Baseball Defeats Virginia, 15-6

April 5, 1998

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Clemson first baseman Jason Harris went 3-for-6 with a double, a triple and two RBI to lead the Tigers to a 15-6 victory over the University of Virginia baseball team. With the victory, Clemson took two out of three games from the Cavaliers in this weekend’s three-game series, and improved its record to 31-5 overall and 7-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia falls to 18-13-1 overall and 4-10 in the ACC.

Clemson opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the first inning. Harris hit an RBI triple to drive in the first run, while the second run scored when Matt Padgett reached on an error. The Tigers added two more runs in the top of the third inning with Kurt Bultmann hitting an RBI double and Padgett adding an RBI single. Clemson then increased the lead to 7-0 with three runs in the top of the fifth. Padgett and Peter Nystrom both had RBI doubles in the inning, while Justin Singleton hit an RBI single.

Virginia put its first runs on the board in the bottom of the fifth when it scored three times. Sophomore shortstop Tim LaVigne (Virginia Beach, Va.) led off with a single and came in to score on an RBI triple by junior outfielder Julian Gonzalez (Avon Park, Fla.). Sophomore catcher Josh Bowling (Springfield, Va.) then followed with a two-run homer to left field, his fourth on the season. The Cavaliers scored another run in the sixth when senior third baseman Brian Sherlock (Medford, N.J.) doubled and eventually scored on an RBI groundout by LaVigne. Virginia would score another run in the seventh to make the score 7-5, as Bowling singled, took second on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single by senior outfielder Jon Kemmerer (Reston, Va.).

The Tigers would then score eight runs in the top of the eighth inning to put the game out of reach. Patrick Boyd hit a two-run double and Brian Holstad had a two-run single, while Bultmann had an RBI double and Harris and Doug Roper both hit RBI singles.Virginia concluded the scoring in the bottom of the inning, when Bowling hit an RBI single to knock in senior outfielder E.J. Anderson (Mechanicsville, Va.).

Bowling finished the day 3-for-4 with three RBI, while Sherlock had a pair of hits for the Cavaliers. In addition, Anderson extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single in the eighth inning.

Donovan Harrison picked up the victory for the Tigers, allowing only two earned runs on six hits in five innings of relief, while striking out six. Sophomore righthander Kevin Shrout (Murrysville, Va.) took the loss for the Cavaliers as he allowed six earned runs and nine hits in 4-1/3 innings while fanning five batters.

Clemson 15, Virginia 6                                                        R   H   EClemson (31-5)  2   0   2   0   3   0   0   8   0   -   15  18  1UVa (18-13-1)   0   0   0   0   3   1   1   1   0   -   6   11  3

CU: Skip Browning, Donovan Harrison (5) and Derek Borgert; UVa: Kevin Shrout, Greg Withelder (5), Denny Chapman (8) and Josh Bowling; 2B: Patrick Boyd (CU), Kurt Bultmann 2 (CU), Jason Harris (CU), Matt Padgett (CU), Peter Nystrom (CU), Brian Sherlock (UVa); 3B: Jason Harris (CU), Julian Gonzalez (UVa); HR: Josh Bowling (UVa).

Win: Harrison (4-1); Loss: Shrout (4-3).