Baseball Squad Holds off Kansas State Rally

February 12, 1999

CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson held off a furious Kansas State rally that saw the Wildcats close an 8-0 deficit to 8-7 before the Tiger offense provided two insurance runs in a 10-7 opening day win at Tiger Field on Friday afternoon.

Clemson improves to 1-0, while Kansas State falls to 1-3. Thomas Boozer (1-0) earned the win in relief for Clemson. Boozer pitching in his first career game allowed two runs in 5.1 innings pitched. Brandon Peck (0-2) took the loss for Kansas State.

Senior Brian Ellis started the Clemson scoring with a lead off home run in the bottom of the first. It was the first time a Clemson player led off the season with a home run since 1995 when Shane Monahan did it against Oklahoma State. The Tigers plated two more runs in the inning thanks in part to three Kansas State errors. The Wildcats committed eight errors in the game.

Clemson moved ahead of the Wildcats by a score of 7-0 in the bottom of the third. The inning was highlighted by two RBI single by left fielder Brian Holstad.

Ellis scored again in the fourth inning to give Clemson an 8-0 advantage on an RBI single by designated hitter Derek Borgert off Wildcat reliever Chad Cosens.

Clemson starter Ryan Mottl held the Wildcats scoreless until the top of the fifth inning. Mike Colosimo led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third on a Kyle Boyer double. Colosimo was thrown out returning to third on a fielder’s choice by Chad Tabor. Brett Reid walked to load the bases. Boyer scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Quinn Cravens. Mark English plated Tabor and Reid on a triple and English scored on a Kasey Weishaar double.

Boozer came into replace Mottl and gave up a single to J.D. Loudabarger to score Weishaar. Loudabarger was out at second on a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Kansas State was able to manufacture two more runs in the top of the sixth inning to cut the Clemson lead to one. Colosimo and Boyer led off the inning with singles and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Reid and a bunt base hit by Cravens.

Pinch hitter Patrick Boyd led off the bottom of the eighth with a double. Boyd is suffering from an injured shoulder and is due to have surgery in the next couple of days. Boyd advanced to third when Jason Harris grounded out to first and scored when Justin Singleton reached on an error. Singleton would later score on an HenrStanley RBI double. That made the score 10-7.

Clemson and Kansas State will face each other in game two of the series beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Clemson will unveil its new Olympic Showcase featuring the jerseys of Clemson’s three 1996 Olympians, Kris Benson, Matthew LeCroy, and Billy Koch in a ceremony that will begin at 1:30 p.m. Fans will be encouraged to walk through the Tiger Field Players’ lounge to view the permanent location of the showcase during Saturday’s game.