#22 Clemson Downs Michigan State 15-2 Tuesday

March 10, 2009

Clemson, SC –

Clemson, ranked #22 in the country, tallied 15 hits and defeated Michigan State 15-2 on Tuesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Tigers, who took the first game of the two-game series, improved to 7-4, while Michigan State fell to 1-10. The two teams will play again on Wednesday in Greenville, SC.

In the game, 11 different Tigers had a hit and 10 different Tigers scored at least one run. The Tigers also drew 10 walks, while Tiger pitchers did not walk a batter in the entire game.

Clemson was led at the plate by Will Lamb, who was making his first career start. The freshman went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Mike Freeman and Ben Paulsen each had two hits and two RBIs.

Justin Sarratt (2-0) retired the first 13 batters he faced and pitched a career-high 6.0 innings to earn the win for the Tigers. He allowed one run on three hits with two strikeouts. Kurt Wunderlich (0-2) took the loss for the Spartans, as he allowed seven runs on nine hits with three walks and two strikeouts in 5.0 innings pitched.

Clemson scored four runs in the bottom of the first on only two hits. Brad Miller and Freeman each walked and Paulsen followed with a double to right-center to score Miller. Wilson Boyd then hit a three-run homer to right field, his first long ball of the season.

Clemson added two more runs in the second inning. John Nester and Lamb each singled to left field to start the inning, and Freeman hit with a one-out single to score Nester. Paulsen followed with a single to left to score Lamb.

Jeff Schaus led off the third inning with a double down the left-field line. Three batters later, Lamb hit a two-out single up the middle to score Schaus and give Clemson a 7-0 lead.

Michigan State scored a run in the sixth inning. Jeff Holm hit his first home run of the season to cut the Clemson lead to 7-1.

Clemson added to its lead with five runs on three hits in the seventh inning, highlighted by Jason Stolz’s RBI single and Freeman’s RBI double to stretch the lead to 12-1.

Michigan State pinch-hitter Seth Williams hit a home run to deep right field in the eighth inning. It was his first hit of the season.

Clemson ended the scoring with three runs in the eighth inning on run-scoring singles by Phil Pohl and Lamb. The final Tiger run came across when Miller walked with the bases loaded. It was Miller’s fourth walk of the contest.

Michigan State, who had five hits, was led by Holm and Williams, who each hit their first home runs of the season.

Clemson will travel to Fluor Field in Greenville, SC to take on Michigan State on Wednesday at 7:00 PM.