Clemson (42-12, 21-8) clinched the ACC Atlantic Division championship and stayed in contention for the overall top seed at the ACC Tournament with a 4-1 victory over Pittsburgh (27-24, 11-17) Friday.
Control problems by Panthers starter Dan Hammer contributed to a three-run first inning for the Tigers. Between a pair of Clemson singles Hammer hit two batters and walked another.
Beer's 18th homer of the season completed the Clemson scoring. The Tigers were limited to five hits.
Brooks Crawford (8-2) struck out six in 5.1 innings to get the win.
Clemson and UNC are tied for the best ACC record entering Saturday's final day of the regular season.
Elsewhere:
* South Carolina (31-22, 16-13) kept alive its hopes for a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament and - history suggests - may have nailed down an NCAA Tournament bid with a 5-3 win at Texas A&M (36-18, 13-16) to even their series.
Justin Row and Hunter Taylor had two hits apiece for the Gamecocks, who fell behind the Aggies 3-0 for the second straight game. USC starter Adam Hill labored - throwing 109 pitches in five innings - but left with the lead thanks to a run in the fourth and three in the fifth.
Graham Lawson allowed one hit and three walks while striking out three over the final four innings to get his first save.
South Carolina can earn a first-round bye in Hoover if wins Saturday and Mississippi (41-14, 17-12) loses at Alabama. The teams would finish tied for fourth, with Carolina holding the head-to-head tiebreaker. USC will finish no lower than fifth.
Under the current NCAA setup, every SEC team with 16 conference wins has received a tournament bid.
* College of Charleston (35-17, 15-8) moved remained tied with Elon for second place in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 6-5 victory over UNC Wilmington (33-20, 14-9) to even the series. The Seahawks scored two runs in the first before Charleston built a 5-2 lead. After UNCW tied the score, Clay Hunt's eighth-inning sacrifice fly gave the Cougars the winning run. Nathan Ocker got the final two outs to get his 10th save.
* Wofford (34-21, 14-9) was a 4-2 loser to East Tennessee State (27-22, 11-12), locking the Terriers into the No. 3 seed at the Southern Conference Tournament in Greenville next week. McClain Bradley and Brett Rodriguez had two hits apiece and Austin Higginbotham struck out eight batters in seven inning.
* Charleston Southern (18-33, 9-17) stayed in contention for a berth in the Big South Conference Tournament with a 4-1 win over UNC Asheville (15-38, 8-18). Tyler Weekley struck out eight in seven innings. Josh Litchfield and Mike Sconzo had two hits each for the Buccaneers.
* Liberty (28-24, 16-10, moved into sole possession of third place in the Big South Conference with an 11-2 win at Winthrop (24-28, 15-11) to even their series. The Flames scored four runs in the second, two in the third and three in the fourth to take charge. Cale Gibson had a double and two singles for the Eagles.
Water, Water, everywhere
* Furman's Southern Conference home game was UNC Greensboro was rained out for a second straight day. The teams will try to play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m.
* The Citadel's Southern Conference series finale at Mercer was postponed until Saturday. The teams had moved the originally scheduled Saturday game to part of a Thursday doubleheader because of rain.
* Presbyterian and High Point also were rained out. They'll try to play two Big South Conference games Saturday in the North Carolina Triad. PC is fighting to qualify for the league tournament.
* The scheduled middle game of USC Upstate's Atlantic Sun Conference series at Stetson was rained out. The teams opted to not play a doubleheader on Saturday.
* Coastal Carolina's weather-delayed start to its series at Appalachian State was suspended in the middle of the sixth inning with the Chanticleers ahead, 7-4. It was supposed to be part of a Friday doubleheader. Now, the suspended game is scheduled to resume Saturday with one game to follow.
NCAA Division II Southeast Regional
* Top-seeded North Greenville (44-9) dropped its tournament opener, 4-3, to Columbus State (42-12) in Tigerville. The Cougars scored two runs in the first and two in the second against Tucker Burgess. Andrew Plunkett halved the deficit with a second-inning home run and Utah Jones drove in the final run in the seventh. Perez Knowles threw a 153-pitch complete game for CSU. The Crusaders play second-seeded Georgia College in an elimination game at 11 a.m. Saturday.
* In Friday's other games, Georgia College eliminated Wingate, 13-3, and Belmont Abbey beat Lincoln Memorial, 15-3, that did not end until 1:25 a.m. Saturday because of weather delays.
NJCAA Eastern District Tournament
* USC Sumter (37-23) lost a pair of games to Region 15 teams and was eliminated from the event in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. Host Monroe won the opener, 2-0, immediately sending the Fire Ants into an elimination game. ASA won that game, 6-3. Donta Green had three hits and two steals on the day.
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