JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) _ Ben Paulsen broke a 3-3 tie with a grand-slam home run in the seventh inning and Clemson went on to rout Georgia Tech 10-4 on Saturday in the Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament.
Paulsen's homer, his 13th of the season, broke a 0-for-16 streak at the plate in two ACC tournament appearances, and was his first career hit at Clemson with the bases loaded.
Paulsen hit the homer off relief pitcher Zach Von Tersch (7-5), who took the loss. Ryan Hinson (3-5), the second of four Clemson pitchers, got the victory for two and one-thirds innings of work.
The Tigers (31-27-1) also got a two-run homer from Jeff Schaus in the third inning, his third of the year, and a solo homer from Wilson Boyd in the sixth. Boyd's homer, his 11th of the year, tied the score at 3-3.
Clemson added three runs in the top of the ninth, highlighted by a run-scoring double by Mike Freeman.
Georgia Tech (39-19), took a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning on Thomas Nichols' two-run homer, his seventh of the year.
Although Clemson had already been eliminated from Sunday's championship game, the Tigers made a stronger case for receiving an NCAA tournament bid next week. The Tigers have played in 21 consecutive regional tournaments, the third-longest active streak in the nation behind Miami and Florida State.
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