Clemson Baseball Team to Play Host to Presbyterian College Tuesday Evening

April 11, 2011

Clemson vs. Presbyterian College Clemson (18-13) will host Presbyterian College (18-15) on Tuesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 PM. The game will be available live via webcast on TigerCast at ClemsonTigers.com. The game will also 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.

Watch Clemson vs. Presbyterian College Live on TigerCast!

The Series Clemson and Presbyterian College have met 79 times on the diamond, with the Tigers holding a 59-20 lead in the series dating to 1906. The two teams last met on March 16, 2011 at Fluor Field in Greenville, SC, as the Blue Hose was victorious 4-3.

During the 2010 campaign, the Tigers topped Presbyterian College 8-2 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. In 2009, the Tigers won by a score of 8-0, and in 2008 at Fluor Field in Greenville, SC, the Tigers topped Presbyterian College 12-7. Prior to that contest, the two teams had not met since the 1950 season, when Clemson won both meetings by scores of 15-2 at Presbyterian College and 11-10 (10 innings) in Tigertown.

The Tigers own a 34-7 advantage over the Blue Hose in games played at Clemson, while Clemson leads 2-0 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

The Starting Pitchers Presbyterian College will start junior lefthander Steven Richardson (4-2, 3.89 ERA) on the mound. The Howe, TX native has made seven relief appearances and six starts for a total of 44.0 innings pitched. He has allowed 40 hits (.245 opponents’ batting average) and 14 walks with 23 strikeouts.

The Tigers will counter with graduate righthander Justin Sarratt (1-1, 3.24 ERA) on Tuesday. The Gaffney, SC has made five relief appearances and four starts for a total of 25.0 innings pitched. He has yielded 26 hits (.263 opponents’ batting average) and three walks with 25 strikeouts.

The Blue Hose Presbyterian College, led by seventh-year Head Coach Elton Pollock, enters Tuesday’s game at Clemson with an 18-15 overall record after suffering a three-game sweep at home at the hands of Coastal Carolina over the weekend. The Blue Hose has a 4-4 record on opponents’ home fields in 2011.

Presbyterian College is averaging 5.6 runs per game and hitting .302 with a .428 slugging percentage and .378 on-base percentage. The Blue Hose has also totaled 56 doubles, six triples, 25 home runs, and 29 steals.

Brad Zebedis is hitting a team-high .445 with 14 doubles, nine homers, and 33 RBIs. Andrew Williams is batting .357 with nine doubles, four triples, and 19 RBIs, while Tony Micklon is hitting .328 with 10 doubles, nine home runs, and 33 RBIs.

The pitching staff has a 4.33 ERA and .278 opponents’ batting average along with 155 strikeouts against 111 walks in 293.0 innings pitched. Freshman righthander Chandler Knox has a 3-1 record, four saves, and a 3.26 ERA in 30.1 innings pitched over 17 appearances (two starts). The Blue Hose is fielding at a .963 clip as well.

The Tigers Clemson enters Tuesday’s game against Presbyterian College with an 18-13 overall record and 6-9 ACC mark after winning two of three games against Maryland at home over the weekend. The Tigers sport a 16-5 home record in 2011.

The Tigers are averaging 7.4 runs per game and hitting .317 with a .453 slugging percentage and .418 on-base percentage. Clemson has also totaled 62 doubles, 13 triples, 18 homers, and 47 stolen bases.

Brad Miller leads the ACC in batting average (.423) and on-base percentage (.545) along with totaling nine steals. Miller, the reigning ACC Player-of-the-Week, has tallied at least two hits in six straight games and three hits in three consecutive games. Jeff Schaus is hitting .330 with 26 walks against only nine strikeouts.

The pitching staff has a 3.78 ERA and .242 opponents’ batting average in 273.2 innings pitched. The staff has allowed 101 walks against 234 strikeouts. Junior righty David Haselden has two saves and a 2.47 ERA in 12 appearances (four starts). The Tigers are fielding at a .965 clip as well.

Worth Noting Tuesday’s game against Presbyterian College is Clemson’s 32nd game in a row in the Carolinas to start the season. The streak will end when the Tigers play at Boston College this weekend. Clemson is hitting .350 with runners in scoring position in 2011.

ACC Standings The Tigers are in third place in the ACC Atlantic Division standings with a 6-9 league record. In the division, Florida State is in first place with a 9-6 record, while Boston College is second at 6-8. Virginia holds the overall ACC lead at 13-2. In the overall ACC standings, Clemson is in seventh place.

