Clemson Baseball Weekly Wrapup

April 4, 2010

Clemson University Overall Season Record: 20-8 ACC Regular-Season Record: 9-3

Last Week: 2-2 Wed. L, Home vs. #14 Coastal Carolina, 4-3 (11 Innings) Fri. W, Home vs. Boston College, 15-2 Sat. L, Home vs. Boston College, 11-5 Sun. W, Home vs. Boston College, 14-9

Next Week Tue. Away vs. Georgia, 7:00 PM Wed. Home vs. Georgia, 6:30 PM Fri. Away vs. Duke, 6:00 PM Sat. Away vs. Duke, 2:00 PM Sun. Away vs. Duke, 1:00 PM

Notes The #10 Clemson Tigers went 2-2 in four games this past week. Clemson lost a tight game against a top-15 Coastal Carolina club on Wednesday, then the Tigers won two of three games against Boston College over the weekend.

Rico Noel’s solo home run with two outs in the 11th inning lifted #14 Coastal Carolina to a 4-3 win over Clemson at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on March 31. The Tigers took a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning on Jeff Schaus’ run-scoring triple and Kyle Parker’s two-run homer. But the Tigers did not tally a hit or run in the final seven innings despite putting 10 runners on base (nine walks, one hit-by-pitch) during that span. Dominic Leone pitched 5.1 strong innings in his first career start, allowing just four hits and one unearned run. Clemson committed four errors in the game, while the Chanticleers were errorless.

Clemson then won two of three games over Boston College by a combined score of 34-22 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium from April 2-4. The Tigers outhit Boston College .355 to .309 and totaled 39 hits, 24 walks, two hit-by-pitches, a .464 on-base percentage, and eight steals while not committing an error. Brad Miller went 7-for-13 (.538) with a homer, triple, double, three RBIs, six runs, and two walks, while John Hinson was 6-for-12 (.500) with six RBIs, three runs, and three steals. Mike Freeman added five hits, three doubles, one homer, six RBIs, four runs, and four walks.

In game-one on April 2, Clemson totaled 15 hits, including nine extra-base hits, on its way to a 15-2 win over Boston College. The Tigers broke the game open with six runs in the second inning and scored in seven of the eight innings in which they batted. Freeman went 3-for-4 with a homer, two doubles, four RBIs, three runs, and a walk, while Miller went 2-for-3 with a homer, triple, three runs, and two walks. Casey Harman pitched 6.0 solid innings to earn the win, as he allowed just four hits and one run with a career-high-tying 10 strikeouts. Tomas Cruz pitched the final 3.0 innings and allowed two hits and one run with three strikeouts to record the save.

In game-two on April 3, Boston College scored seven runs in the second inning and used a handful of stellar defensive plays to defeat Clemson 11-5. Clemson took a 4-0 lead in the first inning, but the Eagles responded with seven runs in the second inning and never looked back. All 10 Eagle batters had at least one hit, as Boston College had 14 hits in the game. The Tigers had 10 hits and put their leadoff batter on base four times in the last six innings, but they were held scoreless after the second inning thanks in part to several highlight-reel defensive plays by the Eagles. Both teams were errorless as well.

In game-three on April 4, Clemson scored eight runs in the eighth inning to defeat Boston College 14-9. The Tigers came back from a 4-1 deficit to take a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning, but the Eagles scored four runs in the seventh inning to take an 8-5 lead. The Tigers scored one run in the seventh and eight runs in the eighth to pull out the comeback win. Miller and Hinson had three hits apiece for Clemson, who had 14 hits (all singles). Hinson added three RBIs, two runs, and three of Clemson’s six steals. The Tigers also walked 13 times and overcame 14 runners left on base, including 10 left in scoring position.

During the week, the Tigers hit .303 with a .476 slugging percentage and .432 on-base percentage, 37 runs, 10 doubles, three triples, three homers, 33 walks, three hit-by-pitches, and nine stolen bases. The pitching staff had a 5.92 ERA and .291 opponents’ batting average along with 37 strikeouts in 38.0 innings pitched.

Hinson led the Tigers on the week by going 7-for-15 (.467) with six RBIs, four walks, and three steals, while Miller went 8-for-18 (.444) with a homer, triple, two doubles, three RBIs, and six runs. Freeman added six hits, including three doubles and one homer, six RBIs, five runs, and six walks. Chris Epps also had four hits, six runs, seven walks, and two steals in only 10 at-bats.

On the season, the Tigers sport a 20-8 overall record, including a 17-4 home record, 2-3 road mark, and 1-1 neutral-site record. The Tigers, who are 9-3 in the ACC, are leading the ACC Atlantic Division by two games over second-place Florida State (7-5). Georgia Tech leads the overall ACC standings with an 11-1 record, while Miami (FL) is second (10-2).

Clemson is hitting .301 with a .491 slugging percentage and .415 on-base percentage thanks to more walks (179) than strikeouts (178) in 28 games. The Tigers have also accumulated 38 homers, 58 doubles, six triples, 52 steals, and are averaging 8.8 runs per game.

The Tigers have been bit by the injury bug of late. Parker missed the last two games of the Boston College series due to a back ailment. Freshman first-baseman Justin Sarratt due to injury.

Parker still leads the team in batting average (.378) and home runs (11), while Hinson is batting .347 with two homers, 22 RBIs, and 11 steals in 25 games (15 starts). Miller is up to .340 with a .468 on-base percentage and Schaus has a team-high 37 RBIs. Epps has added 28 walks and a team-high 12 stolen bases as well.

The pitching staff has a 4.05 ERA and .257 opponents’ batting average along with 195 strikeouts against 99 walks in 253.1 innings pitched on the season.

In seven starts (42.0 innings pitched), Harman is 5-0 with a 2.14 ERA and .187 opponents’ batting average. Sophomore righty Alex Frederick and Jonathan Meyer have two saves apiece as well.

The Tigers will play a home-and-home midweek series against Georgia before they travel northeastward to face Duke at Durham (NC) Bulls Athletic Park in a three-game series over the weekend.