PALO ALTO, Calif. (Interstat) — Nate Savoie broke out of a prolonged slump with three hits and three RBIs, and the Clemson Tigers used a six-run sixth inning to pull away for a 12-5 victory over the Stanford Cardinal in an Atlantic Coast Conference baseball game Sunday evening at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond.

The Tigers (21-12) salvaged a split of the three-game series after Stanford (14-15) won a one-run contest Saturday. The outcome defied a pregame projection from Interstat’s simulator, which had forecast a 7-3 Stanford win, though the service’s ELO system gave Clemson a 61.9% probability to win.

The most important sequence of the game came in the top of the sixth inning with Clemson holding a precarious 5-4 lead. The Tigers sent 10 batters to the plate, capitalizing on a key error to break the game open. With two on and none out, Bryce Clavon’s single to left field scored one run, and a fielding error by Stanford’s Owen MacDonald in left allowed a second run to score and Clavon to reach third. After a hit-by-pitch and a pitching change, Jack Crighton and Jacob Gaffney delivered back-to-back RBI singles. Savoie then capped the outburst with a run-scoring groundout, pushing the Clemson advantage to 11-4 and effectively sealing the game.

Savoie, who entered the game mired in an 0-for-15 skid over his previous four games, was the catalyst for Clemson’s 18-hit attack. The left fielder finished 3 for 5, including two doubles, and drove in three runs. Crighton also had three hits, including a solo home run in the fourth, and drove in two. Clavon homered and Gaffney added two hits and two RBIs.

Stanford struck first on Jimmy Tokheim’s solo homer in the first inning, his 10th of the season. The Cardinal closed to within 5-4 in the fourth on a solo shot from Eric Jeon and a sacrifice fly from Braden Hott. Jeon finished with two hits, including his seventh homer.

After Clemson’s offensive explosion in the sixth, the Tigers added a final run in the eighth on an RBI double by Savoie and a run-scoring double from Andrew Lichtenberger.

Clemson’s bullpen combination of Dylan Harrison and Danny Nelson silenced the Cardinal over the final 4 1/3 innings. Harrison earned the win with 2 1/3 innings of hitless relief, striking out two. Nelson was dominant in closing it out, striking out five of the seven batters he faced over two perfect frames. Stanford used eight pitchers in the loss, with starter Nick Dugan taking the defeat after allowing two runs on three hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Clemson travels to face Santa Clara on Monday before returning home for an ACC series against North Carolina next weekend. Stanford begins a road series at Louisville on Friday.