Wake Forest University
Clemson
Deacons Take Down Clemson Behind Pirro's Gem
3/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF) 
By Jay Garneau, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeBaseball)
CLEMSON, S.C. - Matt Pirro tossed a seven-inning gem as Wake Forest earned a series-opening 8-2 victory over Clemson at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Friday night.
The senior picked up his ACC-leading sixth win by striking out seven, allowing one run on four hits and two walks in those 7.0 innings to outduel Clemson's (12-12, 4-6 ACC) Matthew Crownover.
The middle of the order did most of the damage for the Demon Deacon (18-10, 5-5 ACC) offense.
Nate Mondou finished 2-for-5 with a pair of run-scoring hits, including a game-tying double in the sixth and an RBI single in the seventh.
Will Craig drove in two runs to add to his ACC-leading RBI total, and scored three runs in the winning effort. He drilled his ninth homer of the season, as well.
Joey Rodriguez earned his sixth three-hit game of the season, drilling a double and scoring twice.
Clemson plated the first run of the game in the fourth with a walk, stolen base and RBI single.
The Deacons took the lead for good in the sixth. After Mondou's RBI, Kevin Conway and Keegan Maronpot drew RBI walks to give Wake Forest a 3-1 lead.
Mondou and Craig each knocked in runs during a four-run seventh inning, in which Wake Forest took advantage of three Clemson errors to extend the lead to 7-1.
Craig hit a moonshot over the wall in left-center in the ninth, re-extending the lead to six after Clemson had plated a run in the eighth.
Donnie Sellers closed out the game by tossing a scoreless ninth inning.
Clemson's Crownover (4-1) suffers his first defeat of the season after allowing three earned runs in 5.2 innings. He entered the game with a 1.09 ERA, including 0.39 in ACC action.
STRUGGLES AT CLEMSON
• Wake Forest opened a series at Clemson with a victory for the first time since 2002.
• The Demon Deacons snap a four-game road skid against the Tigers, with the last win coming in 2011.
• The Deacs have a chance to win the series Saturday and Sunday. The last time Wake Forest won multiple road games at Clemson in a season was 1977, when the Deacons twice beat the Tigers in the ACC Tournament hosted by Clemson.
DOUBLE DIGITS
• Freshman Stuart Fairchild extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a line-drive single.
• He also walked twice, and has reached base safely in 21 of the past 22 contests.
NEARING 100
• Will Craig now has 97 career hits, three away from joining the 100-hit club.
• Fellow sophomore Nate Mondou isn't far behind, sitting at 90 after a two-hit effort on Friday.
ON DECK
• The Demon Deacons and Tigers will battle again on Saturday. The game was moved up from 6:30 to 2:30 p.m., and will air live on ESPN3.
