Baker’s Game-Winning Ninth-Inning Home Run First For Tigers Since ’94

April 4, 2002

Clemson, SC – Clemson junior third baseman Jeff Baker socked a walk-off ninth-inning home run to defeat Winthrop on April 3 at Kingsmore Stadium. It was the first ninth-inning, game ending home run for the Tigers since May 6, 1997 when Eric DeMoura hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to defeat North Carolina, 5-4.

Baker’s home run was the fourth walk-off home run for the Tigers under Jack Leggett (since 1994) and the 17th game-ending hit since Leggett has been head coach. Sixteen of the 17 game-ending hits took place at Kingsmore Stadium. The only exception was a game ending single by Kurt Bultmann against NC State in the 1999 ACC Tournament in Durham.

Baker has had many clutch hits in his three-year career, but the home run against Winthrop was his first walk-off hit. Four different active Tigers now have game-ending hits in their careers. Khalil Greene has two, one against Coastal Carolina in 2001 and one against South Carolina earlier this year. Zane Green and Steve Pyzik are also current players in the walk-off hit club.

Baker’s home run in the ninth to beat Winthrop was also his third home run of the game. Baker became the 10th Clemson player in history to hit three home runs in a game, the first since April 11, 1993 when Shane Monahan hit three home runs at NC State. It was the first time any Clemson player had ever hit three home runs in a game at Kingsmore Stadium. The last time a Clemson player hit three home runs in a game on the Clemson campus was on April 14, 1964 when Jack McCall hit three against Georgia Tech.

Walk-off Game-Winning Hits under Jack Leggett

Date CU-Op Opponent Hit Player RBI 3-5-94 10-8 NC State 1B Gary Burnham 1 4-8-94 10-8 NC State HR Seth Brizek 2 4-10-94 5-4 Wake Forest 1B Mike Eydenberg 1 3-31-95 3-2 North Carolina 1B David Miller 1 3-2-96 8-7 Coastal Car. HR Doug Livingston 3 5-6-97 5-4 North Carolina HR Eric DeMoura 3 4-17-98 11-10 NC State 1B Kurt Bultmann 1 4-21-99 5-4 South Carolina 1B Brian Ellis 2 5-1-99 5-4 Virginia 1B Patrick Boyd 1 5-19-99 7-6 *NC State 1B Kurt Bultmann 1 4-15-00 6-5 Wake Forest 2B Brian Ellis 1 5-7-00 5-4 Florida State 1B Casey Stone 1 4-11-01 8-7 Coastal Car. 1B Khalil Greene 1 4-28-01 10-9 North Carolina 1B Steve Pyzik 1 5-13-01 5-4 Virginia 1B Zane Green 1 3-3-02 11-10 South Carolina 2B Khalil Greene 1 4-3-02 6-4 Winthrop HR Jeff Baker 2 *At ACC Tournament in Durham, NC Home runs in bold face

Three Home Run Games by Clemson Players Date Player Site Opponent 5-1-50 Ray Mathews H Furman 4-22-53 Bill Barnett H Furman 4-14-64 Jack McCall H Georgia Tech 4-19-75 Denny Walling A Wake Forest 4-7-79 Neil Simons A NC State 4-6-83 Bob Paulling A Georgia 3-31-87 Steve Baucom A Charlotte 5-5-87 Chuck Baldwin A Maryland 4-11-93 Shane Monahan A NC State 4-3-02 Jeff Baker H Winthrop