April 28, 2012
ATLANTA – Clemson broke open a 2-2 game with four runs in the fourth, tacked on four more in the fifth and evened its ACC series versus Georgia Tech with a 13-7 win Saturday at Russ Chandler Stadium. Kyle Wren had three hits and Tech’s first inside-the-park home run since 2005.
The Yellow Jackets slipped to 26-18 overall and 10-13 in the ACC with the loss that snapped their three-game winning streak. The Tigers improved to 25-19, 13-10. The rubber game of the series is set for Sunday at 1 p.m., which is live on ESPN3.
On a warm afternoon with the wind blowing out, Russ Chandler Stadium became a launching pad as the teams combined for five home runs, after hitting five combined in Friday night’s series opener — a 6-5 Tech win on Daniel Palka’s 13th-inning walk off home run. Ten of the Jackets’ 33 home runs this season have come in the last five games.
Wren, Brandon Thomas, Palka and Paul Kronenfeld all had multi-hit efforts for the Yellow Jackets, who pounded out 12 hits in the contest. In addition to Wren’s inside-the-park homer which came on the first pitch of the game, Palka blasted a solo shot in the second to give Tech a 2-1 lead and Thomas smashed a three-run bomb that pulled the hosts within 10-6 in the fifth inning.
Mott Hyde drove in his fourth run of the series with a sacrifice fly to score Thomas Smith in the sixth, but Tech would get no closer as Clemson distanced itself with three runs over the final three innings.
Spencer Kieboom had three hits and five RBI thanks to his fourth-inning grand slam and an RBI double in the fifth. Brad Felder and Phil Pohl also had three-hit efforts, and Pohl had Clemson’s other home run – a second-inning solo shot.
Tech starter Dusty Isaacs was dealt the loss (5-3), while Clemson reliever Mike Kent pitched the final five innings of four-hit, one-run ball to pick up his first win (1-1).
Wren’s inside-the-park home run that he ripped down the right-field line was the first by a Jacket since March 11, 2005 when Tyler Greene cleared the bases with an inside-the-park grand slam in a 15-5 win over Wake Forest at Russ Chandler Stadium.
