Baseball Win Streak Ends at Ten

March 4, 1998

CLEMSON, S.C.– Ed Bou’s three-run homer in the seventh inning gave Florida Atlantic a 6-5 lead and the Owls held on to gain the victory, ending Clemson’s winning streak at 10 games. Mick Celli knocked out three hits and scored twice to support Florida Atlantic, who had lost to Clemson by the same score on Tuesday.

Florida Atlantic improved to 9-9 with the victory, while Clemson fell to 13-2. The Tigers will play host to Stetson in a three-game series starting Friday.

Clemson had the bases loaded in both the eighth and ninth innings and failed to score a run. Clemson left 13 runners on base, compared to just five for Florida Atlantic.

Florida Atlantic took the lead with three runs off Tiger reliever Donovan Harrison in the seventh inning. Brian Dodge started the uprising with a single to left and he advanced to second on a single to the same field by Tom Murphy. That brought Bou to the plate and he responded with a three-run homer to left. It was his second home run in two games at Tiger Field. He had not hit a home run for the Owls over their first 16 games of the season.

Clemson threatened in the eighth and the ninth, loading the bases in each inning. But, Kurt Bultmann struck out with three on in the eighth and Doug Roper fouled out down the left field line with the bases loaded in the ninth, ending the game and Clemson’s winning streak.

Clemson scored all five of its runs in the bottom of the second on six hits. Brian Ellis had a two-run double and Roper had a two-run single to provide the key hits of the frame. Clemson had a balanced offense on the day as all nine starters had a hit by the fifth inning. Ellis and Casey Stone were the only Clemson players with at least two hits.

Matt White started and went six innings and allowed just two earned runs. He struck out five and walked just one. Tim Burton, the Owl starter, got the win to improve to 2-0. Mike Carney and Brett Schreyer handled the last three innings. They combined to walk three and give up two hits, but they did not allow a run. Schreyer got the save, while Harrison took the loss for Clemson.