#2 Seminoles Topple #16 Clemson 11-1 Friday

May 11, 2007

Tallahassee, FL –

Senior righthander Bryan Henry pitched 8.0 strong innings and Tony Thomas, Jr. reached base in all five plate appearances to lead #2 Florida State to an 11-1 victory over #16 Clemson in front of 5,324 fans at Dick Howser Stadium on Friday night. Florida State improved to 43-7 overall and 21-4 in ACC play, while the Tigers fell to 32-18 overall and 15-10 in the ACC. The Seminoles, who took a 1-0 series lead, also clinched the ACC Atlantic Division title with the win.

Henry (13-0) kept his perfect record intact by pitching 8.0 effective innings to earn the win. He allowed eight hits, one run, and no walks with eight strikeouts. He was especially tough on Clemson’s righthanded batters, holding them to just 1-for-17.

Starter Daniel Moskos (3-4) suffered the loss, as he allowed seven hits, four runs, and five walks with four strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitched.

Florida State scored the game’s first runs in the third inning after the first two batters of the frame were retired. Thomas started the rally by laying down a bunt single. He stole second and scored on Mark Hallberg’s single through the right side. Buster Posey walked and Jack Rye followed with a single up the middle to plate Hallberg and give the Seminoles a 2-0 lead.

Andy D’Alessio cut the Seminole lead in half when he led off the fourth inning with a towering opposite-field homer to left field, his 12th of the season and 54th of his career, placing him all alone in third place in the Tiger recordbook.

Like the third inning, the Seminoles scored two runs in the sixth inning after the first two batters were retired. Travis Anderson hit a two-out single up the middle and went to second on Mark Gildea’s single to left. Brandon Reichert then laced a single through the left side to score Anderson. Thomas followed with a double up the middle to plate Gildea to up Florida State’s lead to 4-1.

The Seminoles blew the game open with six runs in the seventh inning. Posey reached when Matt Vaughn’s throw to first after fielding a bunt was errant. Rye followed with a single through the right side. Two batters later, Stidham doubled off the wall in right field to score Posey. Ohmed Danesh then ripped a triple down the right-field line to plate Rye and Stidham. Gildea’s double to right-center scored Danesh, and Gildea came around to score on a wild pitch. Thomas’ two-out double and Hallberg’s single to center to score Thomas gave Florida State double-digits on the scoreboard.

In the eighth inning, pinch-hitter D’Vontrey Richardson hit a one-out single and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Ruairi O’Connor.

The Seminoles totaled 15 hits and were led by Thomas. The second-baseman was 3-for-3 with two runs scored, two doubles, a walk, hit-by-pitch, and two stolen bases. He was a thorn in Clemson’s side, as he reached base in all five plate appearances. Rye and Hallberg extended their hitting streaks to 16 games as well.

Clemson was led offensively by centerfielder Addison Johnson, who was 3-for-5. Outfielders Wilson Boyd and D.J. Mitchell added two hits apiece, meaning seven of the Tigers’ 10 hits were by outfield starters.

Florida State was 9-for-13 with runners in scoring position, while the Tigers were 0-for-6 in that situation and just 2-for-18 with runners on base.

Clemson and Florida State will play game-two of the three-game series on Saturday at 1:00 PM. The game will be televised live by Regional Sports Network.