singles giving the Tigers a 6-1 advantage.
The Tigers then plated five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, only two of which were earned, to push the lead to 11-1. The Deacons helped Clemson's cause with two errors and a passed ball in the frame.
The victory for Clemson is the 16th straight over the Deacs.
