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Associated Press

Clemson coach Jack Leggett, right, with Mary Louise Pawlowski, second from right, presents a check to College of Charleston coach John Pawlowski, center, and his family Christine, left, Sarah, second from left, and Jenny, center, on Tuesday in Clemson.

CLEMSON — Though she didn’t have enough strength to throw Tuesday’s ceremonial first pitch to Clemson coach Jack Leggett, Mary-Louise Pawlowski did have enough energy just to be present prior to Clemson’s 12-6 victory over the College of Charleston.

The daughter of College of Charleston head coach John Pawlowski, 13-year-old Mary-Louise is just two weeks removed from having a cancerous tumor taken from her chest. She joined her dad at Doug Kingsmore Stadium with her mom and her two sisters as Clemson presented her foundation with a check for $15,000.

The donation will help pay for Mary-Louise’s surgeries as well help fund research to fight cancers.

“Mary-Louise is the toughest girl I know,” Clemson coach Jack Leggett said.

Clemson’s baseball program raised the money through the many denotations and generosity of Tiger fans.

“When I committed to Clemson as a player back in 1982, Coach (Bill) Wilhelm said, ‘Your commitment to Clemson just isn’t for four years, but a lifetime,’” John Pawlowski said. “Tonight is a perfect example of that.”

The Cougars head coach threw the first pitch out for his daughter, a perfect strike down the middle of the plate. Pawlowski played for Wilhelm from 1983-85 and then was Leggett’s pitching coach at Clemson from 1994-1998.

“All the cards, the e-mails and phone calls you have sent Mary-Louise has really helped,” Pawlowski told the crowd. “You don’t know how much that means to her, to me and to the rest of our family.”

In honor of Mary-Louise both teams warmed up in purple t-shirts with the words Paws for a cure. Mary-Louise’s favorite color is purple. Clemson fans raised an extra $1,600 during the game for Mary-Louise’s foundation.

“We are deeply in love with you and your family,” Leggett told Mary-Louise. “We are with you and we are with you all the way to the end of this. You have your whole future ahead of you.”

Leggett’s baseball team also had its future ahead of them and when all the festivities were over, they had to concentrate on beating Pawlowski’s team. With the Tigers’ chances of making the ACC Tournament still up in the air, they desperately needed Tuesday’s win to keep their NCAA Regional hopes alive. Clemson has qualified for 21 straight NCAA Tournaments.

“We swung the bats well again, against a good team,” Leggett said.

The Tigers finished the game with 10 hits and got two home runs from Stan Widmann and one from Jeff Schaus. Mike Freeman and Matt Sanders also had two hits for Clemson.

The Tigers have now totaled 28 runs and 30 hits in the last two games.

“It feels good to swing the bats a little bit,” Leggett said.

The Tigers (27-25-1) took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Jeff Schaus took a Clay Caulfield’s pitch to left field that clear the fence for a two-run homer. It was Schaus’ first home run of his career.

In the second inning, Clemson sent 12 batters to plate and put seven more runs on the board, highlighted by Stan Widmann’s first home run of the season. The junior shortstop took Danny Meszaros' first pitch in relief to deep left for a three-run home run.

Widmann later hit a second home run, this time a two-run shot to left, which gave Clemson a 12-2 lead through seven innings. The two home runs in one game was a first for the junior, while his 5 RBIs were a career-high for a single game.

“I just happened to see it and hit (the ball) hard tonight,” Widmann said. “I was making good contact.”

Clemson used seven pitchers in the win with Casey Harman, who pitched two scoreless innings, being credited with the win.

With one must-win under their belts, the Tigers will now turn their attention to Central Florida, who they will visit Thursday in Orlando, Fla., for the first of a three-game series.

“All we can do as a team is still hope,” Widmann said. “We are going to go down there and play these three games and when we are through with them, we will prepare to play more games this season.”