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Associated Press

Clemson's Jeff Schaus, right, signals for teammate Wilson Boyd to slide home after a wild pitch during a college baseball game against North Carolina on Saturday, April 12, 2008, in Clemson. The Tigers' game with Duke Sunday ended in a 6-6 tie due to weather.

DURHAM, N.C. — In 2007, a clock operator’s mistake in the final seconds of the Clemson-Duke basketball game cost the Tigers an opportunity to perhaps get a rare win against the Blue Devils in Durham, N.C.

Though wins over Duke in baseball come more frequent for Clemson, Sunday it appeared those ghost from Cameron Indoor Stadium came over to the baseball diamond to haunt the Tigers. This time, it was a mysterious text message that came seconds after Kyle Parker gave the Tigers an 8-6 lead with a two-run homer in the top of the 11th inning.

Just seconds after Parker touched the plate a Duke official emerged and called for a delay due to lightning.

The game ended in suspension about two hours later due to an unplayable infield. Because the game ended with Clemson still at-bat in the top of the 11th – Parker’s home run was wiped for the scoreboard and the game officially went down as a 6-6 tie.

According to the Duke official, he received a text message from Wichita, Kansas that said there was lightning “to the west of Chapel Hill.” The official told the umpires of this text message warning so the umpires were forced to halt play.

Duke coaches and players chose not to tarp the field during the delay though there were no lightning strikes visible in the area with rain oncoming. Thirty minutes later light rain started to fall.

As the light rain came down and Clemson players standing near home plate, Duke’s players and coaches sat motionless in their dugout, unwilling to put the tarp on the field against the urging of Clemson. The Blue Devils (27-13-1, 6-13-1 ACC) were not obligated to cover the infield since the game was under a lightning delay. The ground crew members could, but they had already left for the afternoon.

Though there was never any visible sign of lightning in the area, the delay was never lifted as heavy rain invaded the Durham area and the uncovered infield. The game was called and hour-and-half later due to unplayable field conditions.

The tie left the Tigers (19-20-1, 7-13-1) with only a half game lead over Duke in the ACC standings. Clemson is currently in 7th place holding a half-game lead on Maryland and Wake Forest as well.

The ACC only takes the top eight teams, regardless of where they might finish in their division, for the conference tournament. The ACC Tournament will be held next month in Jacksonville, Fla.

Clemson took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning after Wilson Boyd led off with a double to left-center and later scored on a bases loaded walk from Matt Sanders.

The Tigers had many other opportunities to put runs on the scoreboard through their first six innings, but they left eight runners on base, including six in scoring position due to going 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Meanwhile, Ryan Hinson took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, allowing just one base runner (on a walk) through five innings. But Duke advanced its first runner past first base in the sixth inning after Lemmerman led off with a hit-by-pitch, went to second on Ryan McCurdy's sacrifice bunt, and advanced to third on Alex Hassan's groundout to shortstop. Then with two outs, Matt Williams hit an infield single to score Lemmerman on just Duke's second at-bat with runners in scoring position. After Nate Freiman singled through the left side, the Blue Devils got their third straight two-out hit, as Jeremy Gould laced a single to center to score Williams.

The Blue Devils added to their lead in the seventh inning with two runs when Gabriel Saade got things started with a double over the third-base bag on a 1-2 pitch.

Jonathan Nicolla hit the next pitch up the middle for a single to score Saade. After Kyle Kreick's sacrifice bunt moved pinch-runner Tom Luciano into scoring position, Lemmerman hit a grounder to Widmann at shortstop, who booted the ball. After the ball went into left field, Luciano raced for home and just beat the throw from left field and Hogan's tag at the plate to give Duke a 4-1 lead.

The Tigers responded with a rally of their own in the top of the eighth inning. Hogan and Paulsen led off the frame with singles. But Epps grounded into a controversial 6-4-3 double play. Epps was called out in a close play at first base. That’s when Clemson coach Jack Leggett was ejected for arguing with first-base umpire Robert Perez.

However, Sanders came through with a single through the left side to score Hogan. It broke Clemson's streak of 20 straight hitless at-bats with runners in scoring position in the series.

But Duke added two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Hassan led off with a single through the left side and went to third base on Williams' flyball to right field that fell near the line for a double. Freiman then laced a single up the middle to score Hassan and Williams.

However, the Tigers rallied in the ninth inning. Schaus hit a one-out single and went to second on Parker's walk. Two batters later, Hogan blooped a two-out single to left to score Schaus. Paulsen then lined the next pitch over the fence in center for a three-run homer to tie the score. It was his 11th long ball of the season.

It also broke Clemson's 20-game streak of not having an inning scoring more than three runs.

In the 11th inning, Schaus led off with a line-drive single to right and Parker followed with an opposite-field, two-run homer to right field, but it did not count in the final boxscore.

The Tigers, who out hit Duke 12-9, were led by Schaus, who had three hits. Freiman had two hits and two RBIs for Duke, who was 4-for-6 with runners in scoring position in the game.

The game was Clemson's first extra-inning contest of the season. Clemson will travel to Cullowhee, N.C. to face Western Carolina on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Catamounts beat Clemson 6-2 last week.