Wake Forest University
Clemson
Deacs Drop Series Finale 7-3 to Clemson
3/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 15, 2009
Box Score | Box Score in PDF Format 
CLEMSON, S.C. - Junior catcher Mike Murray hit his third roundtripper of the year, but it wasn't enough as No. 22 Clemson completed a three-game sweep of Wake Forest, winning 7-3 in the series finale on Sunday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Wake Forest falls to 7-8 and 0-6 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, while Clemson improves to 11-4 and 4-2 in league play.
Murray and Hood each had two hits to lead the Demon Deacons offensively. Hood and Murray also drove in a run for Wake Forest. Micah Jarrett also drove in the first run of his collegiate career.
Chris Dwyer picked up the win for the Tigers to improve to 2-0 on the season. Dwyer threw seven strong innings, allowing two runs on six hits, while striking out five. Phil Negus suffered his first loss of the season, giving up five runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Joel Ernst turned in another solid performance out of the Demon Deacon bullpen. Ernst gave up one run on one hit in 2 2/3 innings.
Clemson jumped out on top in the bottom of the first inning with two runs. Brad Miller opened the inning with a single to right field and he scored on a double by Mike Freeman on an RBI double down the left-field line. Freeman moved to third on a flyout to left field by Ben Paulsen. Kyle Parker drove in Freeman on a sacrifice fly to center to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
Wake Forest had its first scoring chance in the top of the 4th inning. Hood led off the inning with a four-pitch walk and moved to second on a single to right by Murray. Evan Ocheltree attempted to bunt the runners to second and third but he struck out trying to bunt. Weldon Woodall and Carlos Lopez flied out to end the inning and keep Wake Forest off the scoreboard.
The Tigers added on to their lead with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Paulsen and Parker led off the inning with back-to-back singles. A balk by Negus put runners at second and third with no outs. Jeff Schaus hit a ball back to the mound that went off the leg of Negus and rolled over to Lopez, who threw out Schaus at first. Paulsen scored on the play to give Clemson a 3-0 lead.
Wake Forest got on the board with a run in the top of the fifth. After Shane Kroker led off the inning with a groundout to second, Tyler Smith was hit by a pitch and Steven Brooks singled to left to send Smith to second. Jarrett flied out to right to send Smith to third. Hood singled to right to score Smith and cut Clemson's lead to 3-1.
Clemson answered Wake's run in the top of the inning with three runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth. Jason Stolz led off the inning with a double off the wall in left field and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Addison Johnson. A sacrifice fly to center by Miller scored Stolz to give Clemson a 4-1 lead. Freeman drew a two-out walk and Ben Paulsen cleared the bases with his second home run of the season over the right-field fence to extend the Tiger lead to 6-1.
Wake Forest scored its second run of the game in the of the seventh. Kroker led off the inning with a double to the right-center field alley. After Smith and Brooks popped out to second, Jarrett drove in Kroker to cut Clemson's lead to 6-2.
The Deacs got a run closer in the top of the eighth. Murray led off the inning with his third home run of the season over the wall in right-center field to trim the Clemson lead to 6-3.
Clemson responded with one run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Freeman led off the inning with a triple to center field. A sacrifice fly to the left fielder by Parker scored Freeman for Clemson's seventh run of the game.
Wake Forest was set down in order in the top of the ninth to end the game and give Clemson a series sweep.
Wake Forest continues its four-game road trip on Tuesday, March 17, traveling to Boone, N.C., for a 3 p.m. meeting with Appalachian State. The Deacs return home on Wednesday to face High Point at 6 p.m.
