Home Baseball Season Ends Tonight Against College of Charleston

May 12, 2004

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Clemson vs. College of Charleston Clemson (31-18), ranked as high as #20, will play host to College of Charleston (37-9) Wednesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 PM. There will be no Clemson radio coverage of Wednesday’s game. However, Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast will televise the game live. Live stats will also be available on Clemson’s website at ClemsonTigers.com.

It will be the Tigers’ last regular-season home game of the year and will be “Fan Appreciation Night.” Season-ticket holders are invited on the field for the National Anthem.

The Series Clemson and College of Charleston have met 12 times on the baseball diamond. The Tigers have won all 12 games, including a 15-4 win at College of Charleston earlier this season on March 5. Lou Santangelo hit two three-run homers in the game to lead the Tigers’ 17-hit attack. Brady Everett also hit a home run. Clemson had eight extra base hits to the Cougars’ none as well. Twelve different Tigers have recorded at least one hit in their careers against College of Charleston, led by Russell Triplett’s eight hits and six RBIs in five games.

Last season, Clemson won both meetings, including a 7-6 come-from-behind win at Mount Pleasant, SC on March 18 thanks to Triplett’s two-strike, two-out, two-run single in the top of the ninth inning. Clemson also won 6-2 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on March 5, 2003. Clemson won two games in 2002 and the only meeting in 2001 as well. Before the game in 2001, the two had not played each other since 1912.

The Tigers lead 7-0 in games played at Clemson and 3-0 in games played at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Head Coach Jack Leggett is 6-0 against the Cougars.

The Starting Pitchers College of Charleston will start freshman lefthander Zach Piccola (4-2, 3.32 ERA) Wednesday. The Bedford, NH native has made seven starts and five relief appearances for a total of 43.1 innings pitched. He has allowed just 34 hits and 24 walks while striking out 37.

The Tigers will counter with junior righty Jeff Hahn (2-0, 5.34 ERA) on the mound. The Winchester, VA native has not made a start since April 5, 2003. He has made 29 relief appearances since then, including 15 this year. In 30.1 innings pitched in 2004, he has allowed 33 hits and 14 walks while striking out 19. He also has a save to his credit.

College of Charleston Overview College of Charleston is led by fifth-year Head Coach John Pawlowski, who was the pitching coach under Jack Leggett at Clemson from 1994-98. Pawlowski was also a three-year letterman as a pitcher at Clemson from 1983-85. He later went on to pitch in the Major Leagues with the Chicago White Sox.

The Cougars are coming off two wins in three games against Georgia Southern over the weekend, which were all decided by one run. They are 37-9 overall and 21-3 in Southern Conference play. Since starting the year 6-4, they are 31-5 since and have lost back-to-back games just once all season. College of Charleston is also 16-2 on opponents’ home fields in 2004.

The team is hitting .349 on the season, ranking second in the nation. The Cougars are also averaging 9.7 runs per game, good for third in the nation. Matt Kirkpatrick is hitting .442 and Byron Barber is hitting .418 with a team-best 19 stolen bases. The Cougars have stolen 94 bases in all, more than two per game. Brett Anderson is hitting .386 with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs. Former Clemson infielder Jess Easterling is hitting .348 with five homers and 47 RBIs as well. The team also has 67 sacrifice bunts this year.

The pitching staff boasts a 4.01 ERA and .257 opponents’ batting average. Sophomore righthander Brett Harker has 10 saves in 24 relief appearances. The Cougars are fielding at a .958 clip as well.

Clemson Overview Clemson enters the game against College of Charleston after defeating Furman 16-5 Tuesday night. The Tigers are 31-18 overall and 9-4 on their current 14-game homestand. Clemson is also 22-9 at home this year. Clemson has won 16 of its last 17 games when it hits at least one home run and is 22-3 on weekdays as well.

Brad McCann leads the team in hitting with a .370 batting average, as the team is hitting .298 overall. Kris Harvey is hitting .329 and freshman Andy D’Alessio is hitting .323 with a .424 on-base percentage. Clemson has also stolen 67 bases after swiping just 35 in 2003.

The Tiger pitching staff has a 4.07 ERA and .256 opponents’ batting average. The team has an 8.09 strikeouts per nine innings pitched mark as well. The Tigers’ fielding percentage stands at .964.

Tigers Bury Furman Late 16-5 Tuesday Clemson scored 11 runs in its final two innings in which it batted to runaway with a 16-5 victory over Furman May 11. The game, which was delayed due to a downpour prior to the start, saw the teams tied 5-5 after six innings. But Clemson plated six runs in the seventh inning after the first two batters were retired and the third batter reached on a costly Paladin error. The Tigers added five more runs in the eighth inning, including a pinch-hit, three-run double by Lou Santangelo and Garrick Evans added three hits, while the Tigers hit a season-high seven doubles. Clemson was also aided by 10 walks, including nine in the final three innings. The game featured a combined 39 players, including 23 Paladins and 16 Tigers.

Tigers #11 in RPI The only rating system the NCAA uses to determine selections and seedings is the RPI, or the Ratings Percentage Index. Although the NCAA does not release its official RPI, Boyd Nation has come up with an RPI index that is all but the same as the official RPI. He uses numbers from previous seasons to verify his formulas.

In the May 10 release (listed at BoydsWorld.com), his RPI index has Clemson #11. The Tigers play one of the toughest schedules in the nation during the 2004 season. Clemson can thank a tough non-conference schedule for its high RPI ranking. Through the Tigers’ first 48 games, 29 have been against teams ranked in the top 35 of the RPI. The RPI only counts games against Division I teams and is for games through May 9.

Cribb Has Week to Remember In two relief appearances in one week in early May, sophomore righthander Josh Cribb (Lake View, SC) pitched near flawless ball. In 8.0 innings pitched, he did not allow a hit nor run and struck out 11 batters. He also allowed just three walks, one of which was intentional. The first outing was against Charleston Southern on May 5. In that game, he earned the win by pitching 3.1 innings and striking out four. The next game, this time on May 9 against #24 Central Florida, he pitched 4.2 innings with seven strikeouts. Although he did not win conference honors for that week’s performance, it will still go down as one of the best back-to-back relief performances by a Tiger in history.

Overall in 2004, Cribb is 3-0 with a 3.08 ERA and one save in 14 relief appearances (38.0 innings pitched). The middle reliever is also holding opponents to a .221 batting average and nine walks against 37 strikeouts thanks to his assortment of sharp breaking pitches.