Clemson Baseball Tests Cajuns In Elimination Game Tuesday At 3:00 PM EDT

June 12, 2000

CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson (51-17) and Louisiana-Lafayette (48-19) will go up against each other at 3:00 PM EDT in an elimination game at Rosenblatt Stadium on ESPN. Clemson will be the visiting team and will occupy the first-base dugout. The winner of the game will play Stanford Wednesday at 7:00 PM EDT. Tuesday’s winner must defeat Stanford twice to advance to the national championship game on Saturday.

Clemson and Louisiana-Lafayette (formerly known as Southwestern Louisiana) have met just twice, with both meetings coming in the UNLV Desert Classic from March 2-3, 1991. The Cajuns won the first game by a 13-8 score, while the Tigers were victorious in the other game by a 17-5 score.

Clemson arrived at this point by defeating San Jose State on Friday by a 10-6 score. Stanford then downed the Tigers 10-4 on Sunday. Louisiana-Lafayette fell to Stanford on Friday, and downed San Jose State 6-3 on Sunday.

The Tigers and Cajuns have had four common opponents, two of which are Stanford and San Jose State. The other two were East Carolina and South Carolina. Clemson split two games with East Carolina early in the season at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, while Louisiana-Lafayette beat East Carolina twice in two games in the Lafayette (LA) Regional. The Gamecocks downed Clemson twice in two games in midweek games. The Cajuns defeated South Carolina twice in three games in the Columbia (SC) Super Regional to advance to Omaha.

The Cajuns, led by sixth-year Head Coach Tony Robichaux, is 14-13 on opponents’ home fields and 4-3 in neutral contests in 2000. The Cajuns entered the College World Series with a .295 team batting average and 3.20 ERA. Junior lefthander Justin Gabriel, who started the first Cajun game of the College World Series, is expected to start for the Cajuns. Clemson is hitting .323 against lefties in 2000.

Clemson freshman righty Jarrod Schmidt (9-0, 3.69 ERA) will start on the mound for the Tigers. Schmidt did not pitch in the Super Regional, therefore his last outing came against Middle Tennessee on May 28. Schmidt is 3-0 with a 3.94 ERA in five starts away from home. Schmidt throws as high as the low 90s and exhibits poise beyond his age.

Stanford Sends Tigers to Losers’ Brackett With 10-4 Win Stanford hit 12 singles and Justin Wayne pitched 7.2 innings to earn his 15th win as the Cardinal downed Clemson 10-4 Sunday in the College World Series. The top-ranked Cardinal scattered 12 Tiger hits, as Clemson was just 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position, including 0-for-8 in the first three innings. Kevin Lynn started and pitched 3.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits. Lynn suffered the loss. The Tigers used seven pitchers on the day. Casey Stone and Henr’ Stanley led the Tigers with three hits apiece. Joe Borchard paced the Cardinal with three hits, three runs, and two RBIs. Clemson left 11 runners on base.

Clemson Tops Spartans 10-6 in College World Series Opener Clemson scored eight runs in the second inning, its highest ever output in a single inning by a Tiger team in the College World Series, as the #3 Tigers downed #7 San Jose State 10-6 on June 9. The previous record by a Tiger club was five runs, which occurred on three different occasions. The eight-run outburst started with four Tigers reaching via singles and was highlighted by Patrick Boyd’s three-run homer to left field. Clemson, who added two more runs in the third inning, had all 10 of its runs and nine of its 10 hits in the first three innings. Ryan Mottl earned the win despite allowing nine hits and five earned runs in 5.0 innings. The win was the senior’s 10th of 2000, becoming the first Tiger to rach double digits since Mottl won 10 games as a freshman in 1997. Steve Reba pitched 4.0 scoreless innings in relief to earn the save. He allowed just two hits and one walk, and worked out of a second-and-third jam with no outs in the seventh inning without allowing a run. It was Clemson’s first opening game win in the College World Series in its last six appearances in Omaha.

Clemson Making Ninth Trip to College World Series Clemson is making its ninth trip to the College World Series in its history, and its first since 1996. Clemson also made it to Omaha in 1995 and 1991. In 1996, Clemson went 2-2, including dramatic wins over Oklahoma State and Alabama. The 1996 team featured the likes of National Player-of-the-Year Kris Benson and All-American Billy Koch.

This year’s team is quite a contrast from the 1996 team. There are no All-Americans and no players whose numbers jump out at. There are even no 2000 first-team all-conference players on this year’s squad. But there was a tenacious desire of 25 players and four coaches, in particular Jack Leggett, to make it back to Omaha.

Clemson is 7-17 all-time in Omaha. The Tigers made it to Omaha in Bill Wilhelm’s first two seasons at Clemson, 1958 and 1959. He also guided Clemson to Omaha in 1976, 1977, 1980, and 1991. Wilhelm was 4-12 in the College World Series. Jack Leggett has taken Clemson to two previous College World Series, 1995 and 1996. He owns a 3-5 record in Omaha. Leggett was a member of Maine’s baseball team that played in the College World Series in 1976.

