Clemson Baseball Falls to Elon 11-2 Wednesday Night

May 7, 2003

Clemson, SC – Former Daniel High School standout Brian Hensen allowed no earned runs and scattered seven hits in 7.0 innings to lead the Elon Phoenix to an 11-2 victory over #14 Clemson Wednesday evening at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Hensen (4-2) did not walk a batter in earning the win. Elon improves to 29-20-2 overall. Freshman Brett Murphy suffered the loss for the Tigers, falling to 1-1 on the season. Clemson drops to 33-15 on the season.

Elon took an early 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the second. Chris Price led off the inning with a double to left center and advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt by Murphy that rolled into center field. Price then scored on Holt Montgomery’s grounder to the right side.

The Phoenix tacked on three more runs in the top of the third. Gary Morris walked and later scored when Brian Ingram reached on a fielding error. After stealing second and advancing to third on a grounder, Ingram scored on Robbie Smith’s single to left field. Two batters later, Paul Bennett plated Smith on a single to center.

Elon increased their lead to 5-0 in the fourth when Morris walked, advanced to second and third on wild pitches, and then scored on George Brandner’s single to left.

Elon scored four more runs in the sixth inning. Evan Tartaglia lead off with an infield hit. Morris then reached on a catcher’s interference call. After Ingram bunted both runners over, Tartaglia and Morris scored on a broken bat single up the middle by Brandner. After Smith walked, Bennett then doubled down the right field line scoring Brandner and Smith.

The Phoenix extended their lead to 11-0 in the seventh after singles by Tartaglia and Morris. Ingram’s double drove in Tartaglia. Morris scored on Brandner’s sacrifice fly to left.

Clemson got on the board in the bottom of the seventh inning. David Slevin singled to center and advanced to third when Ryan Hub reached on a throwing error. Collin Mahoney plated both runners with a single up the middle.

The Tigers travel to Greenville on Thursday to take on the Furman Paladins at 7:00 PM. The game can be heard on Clemson Tiger Sports Properties and followed on the Clemson’s website at www.clemsontigers.com.