Wake Forest University
Clemson
Tigers Take Game 1 from Deacs 8-2
4/12/2013 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 12, 2013
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By Steven Wright, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeBaseball)
CLEMSON, S.C. - No. 17 Clemson jumped out to a 4-0 lead through four innings and went on to defeat Wake Forest 8-2 on Friday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
The Demon Deacons drop to 19-18 overall and 4-12 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while the Tigers improve to 24-11 overall and 10-6 in league play.
Evan Stephens and Conor Keniry combined for half of Wake Forest's eight hits on the night. Stephens went 2-for-5 with a run scored, while Keniry went 2-for-3 with an RBI and the Deacs' only double of the game.
Pat Blair, Joey Rodriguez, Kevin Jordan and Brett Armour all added a hit apiece for the Demon Deacons.
Clemson started Daniel Gossett went 6.0 innings, and although the Deacs racked up eight hits off of him, he struck out nine batters and earned the win to improve to 5-2 on the season. Matt Pirro went 3.2 innings for Wake Forest and gave up four runs to suffer the loss and fall to 3-5. Tiger relievers Patrick Andrew and Matt Campbell pitched the final three innings and retired all nine Deacon batters they faced.
The Tigers scored one in the first, two in the second and one in the fourth to take a 4-0 lead through four innings.
Wake Forest got on the board with a two-out rally in the fifth. Stephens dropped down a bunt with two outs and moved to second on a failed pickoff attempt. Keniry then singled to left to bring him around and make the game 4-1.
Clemson added one in the fifth to make the score 5-1, but the Demon Deacons were able to bring the go-ahead run to the plate in the top of the sixth.
For the second straight inning, the Demon Deacons needed to rally with two outs to bring home a run. Rodriguez and Jordan began the rally with back-to-back singles. Both runners stole a base, and Armour walked to load the bases.
Gossett then fired a wild pitch to bring Rodriguez home, and Mark Rhine followed with a walk to load the bases and bring the go-ahead run to the plate in Stephens. Stephens put a charge into one, but left fielder Tyler Slaton was able to make the catch as he was drifting backwards to end the threat.
Clemson added three more runs in the sixth, and the Demon Deacons were scoreless over the final three innings.
Wake Forest and Clemson will play Game 2 of the series tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
