Baseball: Clemson reaches ACC title game

Pinch-runner K.J. Bryant scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to lift No. 15 Clemson to a 5-4 win over Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament on Saturday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

The Tigers, who improved to 3-0 in the tourney and advanced to the ACC Championship Game on Sunday, won their eighth game in a row and upped their season record to 41-18. The Demon Deacons, who fell to 2-2 in the tournament, dropped to 34-25.

Mike Triller belted a run-scoring double off the wall to tie the score at 1 in the top of the fourth inning, then the Demon Deacons responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth, highlighted by Ben Breazeale’s two-run double.

Triller belted a homer — his third of the year — to lead off the seventh inning, then Chase Pinder crushed a two-run homer — his 10th long ball of the season — later in the frame to tie the score at 4.

In the ninth inning, Chris Okey lined a one-out double to advance Seth Beer to third base. Three batters later with two outs, Bryant scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch with an 0-2 count.

Pat Krall (10-1) picked up the win, as he allowed no runs on one hit and no walks in 2  1/3 innings. Patrick Andrews also tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings of two-hit ball in relief.

Parker Dunshee (9-5) suffered the loss, as he yielded one run on one hit in three innings.

The Tigers, who set a school record with their 14th one-run win of the season, will play the winner of Miami vs. Florida State in the ACC Championship Game at 10 a.m. Sunday on ESPN2.

It is Clemson’s first title game appearance since 2006, when it defeated N.C. State in Jacksonville, Fla.

Big South Conference Tournament Coastal Carolina 1, Liberty 0

Michael Paez hit a home run in the third inning and Anthony Marks threw out a runner at the plate in the fifth to lead top-seeded and 17th-ranked Coastal Carolina past Liberty for its 14th Big South Tournament Championship.

The game came down to a highlight-reel double play in the ninth. With two on and one out, Big South Tournament MVP and CCU closer Mike Morrison got Dalton Britt to hit a ground ball to first. CCU’s Tyler Chadwick threw to shortstop Paez for one out, and Morrison made a nice scoop to complete the double play and secure the championship.

Morrison was joined on the All-Tournament team by fellow Chanticleers Zach Remillard, Paez and Seth Lancaster.

The Chanticleers improved to 44-15 and, with their regular-season title, won their 30th conference title (14 regular season and 14 tournament). The next closest in the league are Winthrop and Liberty, each with seven.

Coastal has played in 19 of the 27 championship games, and either CCU or Liberty has played in 18 of the last 19 title tilts. CCU is 7-1 against Liberty in title games.

CCU freshman Jason Bilous (3-1) won his third straight start as he pitched a career-high 5  1/3 innings and struck out five while allowing no runs, two hits and no walks.

Morrison, from nearby Gilbert, worked the final 3 2/3 innings. Not only did he pick up his eighth save of the season, he also had a win in the opener and a save in the second-round game. In the tournament, Morrison allowed two hits and one walk with four strikeouts.

Liberty pitcher Jack DeGroat (4-4), who threw 122 pitches in seven innings to beat High Point in the first round, pitched a complete game and allowed just three hits and two walks with six strikeouts.

Coastal looked like it was going to get on the scoreboard in the third inning after sophomore catcher Matt Beaird just missed his first career home run with a fly ball to the center-field fence. Two batters later, Paez did leave the yard to give Coastal a 1-0 lead. The blast was his 14th of the season.

Bilous, who retired the first 12 batters he faced with five strikeouts, gave up a leadoff single to Britt in the fifth. After a sacrifice bunt advanced Britt, Payton Scarbrough singled and Britt tried to score. However, Coastal left fielder Anthony Marks threw a strike to the plate to easily get the second out of the inning. Bilous then induced an inning-ending ground ball to keep the score 1-0.

The 16 national seeds will be announced Sunday night and CCU is in the conversation to be one of those host teams. The complete NCAA Regional field will be announced at noon Monday on ESPNU.

This story was originally published May 28, 2016 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Baseball: Clemson reaches ACC title game."