May 24, 2002

Box Score | Tournament Central

St. Petersburg, Fla. - Clemson starter Tyler Lumsden went seven innings allowing three runs, two of which were earned, while striking out nine to lead the No. 4 seeded Tigers (46-13) past No. 7 NC State (33-26), 5-3 during the first game of action Friday at the 2002 ACC Baseball Championship.

With the win Lumsden improved to 3-1 on the year. Jeff Hahn pitched the final two innings in relief and picked up his second save of the season. NC State starter Daniel Caldwell (7-8) took the loss.

Clemson advances, but its next opponent will not be determined until the conclusion of Friday night's winners' bracket game between Wake Forest and Florida State. The loss eliminates NC State from the tournament and ends the Wolfpack's 2002 campaign.

NC State started the scoring in the third inning when catcher Colt Morton ripped a two-out single to center field to score Joe Gaetti from third.

Clemson answered with a run in the top of the fourth inning after center fielder Kyle Frank scored on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Michael Johnson.

In the fifth inning, Clemson picked up three more runs all with two outs to build a 4-1 lead. Two of the runs were scored when third baseman Jeff Baker singled to left field. The single was one of four hits by Baker who finished the game 4-for-5 with two RBIs.

NC State closed the gap by one run in the bottom of the inning when a single to left by designated hitter Justin Riley scored Marc Maynor.

Clemson threatened to blow open the game in the sixth with the bases loaded and one out, but Brian Ross came out of the Wolfpack bullpen to cool the threat by striking out Roberto Valiente and retiring Kyle Frank to end the inning.

In the bottom half of the sixth, NC State chipped one run away from the Clemson lead on a two-out double by Gaetti that plated Adam Hargrave and made the score 4-3.

Khalil Greene led off the seventh with a single to extend his hitting streak to 25 games. The hit also moved the senior into sole possession of second place on the NCAA's all-time career hit list with 380.

Greene later scored on a double by Michael Johnson. Of Clemson's 13 hits on the day, Johnson's was the only one that went for extra bases.

Greene's run proved to be unnecessary in the decision of the game as NC State ruined any potential rallies by grounding into double plays in each of the final three innings. During NC State's three tournament games, the Wolfpack grounded into 11 double plays.

The Tigers were without head coach Jack Leggett against NC State as the skipper traveled back to Clemson Friday morning to attend his son's high school graduation. Leggett left St. Petersburg at 3:45 a.m. to make the trip. Associate head coach Tim Corbin filled in for Leggett during his absence.

The game marked the 257th straight start for Greene and was his 260th career game which set a Clemson record for games played in a career.