Richie Shaffer went 4-4 in the loss (file photo)

From Clemson SID:

Wake Forest totaled all five of its runs and all six of its hits in the third and fourth innings and held on for a 5-2 victory over Clemson in front of 648 fans at Wake Forest Baseball Park on Thursday night. The Demon Deacons, who took a 1-0 series lead, improved to 30-22 overall and 11-17 in the ACC. The Tigers fell to 32-22 overall and 16-12 in ACC play.

The Demon Deacons hit five singles in the third inning to score three runs, then a two-out double by Pat Blair plated another run in the fourth inning, while Blair also came around to score on the play thanks to a Tiger error. Richie Shaffer laced a two-out, two-run double in the eighth inning, but it was not enough for Clemson, who outhit Wake Forest 7-6.

Tim Cooney (6-6) pitched 7.2 strong innings to earn the win. He gave up seven hits, two runs, and one walk with four strikeouts. Michael Dimock retired all four batters he faced to record his 12th save of the season.

Clemson starter Dominic Leone (6-4) suffered the loss, as he surrendered six hits, five runs (four earned), and three walks with five strikeouts.

The Demon Deacons used five singles to score the game’s first three runs in the third inning. Brett Armour led off with a line-drive single to left field and Evan Stephens reached on a bunt single. After Blair was unable to get a bunt down to move the runners up a base, he lined a 2-2 pitch down the right-field line for a single to score Armour. Two batters later, Mac Williamson grounded a single through the left side to score Stephens, then Carlos Lopez grounded another single through the left side to plate Blair.

In the fourth inning, Armour reached on a one-out walk. Two batters later, Blair ripped a two-out double to right-center to score Armour. Blair also scored on the play when Jon McGibbon’s throw to third base was errant. Blair had stopped between second and third when McGibbon threw to third base.

The Tigers looked to mount a rally in the sixth inning when Jason Stolz led off with a bloop single to left field. Steve Wilkerson followed with a hard-hit ball headed up the middle, but Cooney snagged the liner out of the air and started a double play.

In the seventh inning, Shaffer led off with a single through the left side, then Phil Pohl blooped a single to left field. Two batters later with one out, McGibbon ripped a grounder headed for right field, but second-baseman Conor Keniry made a diving stop and threw to second to retire Pohl. Spencer Kieboom then popped up to end the inning.

Stolz was hit-by-pitch with one out in the eighth inning, then Wilkerson lined a single to center to extend his hitting streak to 15 games. After Thomas Brittle grounded out to second, Shaffer lined a two-out double to left field to score Stolz and Wilkerson.

Blair went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs, two runs, a walk, and steal to lead the Demon Deacons. Armour added a single and two runs.

Shaffer went 4-for-4 and established a career high for hits. He also tallied two doubles and both of Clemson’s RBIs.

Clemson and Wake Forest will play game-two of the three-game series on Friday at 6:00 PM

BOX SCORE

Thornwell (with ball) is headed to Oak Hill

The state’s top basketball prospect in the 2013 class, 6-5 Sindarius Thornwell of Lancaster, confirmed via Twitter Wednesday night he will play his senior season at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. “I will be going to Oak Hill Academy next year,” Thornwell wrote. “Even though I’m leaving, please don’t forget that South Carolina is my state.” Thornwell averaged over 26 points per game last season. His offer list includes USC, Clemson, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Florida State, NC State, Wake Forest, Boston College, Ohio State, Memphis, Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio State and Cincinnati.

7-1 Jordan Dickerson of Brooklyn said Wednesday night Providence is his current favorite. “They seem most interested,” Dickerson said. “I like how they play. That’s where I’m sort of leaning, but I’m not saying that’s my final (decision).” Dickerson, who attends IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL, is going to New York this weekend for a tournament and said he will visit Providence next week. He’s not scheduled any other visits but said he’s considering taking one to South Carolina. “I spoke with Coach (Frank) Martin last week,” Dickerson said. “He’s telling me he still had a spot open for me.” Dickerson also has offers from Auburn, Dayton, DePaul and VCU. He’d like to make his decision before June.

