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Associated Press

Wilson Boyd (12) had a three-run home run Sunday in lifting Clemson to a 16-6 victory over Georgia Tech Sunday in Atlanta. The Tigers are currently eighth in the ACC standings.

ATLANTA — The Clemson baseball team will load up the buses Wednesday afternoon headed for Orlando, Fla., and though the Tigers are headed south to play Central Florida University in a weekend series, they hope they will get the opportunity to stop by Jacksonville and play some more baseball on the way home.

Though Clemson defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 16-6, Sunday at Atlanta’s Chandler Stadium, it will still need a little bit more help to get in the ACC Tournament, which will begin May 21 at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The Tigers will need Duke, who was swept by Wake Forest over the weekend, to lose at least one game at Virginia Tech this coming weekend to qualify for the tournament.

“We did what we had to do today, but I wish we would have done a little better job yesterday and the day before,” Clemson baseball coach Jack Leggett said. “I hope something can happen, I guess, so we can get our foot in the door.”

Clemson (26-25-1, 11-18-1 ACC) find themselves in this position after the controversy from an April 22 tie to the Blue Devils in which the game was called after a lengthy lightning and rain-delay following a Kyle Parker two-run bomb which put Clemson up two in the top of the 11th inning. The delay occurred just seconds after Parker crossed home plate due to lightning.

It eventually ended as a tie after Duke failed to cover the field in time causing the playing surface to be unplayable. Clemson currently leads the Blue Devils by a game-and-half for the eighth and final ACC tournament spot.

“I just hope that half game doesn’t hurt us, you know,” Leggett said. “It is one of those things that you hope you can take care of it and get the opportunity to go to Jacksonville, so we will see what happens.”

The Tigers had an opportunity to control their own destiny before losing Friday’s and Saturday’s games to Georgia Tech (36-15, 14-13).

“We had control of it and then we let it slip out of our hands,” Leggett said. “Now we have to kind of wait on something else. There is nothing else we can do, but we did what we could do today which at least gives us an opportunity and we will see where it takes us.”

Clemson gave itself that opportunity with a 20-hit performance Sunday. In all eight of the nine starters in the Tigers’ lineup recorded multiple hits, including five from left fielder Jeff Schaus, who also drove in 4 RBIs.

“We sure could have had this a couple of days ago,” Schaus said.

From the start, it appeared the Tigers were playing with a purpose. They scored at least one run in five of the first six innings and then finished things off with a six-run ninth inning. Clemson’s 20 hits marked a season-high, while the 16 runs matched the season-high.

“Hopefully this is a breakout game,” Schaus said. “We hope we can carry this momentum into Tuesday, next weekend and hopefully we will get a shot in the ACC Tournament.”

Besides Schaus, the Tigers also got 4 RBIs from Wilson Boyd, who had a three-run home run to center field in the sixth inning which gave Clemson a 10-1 lead at the time. Mike Freeman, Ben Paulsen, John Hinson, Matt Sanders, Stan Widmann, Parker and Doug Hogan all had at least two hits.

The Tigers also had 7 extra base hits.

“We came out here ready to play today. We knew it was a must win game and I felt everybody bore down,” Hogan said.

No one bore down as much as starting pitcher Trey Delk, who was credited with the win after going 5.2 innings, allowing just two runs off three hits.

“We needed a win,” Delk said. “I was just going out there trying to keep things down with this wind blowing straight out. I was just trying to get outs and give our team a chance to get the bats going.”

Now Delk has given his team a chance to make the postseason.

“Trey Delk stepped up for us big time in a huge way for us,” Hogan said. “He came out there and competed on the mound.”

The Tigers host the College of Charleston in their final home game of the season Tuesday night at 7:15.