Clemson Baseball Team to Face Presbyterian College in Greenville Wednesday

March 15, 2011

Clemson vs. Presbyterian College Clemson (7-6), ranked as high as #16 in the nation, will face Presbyterian College (10-6) on Wednesday at Fluor Field in Greenville, SC. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Clemson will be the designated home team and occupy the first-base dugout. The game will be broadcast live on the radio by WCCP (104.9 FM) out of Clemson and can be heard live on the internet at ClemsonTigers.com as well.

The Series Clemson and Presbyterian College have met 78 times on the diamond, with the Tigers holding a 59-19 lead in the series dating to 1906. The two teams last met on May 18, 2010 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, as the Tigers were victorious 8-2.

In 2009, the Tigers won by a score of 8-0, and in 2008 at Fluor Field in Greenville, SC, the Tigers topped the Blue Hose 12-7. Prior to that game, the two teams had not met since 1950, when Clemson won both meetings by scores of 15-2 at Presbyterian College and 11-10 (10 innings) in Tigertown.

The Tigers lead 3-2 in neutral-site matchups, including a 1-0 advantage at Fluor Field. Jack Leggett has a 3-0 mark against Presbyterian College as Clemson’s head coach, including a 1-0 record at Fluor Field.

The Starting Pitchers Presbyterian College will start junior lefthander Steven Richardson (1-2, 4.50 ERA) on the mound. The Howe, TX native has made four relief appearances and two starts for a total of 18.0 innings pitched. He has allowed 19 hits (.275 opponents’ batting average) and eight walks with seven strikeouts.

The Tigers will counter with junior lefthander Will Lamb (0-0, 6.35 ERA) on Wednesday. The Seaford, VA native has made one start and one relief appearance for a total of 5.2 innings pitched. He has yielded six hits (.286 opponents’ batting average) and one walk with seven strikeouts.

The Blue Hose Presbyterian College, led by seventh-year Head Coach Elton Pollock, enters Wednesday’s game against #16 Clemson with a 10-6 overall record after sweeping North Carolina Central in a three-game series at home over the weekend. The Blue Hose has yet to play a neutral-site contest in the 2011 season.

Presbyterian College won its first four games of the season, then it lost its next six games. But the Blue Hose has won its last six games entering Wednesday’s game and has scored at least 11 runs in four straight contests. The team is averaging 7.3 runs per game and hitting .340 with a .476 slugging percentage and .414 on-base percentage. The Blue Hose has also totaled 32 doubles, three triples, 13 home runs, and 21 steals.

Brad Zebedis is hitting a team-high .450 with six doubles, five homers, and 21 RBIs. Tony Micklon is batting .426 with seven doubles, three home runs, and 20 RBIs, while Mack Hite is hitting .393. Andrew Williams leads the team with five stolen bases.

The pitching staff has a 4.12 ERA and .282 opponents’ batting average along with 87 strikeouts against 49 walks in 142.0 innings pitched. Righthanders Chandler Knox and Nick Ferguson have one save apiece. The Blue Hose is fielding at a .965 clip as well.

The Tigers Clemson, ranked as high as #16 in the nation, enters Wednesday’s game against Presbyterian College with a 7-6 overall record and 0-3 ACC mark after #6 Virginia swept the Tigers at Doug Kingsmore Stadium over the weekend. The Tigers sport a 1-1 neutral-site record, with both games at Fluor Field in Greenville, SC.

The Tigers are averaging 7.8 runs per game and hitting .315 with a .429 slugging percentage and .427 on-base percentage. Clemson has also totaled 21 doubles, four triples, seven homers, and 22 stolen bases. Clemson has cumulatively outscored its opponents in each of the nine innings this season as well.

Brad Miller is batting .385 with a .545 on-base percentage and four steals, but he suffered a broken finger on March 11 and will likely be out of action for at least two weeks. Chris Epps has a team-tying-high five steals.

The pitching staff has a 3.52 ERA and .236 opponents’ batting average in 115.0 innings pitched. The staff has allowed 29 walks against 85 strikeouts. David Haselden has the team’s lone save, while Jonathan Meyer has a 2.61 ERA and .194 opponents’ batting average in 10.1 innings pitched over five relief appearances. The Tigers are fielding at a .977 clip as well.

Worth Noting Clemson has cumulatively outscored its opponents in each of the nine innings this season.

Polls The Tigers fell 12 spots to #16 in the Collegiate Baseball poll this week after going 0-4 in four games last week. Clemson also fell six spots to #16 in the Baseball America poll and dropped 10 spots to #17 in the Sports Weekly poll. With Clemson’s top-25 ranking this week, it marks the 42nd week in a row the Tigers have been ranked in the top 25 of at least one of the three major polls dating back to the start of the 2009 season.

Clemson has had at least one final top-25 ranking in 14 of Head Coach Jack Leggett’s first 17 seasons in Tigertown. The Tigers have also been ranked #1 for 20 weeks by at least one of the three major polls under Leggett. Their last #1 ranking came on February 12, 2007 by both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball.

Epps Walking His Way Into Recordbook Senior outfielder Chris Epps (Stone Mountain, GA) has used is excellent eye at the plate for four seasons in a Tiger uniform. He is among the best in school history in drawing “free passes,” as he has 114 in 448 at-bats over 165 career games. He has one walk for every 3.93 at-bats in his career, the third-best mark in Clemson history.

In 13 games in 2011, Epps is hitting .277 with two homers, eight RBIs, a team-tying-high five stolen bases, and a .443 on-base percentage thanks to 13 walks in 47 at-bats (one walk every 3.62 at-bats).

Cavaliers Hand Tigers Sweep in ACC Opener The #6 Virginia Cavaliers swept #4 Clemson by a combined score of 20-13 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium from March 11-13. The Tigers suffered their first three-game sweep at home since 2008. Virginia outhit the Tigers .308 to .223 and stole six bases. Will Lamb went 5-for-11, while Jeff Schaus went 5-for-12 with two doubles and four RBIs in the series. The Tiger pitching staff had a 4.67 ERA, while the Virginia pitching staff had a 2.67 ERA with 42 strikeouts.

In game-one on March 11, Danny Hultzen and Justin Thompson combined for 18 strikeouts in Virginia’s 5-0 win over Clemson. Hultzen struck out 14 batters in 6.2 innings pitched to earn the victory. He also went 1-for-2 at the plate with a game-high two RBIs. The Tigers were held to just five hits, all of which came in the first three innings. The Tigers did have several scoring opportunities, but they stranded 10 runners on base. Schaus had a game-high two hits to lead the Tigers. The Cavaliers ended Clemson’s 147-game streak of scoring at least one run.

In game-two on March 12, Virginia scored three runs in the eighth inning and one run in the ninth inning to rally for an 8-7 win over Clemson. Virginia built a 4-1 lead, but Brad Miller had a game-high three hits, while Schaus went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs. In game-three on March 13, Steven Proscia went 4-for-5 with a homer, double, and three RBIs to lead Virginia to a 7-6 win over Clemson. The Tigers rallied from a 3-0 deficit to take the lead with four runs in the second inning. But Proscia’s two-run homer in the third inning gave the Cavaliers the lead for good. Clemson had several scoring chances thanks in part to four Virginia errors, but fell one run short. The Tigers stranded 10 runners on base, including seven in scoring position. Lamb had a team-high three hits, while Schaus added a double and two RBIs. Jonathan Meyer pitched 5.0 scoreless innings in relief of three-hit ball as well.