Football News:

One of the hottest names in the country in recruiting right now is DL Scott Pagano (6-4 268) of Honolulu. He has offers from across the country including Clemson and USC. And the Tigers and Gamecocks have a legitimate shot with him primarily due to the fact that most of his family lives in the Greenville area. Several of his family members went to Clemson. “It would feel just like family if I were to choose to go there,” Pagano said. Pagano last visited the state when he was eight but he plans to make a return trip. Clemson is a definite for one of his official visits in the fall along with Nebraska, Baylor and LSU. And he said USC is among his top ten schools right now. Both schools are working him hard. Pagano said he talks with Clemson’s Dan Brooks, Chad Morris and Brent Venables, and he’s been in touch with Steve Spurrier Jr. and Shawn Elliott from USC. He has seen recruiters from Oregon, Nebraska, Baylor, Southern Cal, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon State, Utah, Washington and Colorado come thru his school. Notre Dame is coming Friday and Kansas next week. This summer he plans to take a West Coast trip to see Arizona, Arizona State, the California schools, Washington, Oregon and Oregon State. And there is a leader for Pagano right now. “I have a favorite but I don’t want to put it out right now,” he said. He’ll make his decision after taking his official visits. And just to make the rest of us jealous, Pagano has this take on living in Hawaii: “It’s paradise, always sunny and beaches everywhere.”

A source said Wednesday night former Florida State LB Jeff Luc (6-1 242) plans to take an official visit to USC as he goes thru the process of deciding on a new school. Luc was given his release by Florida State in April. He has drawn interest from USC, Kansas State, Cincinnati and Tennessee State. Luc signed with FSU in 2010 and was regarded by the analysts as the top linebacker prospect in the country. He played in 19 games and had 23 tackles in his two seasons with the Seminoles. If Luc were to transfer to USC, he would have to sit out this season and would have two years to play two.

DB Cameron Sutton of Jonesboro, GA adds several offers to his ever-growing list. “I can’t tell you how many I have to be honest,” said Sutton. With offers from USC, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Kentucky and Missouri already, Sutton has picked up offers from Arkansas, Purdue, North Carolina, NC State, Illinois and Pitt among others. He continues to hear from Georgia, Florida, Ohio State, Auburn, Miami and Wisconsin. Sutton traveled to Columbia in late March for his first visit to USC. “It went really well,” he said. “I got to see them practice and tour a lot of the campus. I like everything about them from their head coach to their players. It’s a nice atmosphere.” He plans a return trip and will camp at USC this summer. “I’ll go to several one-day camps but I’m not sure of the other ones I’ll go to,” he added. He also plans to attend the Manning Brothers camp in Louisiana as well. Sutton will narrow his list to five over the summer and plans to commit sometime during his senior campaign. He does not have a favorite.

DB Justin Williams of Port St. Lucie, FL has been leaning to South Carolina and will see Gamecock recruiter Grady Brown on Thursday. But, he’s not planning to commit. “I think I want to visit first before I commit,” Williams said. “My mind keeps changing on where I want to go. It’s a hard decision. I’m also thinking hard about Michigan State and Oregon.” Williams said he’ll now wait until after summer camps to decide. Central Florida, Florida, West Virginia, Northern Illinois, Florida State and Michigan State have been thru his school. He has offers from USC, Purdue, Cincinnati, Florida International, Massachusetts and Middle Tennessee State. Williams will camp at UMass June 17th and will go on a road trip with his coaches which will include a stop at USC.

WR Tramel Terry of Goose Creek has committed, decommited and recommitted to Georgia. Do not expect him to do so again. “I’m done,” he said simply of his recruiting process. “It’s home. It’s hard to explain but I know that’s where I’m supposed to be.” Terry continues to hear from Clemson but says that USC “took it to heart” and is no longer recruiting him. Clemson running backs coach Tony Elliott remains in contact with Terry. “Coach Elliott and I have built a pretty good relationship,” he said. “He’s like a father-figure to me. Of course he still wants me to go there (Clemson) but he understands.” Terry will not take any other unofficial visits but did say he could take a couple of official visits. Clemson and Florida are the only two schools other than Georgia he would consider. “I’m just going to focus on winning another state championship,” said Terry.

Another rain out for USC

By: Justin Stevens

South Carolina’s first game against LSU has been postponed due to rain and will be rescheduled for a double-header on Friday. Game one will start at 2:30, and game two is scheduled for 7:00. Carolina Stadium will be cleared then refilled prior to game two.

USC will start Michael Roth (5-0, 2.60 ERA) in game one and Forrest Koumas (2-2, 5.40 ERA) in the later matchup with the Tigers. LSU will give the nod to Kevin Gausman (8-1, 2.954 ERA) in game one and Aaron Nola (6-3, 3.86 ERA) in game two. Game three remains scheduled for Saturday at 1:oo p.m

Wesley Bryan shot three under par (69), tied for fifth after first round

Story from USC SID:

The South Carolina men’s golf team posted a 6-over 294 at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club on Thursday to open play at the NCAA Southwest Regional.

