Clemson Earns 8-7 Comeback Victory Over Coastal

April 11, 2001

CLEMSON, SC –

No. 17 Clemson scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game and send it to extra innings, where a Khalil Greene single in the bottom of the 11th gave the Tigers an 8-7 victory against Coastal Carolina Wednesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

The win snapped a five-game losing skid that equaled the longest for the Tigers under head coach Jack Leggett. Clemson improved to 22-13 with the win and Coastal Carolina dropped to 20-14.

Trailing 7-2 going into the bottom of the ninth inning, Khalil Greene got things started for the Tigers which had mustered just one hit in the first six innings of the game. He singled to right-center field and then scored on Jarrod Schmidt’s ninth home run of the season to make the score 7-4.

Chad Coder then doubled to left field and then Steve Pyzik walked. Casey Stone singled to left field and the Chanticleers intentionally walked Jeff Baker to pull Clemson within 7-5. Michael Johnson hit a two RBI single to even the score at 7-7 and send the game to extra innings.

The five-run hole was the largest ninth-inning deficit overcome to gain victory since April 14, 1995 when Clemson trailed N.C. State 15-4 in Raleigh. The Tigers came back to score 11 innings and then claimed a 17-15 victory.

Clemson and Coastal Carolina went scoreless in the 10th and Coastal Carolina failed to score in the top of the 11th. Clemson appeared it would not score in the inning when it began with two straight foul outs. Baker drew a walk to begin the threat and then Johnson singled to second base, where Jeff Baker was safe. Greene then sent a shot into shallow left field and it fell to bring home the winning run and give Clemson an 8-7 victory.

Steve Reba, who came on after two outs in the top of the tenth inning, earned the win for the Tigers, upping his record to 6-1 this season. Justin Sturge got the loss for the Chanticleers and fell to 1-3 on the season.

Clemson scored in the bottom of the first inning on a wild pitch that brought home Stone, who singled out of the lead off spot for Clemson. He was batted over on a grounder to third base by Kyle Frank and then advanced to third on a fly to right field by Baker. The Tigers did not get their second hit until the seventh inning.

Coastal Carolina responded in the top of the third inning. Chad Oxendine got the first hit of the inning. Ryan McGraw doubled and then Jon Humay doubled in both Oxendine and McGraw. Humay then moved to third on a passed ball and then scored on a sacrifice fly to left field to give the Chanticleers a 3-1 lead.

The Chanticleers added another three runs in the top of the fifth inning. A base hit by Chad Felty and a walk by Luke Johnson led to two runs when Steven Carter singled. With two outs and Carter running, Jordan Weismore popped up to shallow left field and a running Stone let the ball fall of his glove. Carter scored to put Coastal Carolina up 6-1.

Carter led off the eighth inning with a base hit and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Weismore. He moved to third on a grounder to second base by David Chroniger and scored on base hit by Oxendine’s second hit of the game to give the Chanticleers a 7-1 lead.

The Tigers scored one run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a triple by Baker that scored Stone, who had reached on his second hit of the game. Clemson then trailed 7-2.

Clemson will host Duke Friday through Sunday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. It will be the first ACC series of the season at Clemson. Friday’s game will be at 7:15 PM, while Saturday’s game will be at 7:00 PM. The series finale will be Sunday at 2:00 PM. All games will be broadcast on the Clemson Tiger Network.