Clemson Sweeps NC State Baseball, 9-6

Sunday, April 25

Clemson, S.C.

2:00 PM

NC State

27-16, 0

Clemson

27-14, 0

NC State

Clemson

4/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 25, 2004

Final Stats

CLEMSON, S.C. - Brad McCann doubled, homered, scored three runs and drove in two, and Lou Santangelo homered, singled twice and drove in three runs to lead Clemson past NC State 8-6 Sunday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The victory gave the Tigers a sweep of the weekend's three-game series with the Wolfpack and lifted them to 27-14 overall and 11-4 in the conference. NC State, which lost for the fourth time in a row, fell to 27-16 overall and 9-9 in the ACC.

Robert Rohrbaugh (3-2) got the win after allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits in six-plus innings. He walked five and struck out seven. Patrick Hogan pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to record his ACC-leading ninth save. NC State starter Phillip Davidson (4-2) got the loss after yielding four runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings. Davidson walked five and struck out one.

The Wolfpack jumped to the early lead for the second time in the series with a run in the top of the third inning. Jake Muyco drew a one-out walk and Matt Camp beat out an infield single to third base. With two down, David Hicks chopped a single through the right side of the infield, driving in Muyco and giving NC State a 1-0 lead.

Clemson struck right back in the bottom of the inning to tie the game when Brad McCann doubled down the right-field line with two outs, and Lou Santangelo hit an RBI single to right.

The Tigers went ahead with a big fifth inning. Tony Sipp led off, reached on an infield single, stole second, and went to third on a groundout. Davidson hit McCann with a pitch, and Santangelo singled to left to drive in Sipp and break the tie. Davidson then walked Travis Storrer and Andy D'Alessio to force in a run. Daniel Caldwell was summoned from the Wolfpack bullpen, and Russell Triplett greeted him with a sacrifice fly to center field, giving Clemson a 4-1 lead after five innings.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Sipp drew a walk, stole second, stole third, and scored on a wild pitch by Caldwell, increasing the Clemson lead to 5-1. Gib Hobson came in to pitch for the Wolfpack, and McCann hit Hobson's first pitch for a two-run homer to left, making it 7-1 in favor of the Tigers.

The Wolfpack offense, dormant most of the series, awakened in the top of the seventh. The Pack sent nine men to the plate, took advantage of a pair of Clemson errors, and got five runs on three hits. Jake Muyco led off and walked. Matt Camp grounded to second base, but Storrer booted the ball for an error, with Muyco taking third on the play. Jason St. Julien followed with a grounder to shortstop that Russell Triplett kicked for an error, scoring Muyco, and David Hicks singled to center to load the bases with none out. Mike Jensen followed with a granda-slam home run to left, trimming the lead to 7-6. The grand slam was the Wolfpack's third of the season. That brought Sipp to the mound, and he pitched out of the inning after a double by Dustin Knight, retiring Lee Mezistrano and Ryan Johnson on fly balls.

Andy D'Alessio led off the bottom of the seventh with a single. Pinch-runner C.J. Gaddis stole second, went to third on a groudnout, and scored on pinch-hitter Ryan Hub's infield single.

Santangelo's solo homer in the bottom of the eighth made it 9-6, Tigers.