The Gamecocks finished the day in 10th place but are still within reach of a top-five finish, which would send them to the NCAA Championship. Carolina is eight strokes back of breaking into the top five, as St. Mary’s and Washington are tied for fourth with a score of 286 (-2).

“We still have a chance, obviously,” South Carolina head coach Bill McDonald said. “We’ve got to play well the next couple of days, but today was pretty disappointing overall. We lost a lot of shots and looked a little bit nervous early in the round. We fought back and had some chances on the last few holes to finish strong but we lost a few there. We are going to have to come out and play better tomorrow. The guys are trying to make some adjustments, and their attitudes are good. ”

Senior Wesley Bryan led the way with a 3-under 69 to move into a tie for fifth heading into the second round. He trails Texas’ Jordan Spieth by three strokes. Spieth fired a 6-under 66 to take the lead.

Bryan got off to a strong start with a birdie on hole No. 1. He then reeled off six straight pars before making birdies on his final two holes on the front side to make the turn at 3-under. Bryan moved to as low as five under on the back nine with back-to-back birdies on the 13th and 14th holes. However, he bogeyed 15 and 16 and made par on the final two holes to head into the clubhouse at 3-under.

Junior Dykes Harbin and freshman Sean Kelly each turned in a 1-over 73 to end the day in a tie for 27th. Both Harbin and Kelly made the turn at 1-under and had identical scores on the back side, as they each recorded one more birdie, three bogeys and five pars.

Freshmen Will Murphy and Caleb Sturgeon carded rounds of 79 (+7) and 80 (+8), respectively. Murphy is in a tie for 68th, while Sturgeon is in 73rd place.

Top-ranked Texas and Florida State share the lead heading into the second round after each shooting a 9-under 279 on Friday. Illinois is in third with a score of 284 (-4).

The Gamecocks will play in even tougher conditions on Friday, with winds expected to be between 20 and 30 mph. Carolina tees off at 8:50 a.m. on hole No. 10 and will be paired with IUPUI and San Diego. Live scoring will be available at golfstatresults.com.

Chad Diehl

 By: Justin Stevens

According to Facebook:

“For those wondering or those who have no clue,At rookie mini camp this past weekend I suffered another concussion. With this concussion happening so soon after the concussion I had in January at the senior bowl, it left many people concerned including family, doctors, and myself about my health and future if I were to continue playing. With that being said, after having an MRI done, along with multiple tests and a history of quite a few collisions as a fullback, the doctor and I came into agreement that it would be in my best interest for my football career to go ahead and come to an end. I know that God has a plan for everything and I love my wife and daughter way too much to risk my future with them. To all of my friends, family, and fans, I love y’all too and want to say thank y’all for all of your support over my years of playing football. God bless. ”

Diehl signed with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent, and the team released him Wednesday due to his concussion. Diehl had six carries for eight yards and seven catches for 39 yards at Clemson, where he was known as blocker and a special teams player.

Crawford Reeves leads the Tigers with one over par (73) in round one

 Story from Clemson SID:

Clemson is one of four teams tied for fourth place after the first round of the NCAA Regional  Golf Tournament at the Olde Stone Club in Bowling Green, KY.  The Tigers fired a seven over par round of 295 on the par 72 course that is 7248 yards in length.

Clemson, the fourth seed in the tournament, is tied for fourth at seven over par after 18 holes with third-seeded  Texas A&M, North Texas,  and Memphis.  ACC rival Virginia Tech is two shots back at of that group at 297, nine over par.  UCLA has a 10 shot lead with a 284 score.  Chattanooga and Colorado State are tied for second at 294.  Second-seeded Arkansas is in 10^th place at 14 over par 302.

The goal for Clemson and all 14 teams in the field is to finish in the top five by the end of the three-day, 54-hole event Saturday afternoon.  The top five move on to the NCAA National Tournament in Los Angeles, CA May 29- June 3.

Crawford Reeves was Clemson’s top golfer on Thursday with a one over par score of  73.  It was a balanced performance for the Tigers, but no one scored par or better.  Corbin Mills, Thomas Bradshaw and McCuen Elmore all had rounds of 74.  Freshman Billy Kennerly, playing in his first NCAA Tournament round, had a 75.

“We need to hit more fairways in the last two rounds,” said Clemson Head Coach Larry Penley.  “This course really is tough if you don’t find the fairway because the rough is thick.   

“But we had some good signs today.  No one had a big number (double bogey) and we had everyone in the ball game.  That is important in this tournament. 