Miller Receives National & ACC POTW Honors Brad Miller was one of four Division I players named national player-of-the-week by Collegiate Baseball on April 11 for his performances in five games from April 5-10. He also received ACC Player-of-the-Week honors, his first as a Tiger.

In the five games during the week, all at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, he went 14-for-21 (.667) with two doubles, two triples, seven RBIs, eight runs, a .952 slugging percentage, and .696 on-base percentage. He had at least two hits in each of the five games during the week and totaled at least three hits and two RBIs in each game against Maryland over the weekend. Against the Terrapins, he was 10-for-13 (.769). He raised his season batting average from .333 at the start of the week to .423 by the end of the week.

Miller added two walks and four steals in four attempts to lead Clemson to four wins in five games. In the field, he did not commit an error in 28 chances at shortstop, which included several highlight-reel plays.

Four Former Tigers on Major League Rosters Four former Clemson baseball players are on Major League rosters in 2011. The list includes two members of the Chicago Cubs, Jeff Baker and Tyler Colvin. Former pitchers Jason Berken and Tony Sipp are also in the Majors.

Baker is in his seventh season in the Majors and third year with the Chicago Cubs. Baker, who is tied for the Tiger record with 59 career home runs, played for the Rockies in the 2007 World Series. Baker entered the 2011 season with 262 hits and 30 home runs in his Major League career.

Berken, who played at Clemson in 2003, 2004, and 2006, had an 18-6 record and 3.04 ERA in 47 appearances (36 starts). He made his Major League debut with Baltimore in 2009 and is in his third Major League season with the Orioles. In 2010, Berken had a 3.03 ERA in 41 relief appearances.

Colvin, in his third Major League season, saw limited action with the Chicago Cubs in the latter stages of the 2009 season before bursting onto the scene in a big way in 2010. He was one of the best rookies in the National League in 2010 when he totaled 18 doubles, five triples, 20 home runs, and 56 RBIs in 135 games.

Sipp, who batted .280 and had a 2-2 pitching record for the Tigers in 2004, was called up to Cleveland in 2009 and is in his third year with the Indians. Entering the 2011 season, Sipp had a 3.67 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 103.0 innings pitched over 116 relief appearances in his Major League career.

Tigers Win Two Games at Home Against Maryland Clemson won two of three games over Maryland by a combined score of 25-10 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium from April 8-10. Clemson outhit the Terrapins .347 to .213 and totaled eight doubles, four triples, one homer, 19 walks, and seven steals. Brad Miller went 10-for-13 (.769) with two doubles, two triples, six RBIs, five runs, and two steals. Jeff Schaus added three hits, six runs, and six walks. The Tiger pitching staff had a 3.33 ERA and 24 strikeouts against 12 walks, while Clemson committed just two errors.

In game-one on April 8, Clemson scored five runs in the second inning and defeated Maryland 12-3. The Terrapins scored three runs in the fifth inning to narrow Clemson’s lead to 6-3, but the Tigers scored four two-out runs in the sixth inning to pull away. Miller went 3-for-4 with a double, triple, three runs, and two RBIs to lead Clemson, who had 13 hits in the game. Schaus and Will Lamb went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs, and two runs. Jonathan Meyer pitched the final 4.1 innings to earn the win. He allowed just two hits, no runs, and one walk with five strikeouts.

In game-two on April 9, Scott Firth and David Haselden combined for a three-hit shutout in Clemson’s 7-0 win over Maryland. Firth worked out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the first inning and cruised the rest of the way. He allowed just two hits with five strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched to earn the win. Haselden yielded only one hit and no walks with three strikeouts to record the save. The Tigers scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back. Miller went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs to pace Clemson, who had 13 hits in the game. Shaffer added three hits, while Phil Pohl hit a two-run homer.

In game-three on April 10, Michael Montville’s single scored Alfredo Rodriguez with one out in the ninth inning for the winning run in Maryland’s 7-6 victory over Clemson. The back-and-forth game saw the Tigers tie the score in the sixth inning, but Clemson was kept off the scoreboard for the rest of the game. Rodriguez, who went 3-for-4, led off the ninth with a double before he scored the winning run. Miller went 4-for-5 with a triple and two RBIs, while Shaffer totaled two doubles and two RBIs. Both teams had nine hits, but Clemson stranded nine runners on base and could not take advantage of nine walks and one hit-by-pitch by Maryland pitchers.