Clemson Baseball Downs New York Tech, 24-3

March 30, 2001

Clemson, SC–Michael Johnson belted out two home runs and a double and drove in five runs to lead 12th-ranked Clemson to a 24-3 win over New York Tech Friday night at Kingsmore Stadium. It was the first meeting in history between the two schools. Clemson improved to 19-8 with the win, while New York Tech fell to 4-8-1.

The same two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday. The first game will begin at 3:00 PM and the second game will start at 7:00 PM. Sunday’s game scheduled for 1:00 PM has been cancelled.

Johnson homered in the first and fifth innings and had a double in the fourth. The Clemson first baseman now has eight home runs for the year to tie Jeff Baker for the team lead. He was 3-6 at the plate for the night and is now 17 for his last 32 at the plate, a .567 average.

Clemson established a season high for runs scored and hits. The 24 runs scored were the most since the 1999 season when Clemson scored 24 runs in a 24-4 victory over Georgia Tech at Kingsmore Stadium.

Steve Reba was Clemson’s starter and winner. He is now 5-0 for the season and 9-0 over two years. He has not lost this century. His last loss took place in May of 1999. Reba allowed two hits within the first three batters he faced and allowed an unearned run. But, he did not allow a hit over his last 4 1/3 innings. He was pulled in the top of the sixth with Clemson holding a 14-1 lead. Clemson’s pitching staff allowed just one earned run all night.

Khalil Greene did not have a hit in the game, but did set an all-time Clemson record and tie another. Clemson’s starting shortstop was hit by a pitch three times in the game, including twice in the sixth inning alone. He set a Clemson record for being hit by a pitch in a game and he now has been hit by a pitch 39 times in his career, tying Gary Burnham’s all-time mark.

In addition to Johnson’s production on Friday, Jeff Baker and Jarrod Schmidt each drove in three runs. Baker had two hits and three runs scored in addition to his RBI total. Casey Stone had three hits from the leadoff slot in the order and scored three times.

Clemson scored three runs in the first inning on a walk to Stone, a single by Kyle Frank, a sacrifice fly by Greene, a ground out by Jeff Baker and a home run by Johnson. The Tigers added five runs on five hits in the second to take an 8-1 lead. Clemson added nine runs in the sixth on five hits and two New York Tech errors.