 “We need someone to shoot under par.  It is out there. Our guys are certainly capable of going low here.  We just need to go out and do it.”

Thursday was the first time Clemson has not had a player shoot under par in the last nine team rounds.  The five Clemson golfers had 30 bogeys, 18 birdies and an eagle.

Reeves had the only eagle by a Tiger with a three on the par five 18^th hole, his ninth hole of the day.  The junior from Greenville hit a six iron, 205 yards to within three feet of the pin.  He then made the putt for his team best fifth eagle of the year.

“That shot did get my round going,” said Reeves.  “I was three over at that point, but didn’t feel like I was hitting it that poorly.  I just needed some putts to drop.”   Reeves then made a birdie on the par five second hole when he hit his third shot from 100 yards within three feet.  That got him to even par.   He made a bogey when he missed a short putt on the eighth hole, his 17^th hole of the day.

Reeves has played well at the NCAA regional over his career.  He already has two top 13 finishes in his career at the regional and is trying to become the second Tiger to record three straight top 13 finishes at the NCAA regional.   Gregg Jones had four straight in his Clemson career (2001-04).  Reeves is tied for 11^th after the first round.

Reeves had a wild round with four birdies, an eagle and seven bogeys.  He had a stretch of seven straight holes without a par on the back side, a streak that continued with his eagle on the 18^th hole, his ninth hole of the day.

Junior All-America candidate Corbin Mills fired a two over par 74.  It continued an unusual pattern for Mills, who has now failed to break par in the first round in eight of his last nine tournaments (including the Masters and the Heritage on the PGA Tour).  But, he has a 68.63 average in his final rounds as a college player this year, second best in the nation.  Mills had four bogeys and two birdies, including a three on the par four ninth hole, his final hole of the day. 

Thomas Bradshaw had a two over par 74 on  Thursday.  He had five birdies and seven bogeys.   McCuen Elmore also had a 74 thanks to four birdies and six bogeys.  He birdied three of the four par three holes and was three under par on the par five holes for the day.  It was Elmore’s first round since shooting a 67 in the US Open local qualifier last week.

All three Tigers who shot rounds of 74 are tied for 18^th in the field of 75 after the first round in the individual race.    Freshman Billy Kennerly had a three over par 75 in his first NCAA Tournament round.  It was the first  time this spring that Kennerly’s round did not count towards Clemson’s team score.

Clemson was the only team in the field to have all five of its players shoot 75 or better.The Tigers will continue play in this tournament Friday morning.  Results are available on golfstat.com

Antonio Allen

By: Justin Stevens

Antonio Allen, former safety and linebacker at USC, signed a four-year deal with the New York Jets today. The figures of his contract have not been disclosed as of yet, but Allen has received a signing bonus of $45,896 according to Nj.com. Allen’s defensive teammate at USC, Stephon Gilmore, signed a four-year deal today as well.

Allen appeared in over 40 games for the Gamecocks and was selected as a second-team AP All-American in 2011. In his four seasons at USC, Allen recorded 191 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, three sacks, six forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and four interceptions. Allen was the only player from the SEC to be top-10 in the league in tackles, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries, and interceptions.

Stephon Gilmore

By: Justin Stevens

Stephon Gilmore, former USC cornerback, signed a 4-year contract worth around $12 million with the Buffalo Bills today. Gilmore was selected in the first round and tenth overall by the Bills in the 2012 NFL Draft. In four practices during the Bills’ minicamp, Gilmore has recorded several pass break ups, one interception, and has made a good impression on Buffalo head coach, Chan Gailey. Chris Brown from Buffalobills.com spoke with Gilmore shortly after he signed.

AUDIO: Stephon Gilmore [1:32]

Gilmore played three seasons with the Gamecocks recording 176 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, seven sacks, and eight interceptions. Gilmore was a first-team All-SEC selection and third-team AP All-American following the 2010 season. In his final game at USC against Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl, Gilmore recorded an interception and returned a block PAT for two-point defensive conversion.

The ACC Championship game in Charlotte will kick off at 7:45 or 8:00 on either ESPN or ABC

You know that it is never too early to start planning out what games you are going to watch this football season.  The ACC is doing its part to help that process by releasing a the kick times for the early season televised games and by letting us know the ACC Championship game will be a night game again this year. Thanks, John Swofford.  Now you might want to take that call from the Florida State Chancellor.

One newsy item from our local standpoint: the Clemson-Furman game on September 15th will kick off at 3:00 and be televised by RSN.

For the rest, please read the ACC release below.

