Baseball Home Opening Series This Weekend

Feb. 17, 2000

CLEMSON, S.C.-Clemson (2-1) plays the first three of 37 home games when it plays host to Old Dominion (2-2-1) at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Friday (3:00), Saturday (2:00), and Sunday (2:00).

Clemson, who is ranked #11 by Collegiate Baseball, #18 by USA Today Baseball Weekly, and #19 by Baseball America, last played on Jan. 30 when the Tigers fell to #23 Central Florida 5-0 in the ACC Disney Blast at Lake Buena Vista, FL. Clemson defeated #7 Rice 3-1 and #4 Miami (FL) 4-0 to open the season.

Old Dominion went 1-2 in the Franklin Life Classic (against South Carolina (L), Maryland (W), and N.C. State(L)) at Charleston, SC last weekend, and defeated Howard 12-0 on Feb. 15 and tied Virginia 14-14 on Feb. 16.

The two teams have met 28 times, with Clemson holding a 23-5 advantage. The last time the two teams faced off was from Feb. 20-22, 1998 at Clemson. The Tigers swept the Monarchs, thanks to wins by scores of 5-4, 11-10, and 12-7.

The Monarchs are led in the early going by third baseman Jeff Eure and shortstop Tim Hummel. Eure leads Old Dominion with a .429 batting average along with two doubles, a homer, and six RBIs, while Hummel is hitting .350 also with two doubles, a homer, and six RBIs. Monarch senior Jason Greiner red-shirted in 1996 while on the Clemson squad. Greiner is slated to start in left field.

Overall, the team is hitting .283 and is 9-9 on stolen bases along with an outstanding .978 fielding percentage. Monarch pitchers have a 6.49 ERA and .274 opponent batting average, and have not yielded a home run. The probable starters for Old Dominion are lefthander Brian Ross (0-1, 3.86 ERA) on Friday, righthander Shawn Weaver (1-0, 4.50 ERA) on Saturday, and righthander J.D. Jackson (1-1, 5.87 ERA) on Sunday.

Righthander Scott Berney (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will start on the mound in game one. Berney is coming off a 7.0-scoreless inning outing against defending National Champion Miami (FL). Freshman righthander Jarrod Schmidt, who did not make an appearance on the mound in the ACC Disney Blast, will start on the mound in game two. Schmidt started at first base in all three games in the ACC Disney Blast, but was a star on the mound at Lassiter (Marietta, GA) High. Senior righthander Ryan Mottl (1-0, 1.50 ERA) will start game three.