Baseball Defeats Western Carolina 11-10 in 10 Innings

May 4, 1999

Clemson, SC – Clemson’s Patrick Boyd scored from third base on a wild pitch by Western Carolina reliever Erik Turnrose in the bottom of the 10th inning with two outs to complete an 11-10 come from behind win on Tuesday night at Tiger Field.

With the win Clemson improves to 30-18, while Western Carolina falls to 30-17-1. Clemson reliever Chris Heck (3-0) earned the win for Clemson, while Turnrose (4-2) took the loss.

The win was Clemson’s fifth straight win in games decided by one run.

In the 10th, Boyd reached base on a fielder’s choice, moved to second on an error and to third on a wild pitch by Turnrose as well. With Brian Ellis at the plate, Turnrose delivered his second wild pitch of the inning and Boyd crossed the plate for the win.

Clemson had to score four runs in the bottom of the ninth just to force the game into extra innings.

Boyd led off the ninth inning with his 12th home run of the season. Kurt Bultmann was hit by Western Carolina reliever Robbie Hoover following Boyd’s home run and advanced to second on a single by Jason Harris. Ellis walked to load the bases and Khalil Greene followed with a ground out to third that scored Bultmann. Harris scored on a wild pitch from third base and Ellis tied the game on a sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Mike Calitri to force the contest into extra innings.

Chris Moore had RBI singles in the first and second innings to help Western jump out to a 3-0 advantage. He would later add a double in the fourth inning that would plate two more runs and give the Catamounts a 5-0 lead.

Clemson responded with one run each in the middle innings of the game. Two of the runs were scored on solo home runs by Jason Harris and Brian Ellis. Harris’ seventh home run of the year started the scoring for the Tigers in the fourth inning. Ellis’ shot, in the sixth inning, was hit to straight away center field and was his fourth of the season.

Before Ellis’ home run in the sixth, the Catamounts added two runs in the top half of the inning thanks to a two RBI double by designated hitter Morgan Frazier.

Clemson would plate three runs in the seventh as Bradley LeCroy led off the inning with a double. LeCroy scored on a single by Henr Stanley. Stanley moved to third on a single by Boyd. Bultmann delivered the fourth straight hit of the inning to score Stanley and move Boyd to third. Boyd would score on a passed ball to cut the Western Carolina lead to 7-6.

The Catamounts added two runs in the eighth inning and one in the ninth to take a 10-6 run into the bottom of the ninth.

Clemson will host Winthrop on Thursday at Tiger Field beginning at 7:15 p.m.