A prime time kickoff for the Eighth Annual Atlantic Coast Conference Football Championship Game, three national exposures on the opening weekend of the 2012 season, and a minimum of 13 nationally televised exposures (ABC, NBC, ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU) highlights the early season TV and Game Time schedule announced Thursday by the Atlantic Coast Conference.

 Included in the release are game times and TV networks for all home games for the league in its first three weeks of the season, as well as for all of its 2012 Thursday night games on ESPN and all national television games confirmed to date.

The 2012 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game, which will be played on December 1 in Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., will be nationally televised by either ABC, with an 8 p.m. kickoff, or ESPN at 7:45 p.m. It will be the fourth straight prime time exposure for the ACC title game which drew a sellout crowd of 73,675 fans last year and has averaged 73,027 fans in its two years in Charlotte.

A pair of ACC teams will be playing in the two Chick-fil-A Kickoff Games this year that will be played on back-to-back days in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. NC State faces Tennessee on Friday, Aug.31, in a 7:30 p.m. game which will be nationally televised by ESPNU. Clemson, the ACC’s 2011 champion, will then face Auburn on Saturday, Sept. 1, in a 7 p.m. contest that will be nationally televised by ESPN.

The Chick-fil-A sponsored games are the first of three nationally televised games on the opening weekend of the season as Georgia Tech will travel to Blacksburg, Va., to meet Coastal Division rival Virginia Tech in the ACC’s annual Labor Day Monday night football game, which will be telecast by ESPN with an 8 p.m. kickoff.

Monday’s game marks the eighth time ACC teams have met in the prime national television slot on Labor Day. It is the first appearance by Georgia Tech and the second by Virginia Tech, which faced Boise State on Labor Day Monday in 2010. The rivalry between the Hokies and Yellow Jackets has become pivotal to the ACC Football Coastal Division race, as in each of the past seven years the winner of the Virginia Tech-Georgia Tech contest has won the Coastal Division title and advanced to the ACC Football Championship Game. 

The ACC will again have two syndicated packages produced by the ACC Network this fall. The ACC Network will produce a game of the week which will be seen across the nation on a network of stations which last year included six of the top 10 markets in the nation—including Los Angeles (2), Philadelphia (4), San Francisco (6), Boston (7), Washington (8) and Atlanta (9)—11 of the nation’s top 20 markets and 50 of the nation’s top 100, while averaging 75 markets each week. In addition, ACC Network games are also available digitally on ESPN 3 and on the ACC App for I-Phones, I-Pads and Droid mobile devices.

The ACC Network package will debut with North Carolina hosting Elon on Sept. 1. The ACC Network will also air Ball State at Clemson on Sept. 8 and Connecticut at Maryland on Sept. 15. All the games of the ACC Network this year will feature 12:30 p.m. kickoffs. The Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) throughout the ACC footprint—Fox Sports Florida or Sun Sports, Fox Sports South, Fox Sports Carolinas, Comcast Sports Mid Atlantic and the New England Sports Network (NESN)—will again air a syndicated package of 14 games which will begin with Virginia hosting Richmond on Sept. 1, and continue on Sept. 8 with North Carolina at Wake Forest and on Sept. 15 with Furman at Clemson. All three games will have a 3 p.m. kickoff. All RSN Games are also available on a series of other RSNs outside of the ACC footprint and also digitally on ESPN3.

The schedule features a minimum of 13 televised games in the first three weeks of the season, and that total will rise as several of the league’s seven away non-conference games during this period are likely to be televised as well. The game times and networks for those seven games, which are controlled by their host conferences, are expected to be announced later this year in June.

ESPN will air four consecutive Thursday night games during the season featuring ACC teams, all with 7:30 p.m. kickoffs, beginning with Clemson at Wake Forest (Oct. 25), and including Virginia Tech at Miami (Nov. 1), Florida State at Virginia Tech (Nov. and North Carolina at Virginia (Nov. 15).

Finally, 11 ACC games will be available exclusively over ESPN’s web-streaming platform of ESPN3 which is now available in more than 73 million homes, making telecasts of all of the Conference’s home games in the first three weeks of the season available to national audiences

Phillip Price

Former Clemson offensive tackle Phillip Price was involved in a car crash Wednesday afternoon in Dillon County in which the driver of the other car was killed.  Price suffered a broken leg in four places.

According to reports, Price was driving on Highway 9 when he made a turn in front of the on-coming car.  The accident occurred at 1:43 PM. 

No charges have been filed.

Price recently was invited to a  mini-camp with the Detroit Lions.