Tigers Eliminate Wolfpack from ACC Tourney

Friday, May 28

Salem, Va.

10:00 AM

NC State

35-22

Clemson (ACC Tournament)

36-23

Clemson

NC State

Eric Taylor and the Pack had a tough day in Salem.

5/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

May 28, 2004

Final Stats

By The Associated Press

SALEM, Va. -- Tyler Lumsden fizzled in a big way the last time he came home and started a game for Clemson in the ACC tournament.

Given a chance to redeem himself Friday in a game the Tigers had to win, Lumsden showed the locals what he can do when he's at his best.

Lumsden (5-3) pitched five-hit ball for 7 2/3 innings and Clemson scored seven runs before he even threw a pitch in a 12-1 victory against NC State that knocked the Wolfpack from the field.

"I'm feeling great right now," the left-hander said after striking out 10 and making it look easy with a big lead that allowed him to relax.

"You don't have to be perfect," the Roanoke native said. "You can just go out there and put the ball over the plate and put the ball in play."

The Tigers (36-23), playing only about 12 hours after an 11-7, 13-inning loss to Georgia Tech in a game that took 4-1/2 hours, advanced to another elimination game Friday night against North Carolina or Duke.

Lumsden didn't make it out of the second inning when he started here last season, but rewarded coach Jack Leggett's confidence with a gem.

"I think he's pitching his best baseball of late here," Leggett said, "and that excites me. If he can step up and have some big games for us, it's going to make a big difference to how this team finishes."

Clemson showed no signs of fatigue against Wolfpack starter Nate Cretarolo, getting its first six batters on base, stealing four bases and sending 11 men to the plate to send the lefty to the showers.

Cretarolo (3-3) retired just one of seven batters he faced.

Tony Sipp opened the game with a double and added an RBI single for the seventh run, giving Lumsden a huge comfort zone to start with.

"When they got that big lead, he kind of settled in and we didn't really have a chance to get much going," Wolfpack first baseman David Hicks said. "He really got in a groove and was hard to hit."

The Wolfpack (35-22), which scored one run in the third and left the bases loaded twice, went home to wait for an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament, a bid coach Elliott Avent said he's confident is coming.

"We've got a couple of days to forget about this and it may take a couple of days," Avent said. "This wasn't a very good game for us."

After Sipp's double, Cretarolo hit Travis Storrer and walked Brad McCann. Lou Santagelo shook off an 0-for-7 day in the Georgia Tech loss with a two-run double, and Kris Harvey followed with another double.

Andy D'Allessio singled him in, and after John Ingram struck out, Joey Devine relieved and allowed a run-scoring single to Russell Triplett.

Triplett stole second third and scored on Sipp's single.

Clemson added a run in the fifth on a wild pitch, and got three more in the seventh on RBI hits by McCann, Santangelo and D'Alessio.

The Tigers finished with 17 hits.

Doubles by McCann and pinch-hitter Tyler Colvin in the eighth added another run, and allowed the Tigers to tie the ACC tournament record of seven doubles. The Wolfpack had seven against the Tigers in 1987.

Triplett broke the record an inning later with his second double.

The Tigers returned to their hotel to await the winner of the Duke and North Carolina game, and to rest for what could be another long night.

"With the right mental approach, you can do anything," Leggett said. "I think our kids are ready to battle our way back into this tournament."