Baseball Takes on Gardner-Webb Wednesday at 4:00 PM

March 14, 2006

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Clemson vs. Gardner-Webb Clemson (10-3), ranked as high as #2 in the nation, will play host to Gardner-Webb (9-8) on Wednesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 PM. The game was originally scheduled to start at 7:15 PM, however the Tiger men’s basketball team will host an NIT game at 7:00 PM. The game will be broadcast live on the radio by WCCP (104.9 FM) out of Clemson. Live stats will also be available at ClemsonTigers.com for the game.

The Series Clemson and Gardner-Webb have met twice on the diamond, with the Tigers holding a 2-0 lead. The two last faced each other on March 3, 2004 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Tigers were victorious 8-5. The other meeting also took place at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, this time on March 1, 1975. Clemson also won that game 9-6.

The Starting Pitchers Gardner-Webb will start freshman lefthander Ben Campbell (1-1, 3.21 ERA) on the mound Wednesday. The Taylors, SC native and Blue Ridge High School product will be making his first career start, as he has previously made six relief appearances for a total of 14.0 innings pitched. He has allowed only seven hits (.143 opponents’ batting average) and three walks with nine strikeouts.

The Tigers will counter with sophomore righty David Kopp (0-0, 2.25 ERA). The Margate, FL native has made one start and one relief appearance for a total of 4.0 innings pitched. He has yielded five hits and no walks with one strikeout.

The Bulldogs Gardner-Webb, led by fourth-year Head Rusty Stroupe, enters Wednesday’s game with a 9-8 overall record after falling twice in three games at Kennesaw State over the weekend. The Bulldogs, who are 1-2 in the Atlantic Sun Conference, has already defeated Maryland 3-0, while falling to Virginia and North Carolina. They are 2-4 on opponents’ home fields as well.

The Bulldogs are hitting .293 as a team with a .352 on-base percentage. Blake Lalli leads the club with a .388 batting average, three homers, and 11 RBIs. The team is fielding at a .955 clip as well. The pitching staff has a 4.75 ERA and .284 opponents’ batting average. Five different Bulldogs have at least one save, led by freshman righty Kyle Kamppi, who has two saves and a 1.98 ERA in seven relief appearances.

The Tigers Clemson enters Wednesday’s game against Gardner-Webb with a 10-3 overall record after winning two of three games over #25 Kansas last weekend. The Tigers are 9-2 at home this season. The team is hitting .287 with a .376 on-base percentage. The team has 17 sacrifice bunts and has stolen 14 bases in 16 attempts as well.

Herman Demmink is leading the squad with a .388 batting average and .492 on-base percentage. He has also walked nine times and struck out only three times, and is hitting .625 with runners on base. Taylor Harbin is in second place with a .387 batting average. The pitching staff has a 1.86 ERA and .200 opponents’ batting average. Steve Richard has all three of Clemson’s saves, while lefty reliever Daniel Moskos has an 0.75 ERA in 12.0 innings pitched. Clemson is fielding at a .972 clip as well.

Worth Noting * Clemson is the only ACC school that has not played a conference game in 2006. * Clemson will not have back-to-back days off until April 24,25. * Righthanded batters are 3-for-43 (.070) against righty Josh Cribb and 6-for-50 (.120) against righty Stephen Faris.

Polls Clemson remained at the #2 spot in the Baseball America poll on Monday for the second straight week after four weeks at the #1 spot in that poll. The Tigers also fell to #4 in the Collegiate Baseball and stayed at #3 in the Sports Weekly poll.

The #1 ranking on February 6 was the first for the Tigers since May 13, 2002, when Clemson was ranked #1 in all three major polls. It was the earliest #1 ranking for the Clemson program in history, as the earliest #1 ranking prior to that was on March 20, 2000, when Collegiate Baseball had the Tigers #1. The Tigers have been ranked #1 for 19 weeks by at least one of the major polls in Head Coach Jack Leggett’s 13th season at Clemson.

Demmink Leading Things Off Senior third-baseman Herman Demmink (Midlothian, VA) leads the team with a .388 batting average and .492 on-base percentage as the everyday leadoff batter. He has at least one hit in 12 of the 13 games and has nine walks against only three strikeouts. He also is 4-4 on stolen bases. Demmink has been especially good with runners on base, going 10-for-16 (.625) in that situation. He is also 7-for-11 (.636) with runners in scoring position. The team co-captain has quietly been a steady player for the Tigers during his four seasons at Clemson. He is a career .324 hitter in 176 games (151 starts)

Tigers Take Two From Big 12’s Kansas Clemson, ranked #2 in the nation, took two of three games over #25 Kansas at Doug Kingsmore Stadium from March 10-12. Clemson won the first and third games by scores of 7-2 and 4-3, respectively, while Kansas won game two 6-5. Clemson outhit the Jayhawks .306 to .202, while the Tiger pitching staff had a 3.00 ERA. Tiger hurlers also combined for 32 strikeouts in the three games, including 28 in the final two games. Herman Demmink was 6-for-10 with four RBIs, two walks, and a hit-by-pitch in the series.

In game one on March 10, Josh Cribb pitched 7.0 scoreless innings of one-hit ball in a 7-2 Tiger victory over Kansas. Cribb threw just 69 pitches and did not allow a baserunner past first base. Clemson’s win snapped Kansas’ eight-game winning streak, as the Jayhawks totaled only five hits. The Tigers scored four runs in the first three innings, including two unearned runs in the first inning thanks to a costly error. Taylor Harbin and Stan Widmann each went 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Herman Demmink added two hits and two RBIs in the Tigers’ 12-hit attack. Clemson did not commit an error as well. In game two on March 11, Preston Land hit a solo home run in the eighth inning to give Kansas a 6-5 victory over the Tigers. The Tigers put four unearned runs on the board in the first inning, highlighted by Andy D’Alessio’s two-run double. But the Tiger bats went cold for the rest of the game, as Kansas slowly chipped away at Clemson’s lead. The Tigers committed three errors that led to two runs in the fifth inning, then the Jayhawks took the lead in the seventh inning on a two-run double by Erik Morrison. Pinch-hitter Ben Hall tied the score in the bottom of the seventh with a solo homer, but Land’s long ball in the eighth was the difference. Clemson was just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, as Kansas outhit the Tigers 11-7. Three Tiger pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts.

In game three on March 12, Clemson scored two runs in the eighth inning, both on wild pitches, and hung on for a 4-3 victory over the Jayhawks. Morrison gave Kansas the lead with a two-run homer in the fifth inning, but Demmink’s run-scoring single in the seventh tied the score. Then closer Don Czyz threw two wild pitches that scored two different Tigers to give Clemson a 4-2 lead. The Tigers scored two runs in the eighth without the benefit of a hit. Kansas battled in the ninth, but closer Steve Richard struck out Morrison to end the game and earn the save. Stephen Faris struck out 10, while Daniel Moskos earned the win. Clemson outhit the Jayhawks 11-4, including a 3-for-3 day by Demmink.