Clemson Baseball Weekly Wrapup

May 23, 2010

Clemson University Overall Season Record: 37-19 ACC Regular-Season Record: 18-12

Last Week: 4-0 Tue. W, Home vs. Presbyterian, 8-2 Thu. W, Home vs. #7 Florida State, 9-8 Fri. W, Home vs. #7 Florida State, 8-4 Sat. W, Home vs. #7 Florida State, 8-3

Next Week Wed. Neutral* vs. N.C. State, 8:00 PM (FSS TV) Fri. Neutral* vs. Virginia Tech, 4:00 PM (FSS TV) Sat. Neutral* vs. Georgia Tech, 4:00 PM (FSS TV)

* – ACC Tournament at Greensboro, NC

Notes The #22 Clemson Tigers went 4-0 in four home games this past week, including an 8-2 win over Presbyterian on Tuesday and a three-game sweep of #7 Florida State over the weekend to capture the ACC Atlantic Division title.

Jeff Schaus both hit two-run homers to lead Clemson to an 8-2 victory over Presbyterian at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on May 18. Stolz, who was making his first career start at shortstop, lined a two-run homer in the second inning, then Schaus blasted a long two-run long ball in the seventh inning. Wilson Boyd had a game-high three hits, while Kyle Parker added a double, RBI, three runs, two walks, and a hit-by-pitch. Starter Scott Firth pitched 5.1 innings, allowing two runs and no walks with six strikeouts to earn the win.

Clemson then swept Florida State by a combined score of 25-15 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium from May 20-22. Clemson outhit the Seminoles .343 to .216 and totaled 36 hits, a .426 on-base percentage, and seven stolen bases, while the Tiger pitching staff had a 4.33 ERA. Boyd went 5-for-9 (.556) with a homer, four RBIs, three runs, and four walks, while Brad Miller went 7-for-13 (.538) with a homer, double, five RBIs, six runs, two walks, and a steal. Stolz added six hits in 12 at-bats. Alex Frederick allowed just four hits and two earned runs with seven strikeouts while recording two victories.

In game-one on May 20, Boyd’s two-out, run-scoring single capped a three-run eighth inning to give Clemson a 9-8 win over Florida State. The Seminoles scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning to take the lead, but the Tigers used six hits, including a two-out, run-scoring double by Miller to tie the score, and Boyd’s game-winning single to take the lead for good. Tomas Cruz retired both batters he faced in the ninth inning to record the save. Miller went 5-for-5 with a homer, double, three RBIs, and four runs to pace Clemson’s 17-hit attack. Boyd went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, while Parker added two doubles.

In game-two on May 21, Clemson scored six runs in the third inning en route to an 8-4 win over Florida State. The Tigers used five hits and three walks to score six runs in the third, highlighted by a two-run single by Parker and a three-run double by Scott Weismann pitched 6.1 innings and allowed just three hits and three runs to earn the win. David Haselden pitched the final 2.2 innings to close out the game. The two sophomore righthanders combined to limit the Seminoles to only five hits.

In game-three on May 22, Frederick tossed 4.2 scoreless innings in relief of one-hit ball to lead Clemson to an 8-3 win over Florida State. With the victory, the Tigers captured the ACC Atlantic Division crown. The Tigers scored all eight of their runs in the first four innings, including three runs in the first inning and four two-out runs in the third inning. The Tigers outhit the Seminoles 8-6, including a team-high two hits by Stolz. Frederick allowed just one hit, no runs, and two walks with five strikeouts to earn the win.

During the week, the Tigers outscored their opposition 33-17 and hit .326 with a .471 slugging percentage, .427 on-base percentage, eight doubles, four homers, 23 walks, and 10 stolen bases. The pitching staff had a 3.75 ERA and .239 opponents’ batting average along with 33 strikeouts against 18 walks in 36.0 innings pitched.

Boyd led the Tigers at the plate by going 8-for-14 (.571) with a homer, double, five RBIs, three runs, four walks, a .667 on-base percentage, and a steal on the week. Miller went 7-for-13 with a homer, five RBIs, and six runs in three games, while Stolz went 8-for-16 (.500) with a homer, five RBIs, three runs, and a steal. Stolz moved into the starting lineup at shortstop on Tuesday and provided a spark for the Tigers, as he went 2-for-4 in each of the four games. Parker added four doubles, four RBIs, and seven RBIs in four games as well.

In two relief appearances this past week (both against Florida State), Frederick earned two wins. He allowed just four hits (.160 opponents’ batting average), two earned runs (2.57 ERA), and four walks with seven strikeouts in 7.0 innings pitched. Cruz pitched 2.2 scoreless innings with a save in three relief appearances as well.

The Tigers sport a 37-19 overall record and 18-12 ACC mark, which tied for first place in the ACC Atlantic Division standings with Florida State. By virtue of Clemson’s sweep of the Seminoles, the Tigers were crowned division champions, their first division title since 2006. Clemson, who is 27-8 at home, 8-10 in away games, and 2-1 in neutral-site contests, finished in a tie for fourth place in the overall ACC standings, behind Virginia (23-7), Georgia Tech (21-9), and Miami (FL) (20-10).

Clemson, who has been ranked in the top 25 by at least one poll every week since the start of the 2009 season (a span of 32 weeks), is averaging 8.8 runs per game and hitting .305 with a .489 slugging percentage, .410 on-base percentage, 118 doubles, 11 triples, 75 home runs, and 96 steals in 56 games. The pitching staff has a 4.63 ERA and .275 opponents’ batting average along with 383 strikeouts against 191 walks in 502.0 innings pitched. The Tigers are fielding at a .961 clip as well.

Parker, who has nine doubles in the last 12 games, leads the squad with a .373 batting average, 18 homers, 14 doubles, 56 RBIs, 69 runs, a .725 slugging percentage, and a .508 on-base percentage. Miller is hitting .365 with six homers, 16 doubles, three triples, 33 RBIs, a .478 on-base percentage, and nine steals, while John Hinson is batting .333 with 12 homers, 60 RBIs, and a team-high 21 stolen bases. Miller batted .402 with a .533 on-base percentage in ACC regular-season games. Both figures were second-best in the league. Schaus has added 13 homers and an ACC-high 71 RBIs as well.

Casey Harman is 6-2 with a 3.98 ERA and .247 opponents’ batting average along with 70 strikeouts against 26 walks in 86.0 innings pitched over 14 starts. Frederick, who is 6-0 in his last seven outings (one start), is 6-1 with a 3.38 ERA and two saves in 50.2 innings pitched over 25 appearances (one start) this season.

Clemson will travel to Greensboro, NC to play in the ACC Tournament at NewBridge Bank Park. It will be the first time the ACC Tourney is held in Greensboro. Clemson, the #2 seed, will play #7-seed N.C. State on Wednesday at 8:00 PM. After a day off on Thursday, Clemson will play #6-seed Virginia Tech on Friday at 4:00 PM. Then the Tigers will face #3-seed Georgia Tech on Saturday at 4:00 PM. All three games will be televised live by Fox Sports South. The squad in Clemson’s four-team bracket with the best record will play in the championship game on Sunday at 1:00 PM.