There is something about playing a second game of an ACC Series at home, and for some reason Clemson just can’t get it right.

Ninth-ranked NC State pounded the Tigers, 20-9, on Saturday at Doug Kingmore Stadium, becoming the latest ACC opponent to thump Clemson at home this season. The Tigers have been outscored 62-17 in Game 2 of its last four ACC series.

The Tigers lost at home 15-5 to Pitt on April 2, lost 16-1 to Georgia Tech on April 23 and lost 11-2 to Florida State on May 1. Despite the loss the Tigers did move up in the ACC Standings after Wake Forest was swept in a doubleheader to Boston College on Saturday. Clemson is now in seventh place.

“I thought Ryley Gilliam was the right guy to go to. You look at what he did in the middle of the week, and his three starts in the middle of the week have been very, very good for us,” Clemson head coach Monte Lee said. “He struggled today and could not get out of that second inning.

“We get two outs and I believe two strikes, and I believe it was (Preston) Palmeiro, a left-handed hitter, and he gives up a base hit to extend that inning so he was just one base hit away from getting out of that inning. After that we took him out and it just snowballed on us.”

NC State’s 20 runs were the most by the ‘Pack ever against Clemson. The 15-run margin matched the Tigers’ largest home loss in ACC play and the largest at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, which Georgia Tech set on April 23.

Clemson also suffered a 20-5 loss to Maryland in 1960, but that game was played where the Hoak Sloan Tennis Center is currently located in Clemson. It was the most runs allowed by a Clemson team at home since South Carolina scored 21 on the Tigers in 2001.

“I apologize to our fans who came here today,” Lee said. “I have to make better decisions as a head coach. It is definitely on me. I have to find a way to put our team in a better position going into Game 2 after playing a really good ballgame in Game 1.”

The Wolfpack (32-13, 13-8 ACC) tallied 21 hits as eight of their nine starters in the lineup recorded at least two hits, while three had three hits. Josh McLain, Preston Palmeiro and Brett Kinneman each had three hits.

McLain drove in four runs and had two doubles, while Stephen Pitarra and Joe Dunand had three RBIs each.

NC State scored four runs in the second inning, seven in the third and nine in the fourth to take a 20-1 lead.

“It is a lot tougher than you want it to be, but when you have guys like (Garrett) Lovorn come in and do a fantastic job and keeps you in the game … if he could have come in a little earlier, who knows where we could have been,” Clemson catcher Chris Okey said. “The last half of the ballgame we would have won. All credit goes to NC State, though. They jumped ahead early. They came out early and swung the bats well. They are a very good ball club.”

Lovorn was Lee’s fifth option out of the bullpen and he finally stopped the bleeding on the mound. The redshirt junior, who graduated earlier in the day, pitched five scoreless innings in relief and gave up just two hits.

Clemson (30-16, 12-14 ACC) got a solo home run from Chris Okey in the bottom of the first inning and then scored two runs in the fourth as Seth Beer and Reed Rohlman crossed home plate.

The Tigers got two more in the seventh as Chris Williams, who had two RBIs, homered to left field and Eli White singled up the middle to score Chase Pinder, who had an infield single earlier in the inning.

Mike Triller hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. It was his first career home run. Clemson added four runs in the bottom of the ninth all together as Drew Wharton had an RBI single to go along with Triller’s two-run home run.

NC State and Clemson will play the rubber match of the three-game series on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.

“All hands on deck for tomorrow,” Okey said. “We have a chance to win a big one tomorrow. We will have to show up tomorrow, keep having fun and play as hard as we possibly can. We will just see what happens from there.”

Pat Krall will start for the Tigers. It will be his first career start on the mound. He is 7-1 this year out of the bullpen with a 0.68 ERA, which is No. 2 in the country.