Here is your ACC Recap for April 12th.
#20 Florida State 9 #2 UNC 8
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – For the second time this weekend, 25th-ranked Florida State (21-11, 9-7 ACC) came from behind in the ninth to defeat second-ranked North Carolina (27-9, 10-7 ACC). On Sunday, the late inning heroics belonged to Jason Stidham as the sophomore second baseman registered a walk-off, two-run single to lift the Seminoles to the 9-8 victory over the Tar Heels.
FSU once again showed tremendous resiliency late in a ball game erasing a five-run deficit on Sunday scoring four in the eighth and two in the ninth to capture their third conference series of the season. It marked the fourth walk-off victory for the Seminoles this year and second of the weekend as a sac-fly by Rafael Lopez gave FSU the victory on Friday.
#22 Clemson 9 #5 Miami (FL) 6
Clemson, SC – Senior third-baseman Matt Sanders went 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs to lead #20 Clemson to a 9-6 victory over #5 Miami (FL) in front of 4,696 fans at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers, who won the series 2-1, improved to 23-12 overall and 11-7 in the ACC. The Hurricanes fell to 25-10 overall and 11-7 in ACC play. With Boston College’s loss at Wake Forest on Sunday, the Tigers moved into first place in the ACC Atlantic Division standings ahead of the second-place Eagles (9-7) and Florida State (9-7).
Sanders, the #9 batter in the lineup, got the Tigers going early when he hit a three-run homer in the second inning to give Clemson the lead for good. He later added two hits, including a run-scoring single in the fifth inning.
Tiger reliever Graham Stoneburner (4-3) earned the win, as he allowed one run on three hits in 1.1 innings pitched. Tomas Cruz pitched 2.0 scoreless innings in relief with two strikeouts to record his third save of the year. Miami starter Iden Nazario (4-1) suffered his first career loss, as he yielded six runs on six hits in 2.2 innings pitched.
Clemson Recap
Miami (FL) Recap
#18 Virginia 4 #8 Georgia Tech 4 (9 innings/Curfew)
ATLANTA – Franco Valdes (Jr., Miami, Fla.) hit the game-tying single in the top of the ninth inning as the No. 11 Virginia baseball team finished in a 4-4 tie with No. 8 Georgia Tech Sunday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium. The game was called after nine innings because of ACC travel policy.
The tie is Virginia’s first since a 14-14 deadlock with Old Dominion on Feb. 16, 2000. It was Georgia Tech’s first tie since March 27, 1985.
It was a fitting end to a close series. All three contests were decided in the ninth inning. In the first game Saturday, Georgia Tech scored a run to break a 6-6 tie and win 7-6. In the second game, UVa rallied from a 10-5 ninth-inning deficit to score six times and pull out an 11-10 win.
Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) had three hits and an RBI for Virginia, who finished with 10 hits. Three of Virginia’s four runs came on two-out hits.
Virginia Recap
Georgia Tech Recap
Wake Forest 5 Boston College 3
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest broke a 2-2 tie with three runs in the bottom of the eighth as the Demon Deacons defeated Boston College 5-3 to claim the final game of the three-game series on a beautiful Easter Sunday afternoon at Wake Forest Baseball Park.
Wake Forest moves to 19-15 on the season and 6-12 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, while Boston College drops to 22-12 and 9-7 in league play.
With the game tied at two in the bottom of the eighth, the Demon Deacons put together a three-run game-winning rally. Shane Kroker led off the inning with his third hit of the game, a single to right-center field. Hood moved Kroker to second with a sacrifice bunt. Mike Murray walked to put runners at first and second with one out. Weldon Woodall singled to center field to score Kroker and give the Deacs a 3-2 lead. Tyler Smith drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases. Evan Ocheltree hit a ground ball to short, which was booted by the shortstop, allowing Ryan Semeniuk, who pinch ran for Murray and Micah Jarrett, who pinch ran for Woodall, to score to stretch the lead to 5-2.
Wake Forest Recap
Boston College Recap
Duke 8 NC State 7
DURHAM, N.C. – Seniors Matt Williams and Nate Freiman drove in the tying and game-winning runs with consecutive two-out singles in the bottom of the 10th inning to lead Duke to an 8-7, series-clinching victory over NC State Sunday afternoon at Jack Coombs Field.
Both Williams and Freiman came through with Duke (24-13, 9-9 ACC) trailing 7-6 and down to its last out in the bottom of the 10th inning. Williams battled to a full count before roping an RBI single up the middle to tie the game before Freiman completed a 12-pitch at bat with an RBI knock to the left side of the infield. Freiman fell behind 0-2 in the count, but fouled off five two-strike pitches, including four straight at one point, before pulling a ground ball that NC State shortstop Dallas Poulk backhanded in the hole, but could not get to first base in time for what would have been the final out of the inning.
The two clutch singles were part of a three-run inning for Duke that started with a pinch-hit double from senior Tim Sherlock and continued with an RBI single by junior Gabriel Saade, who also homered in the game for the second time in the series. The three-run inning also capped a late comeback effort in which Duke overcame a 5-0 deficit by scoring two runs in the fifth, one in the sixth and two more in the seventh inning. Duke got both runs in the seventh on a two-out, game-tying single by shortstop Jake Lemmerman, who went 4-for-10 in the series with four RBI.
Virginia Tech 5 Maryland 0
COLLEGE PARK, Md – The Virginia Tech baseball team broke out the brooms for the first time as an ACC member on Sunday afternoon at Shipley Field, beating Maryland 5-0 to complete its first three-game conference series sweep since joining the league prior to the 2005 season.
Now 21-12 overall and 7-10 in league play, the Hokies are riding an ACC-best five-game winning streak, and have matched their highest conference win total since joining the ACC. They also won seven league games in 2005 and 2007, and Tech still has four ACC series to play this year. Maryland fell to 15-20 overall and 4-13 in league play with the loss.
The Tech pitching staff was once again excellent, having recorded its second shutout over the past two weeks. Starter Mathew Price went six innings to earn his third win of the year, allowing just three hits and four walks, while striking out six. Relievers Jesse Hahn and Ben Rowen tag-teamed the final three innings, serving up just one hit each. Rowen earned his second save of the series after tossing the final 2.2 frames, including a huge, inning-ending, bases-loaded double play in the bottom of the seventh. The Hokie bullpen combined to throw seven shutout innings in the series, recording saves in each contest.
