#3 Florida State Tallies 17 Hits, Four Homers in 13-4 Win Over Tigers Sunday

May 4, 2008

Clemson, SC –

Four different Seminoles homered and the team tallied 17 hits, as #3 Florida State (39-7, 21-5 ACC) defeated Clemson (24-22-1, 10-15-1 ACC) by a score of 13-4 in game-two of the three-game series on Sunday night in front of 5,070 fans at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Florida State cruised to its second win in the series behind the superb pitching of starter Elih Villanueva (5-2), who tossed 7.0 strong innings, giving up just one run on six hits while striking out five.

Tiger starter Graham Stoneburner (5-3) suffered the loss, allowing seven runs on seven hits while walking four and striking out one in 4.0 innings pitched.

Stuart Tapley, Jason Stidham, Dennis Guinn, and Buster Posey all hit two-run homers, as every Seminole starter tallied at least one hit. Tony Delmonico and Tapley had a game-tying-high three hits, while Delmonico had a team-high three RBIs. Five different Seminoles registered at least two RBIs, while Florida State had nine two-out RBIs and put six leadoff batters on base in the contest.

Ben Paulsen collected two hits and three RBIs to lead the Tiger offense, while Kyle Parker and Mike Freeman added two hits apiece. Clemson had 10 hits on the night, but it left 10 runners on base. Jeff Schaus extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the eighth inning, while Wilson Boyd’s 10-game hitting streak came to an end after going 0-for-2 with a walk.

The Tigers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning, as Parker hit a two-out double to right-center before scoring on a single to left by Paulsen.

The Seminoles took a 3-1 lead in the second inning. With two outs, Tommy Oravetz drew a walk and scored on Mike McGee’s double to right field. Tapley then hit a two-run homer down the right-field line. It was his fourth long ball of the year.

Florida State scored two runs in the third to build on its lead. Stidham drew a leadoff walk and moved to third on a single up the middle by Posey. After Jack Rye walked to load the bases, Guinn reached on a fielder’s choice, but Stidham was out at home plate on the force-out. With one out, Delmonico drove in two runs with a single up the middle.

The Garnet and Gold scored two more runs in the fourth inning. Tyler Holt drew a two-out walk before Stidham hit his ninth homer of the year, a two-run shot to right that put Florida State ahead 7-1.

With two outs in the fifth inning, Delmonico drew a walk before scoring on Oravetz’s double to right field to put the Seminoles up 8-1.

In the top of the seventh inning, Rye led off with an infield single before Guinn homered to left field, his 13th long ball of the year.

Posey highlighted a three-run eighth inning with a two-run homer to right-center. The Seminole catcher regained the team-lead with his 14th homer of the season.

Clemson scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Schaus and Parker led off with back-to-back singles. Paulsen drove in a run with another single to left-center. Stan Widmann loaded the bases with a walk, and the Tigers scored their second run of the frame when Chris Epps drew a bases-loaded walk.

The Tigers scored the final run in the ninth inning, as Paulsen plated J.D. Burgess with a sacrifice fly to center.

Clemson and Florida State, who owns a 2-0 series lead, will conclude the three-game series on Monday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 4:07 PM.