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Clemson beats Ga. Tech easily

ST. PETERSBURG -- Clemson had little reason to feel good about itself heading into Wednesday's game against Georgia Tech in the opening round of the Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament. The Tigers just lost a weekend series to Florida State that knocked them from the top spot in the conference to a No. 4 seed. They also lost two of three to the Yellow Jackets earlier in the season.

Clemson feels much better today.

The Tigers had a surprisingly easy time against No. 5 seed Georgia Tech, pounding out 11 hits in a 10-0 rout at Florida Power Park. It's the first time the Yellow Jackets have been shut out this season.

Clemson (45-12) plays Florida State at 5 tonight in a winners-bracket game. Georgia Tech (44-13) plays Duke at 10 a.m. in an elimination game.

"I like the way we played today," Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. "We made some big pitches in big situations and we got some key hits."

The big pitches came from right-hander Steve Reba, who scattered seven hits over eight innings to improve to 12-2. The big hits came from the usual suspects. Khalil Greene, hitting .476, was 2-for-3, including a two-run home run in the fifth.

Michael Johnson, Clemson's second-leading hitter, was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Two of his RBIs came on an eighth-inning double that put the Tigers up 10-0.

Former Tampa Catholic player Roberto Valiente also came up with a big hit for Clemson in the second. With two outs and two on, Valiente delivered a two-run single up the middle to make it 4-0. Georgia Tech pitcher Chris Goodman, a late replacement for Kyle Bakker, who had stiffness in his back, lasted six innings and allowed eight hits and four earned runs. He was not helped by his defense, which dropped three fly balls.

"This was one of our worst games," Georgia Tech coach Danny Hall said. "I don't think Goodman pitched that poorly. We just needed to catch a few fly balls for him and score a few runs."

In another opening-round game, No. 2 Wake Forest had no problem scoring in a 12-4 win over No. 7 North Carolina State. The Demon Deacons (43-9-1) had 17 hits in the 3-hour, 20-minute game.

"Longest game ever," said Wake Forest's Jamie D'Antona, who was 2-for-3, including a three-run homer, his 17th.

The teams combined for 31 hits. Wake Forest starter Kyle Sleeth, who improved to 13-0, lasted five innings after tearing the fingernail on his right index finger.

Wake's Ryan Johnson was 4-for-6, including a home run and five RBIs. Brian Wright led the Wolfpack (32-25) with four hits and a run.

"It was a good game for the first two innings," Wake Forest coach George Greer said. "Then we couldn't throw strikes. There were a lot of three-ball counts, hitter's counts. We used some good defense to stop the bleeding."

"Hopefully this was as bad as we can play, and for the sake of baseball the worst any team can play," North Carolina State coach Elliott Avent said.

In the final game of the night, No. 3 North Carolina outlasted No. 6 Virginia 11-10. The Tar Heels (40-17) scored six in the first, highlighted by a leadoff home run from Adam Greenberg and a two-run shot by Jeremy Cleveland. UNC led 8-0 after three innings, but Virginia (25-31) stormed back with 10 unanswered runs.

North Carolina took the lead for good in the seventh when Sean Farrell drew a bases-loaded walk and Chris Maples followed with a single that drove in two.

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