Clemson’s NCAA Tournament History Clemson (51-17) enters the game against Louisiana-Lafayette with more wins than it’s totaled since 1996, when Clemson finished 51-17. The 1996 season was the last trip to Omaha for the Tigers. The Tigers have now participated in 26 NCAA Tournaments overall and 14 in a row.

Only Miami (FL), Florida State. Clemson has also won at least one game in all 14 of the regionals. Clemson’s 26 appearances also ranks seventh in the nation, while the 14-year run ranks tied for sixth all-time in NCAA history. Clemson has a 70-54 (.565) all-time record in the tournament, including a 41-28 (.594) record during the 14-year run.

Jack Leggett has a 25-14 (.641) record in NCAA Tourney play as the Tiger Head Coach as well. Leggett was 4-10 in the tourney at Western Carolina in five years (1985-89), therefore is 29-24 (.547) in 11 career NCAA Tourneys.

Last season, Clemson lost in the opening round of the Fayetteville (AR) Regional to Southwest Missouri State by a 23-5 score. But in the next two days, Clemson won four games, including two over Southwest Missouri State to advance to the Super Regional at College Station (TX), hosted by Texas A&M. After getting blitzed in the first game 20-3, Clemson won game two 10-3 and led in game three 4-3 entering the top of the ninth inning, but two solo homers off Tiger star closer Chris Heck ended the Tiger season.

Tiger Streaks Rank Third Best in the Country Clemson has won at least 40 games for 15 straight seasons. The Tigers reached that mark against #4 Florida State on May 8, a 7-4 Tiger win. Clemson is also participate in its 14th straight NCAA Tournament. Both marks rank in the top-three in the country currently. Clemson is tied for third in the nation in consecutive tournament appearances, trailing only Miami (FL) (28) and Florida State (23). Wichita State also a 14-year run in the tournament. As far as consecutive 40-win seasons, Clemson is third in the country with its 15-year streak. The Tigers trail only Florida State (23) and Wichita State (23) in that area.

Tiger Bats Alive And Well in Postseason Clemson’s 9-3 record in postseason play can be attributed to the hot Tiger bats, as Clemson is hitting .343 in its 12 postseason games. The Tigers are averaging 9.1 runs per game and 12.4 hits per contest. The team also has a .423 on-base percentage and is 21-27 on stolen bases. The Tigers have committed just 13 errors in 12 games for a .972 fielding percentage.

In the 12 postseason games, Henr’ Stanley leads the team with a .583 batting average and a .667 on-base percentage. Justin Singleton is hitting .361, while Patrick Boyd’s is hitting .389 with two homers and 16 RBIs and a .459 on-base percentage. Casey Stone is hitting .379 with 12 RBIs. Jeff Baker also has four homers and 15 RBIs in the postseason. Khalil Greene is hitting at a .352 clip with seven doubles, a triple, and homer in the postseason as well.

Noteworthy Jeff Baker has 11 homers in 2000. No other Tiger has more than six. His 11 homers is tied for second most by a Tiger freshman in a season. Matthew LeCroy hit 15 long balls in 1995 and Jim McCollom hit 11 homers in 1982.

Khalil Greene is hitting .362 overall. He is also hitting a team-best .439 with runners in scoring position. In 15 career NCAA Tournament games, Greene has 11 doubles

Casey Stone is 41-for-his-last-88 (.466) over the last 20 games. He is also 67-for-165 (.406) since becoming the everyday leadoff hitter 37 games ago.

After starting the season 1-for-28, Justin Singleton is 34-for-89 (.382) since. He is also hitting .450 (9-for-20) in the NCAA Tournament and has raised his overall batting average to .299.

Patrick Boyd’s is a career .432 hitter in 18 career NCAA Tournament games.

Henr’ Stanley is 12-for-19 (.632) with a .696 on-base percentage in the 2000 NCAA Tournament. In his career, Stanley is hitting .393 with a .519 on-base percentage in 20 career NCAA Tourney games.

Ryan Riley is hitting .304 overall, but is hitting .417 with two outs and .417 with runners in scoring position.

Nick Glaser’s 15 saves is the most in a season in Tiger history. He broke the record of 14, held Scott Winchester (1995). He was named a Third-Team All-American by NCBWA.

Scott Berney started the season by not allowing a run in his first 32.2 innings pitched, which is a Clemson record.

Jarrod Schmidt were both named Freshman All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball.

Seven of Clemson’s 25 players on the postseason roster are freshman.

Clemson has a .344 team batting average in its seven NCAA Tournament games. Meanwhile, the pitching staff has a 3.57 ERA and .241 opponent batting average in the NCAA Tourney.

Clemson is 7-3 in one-run games and 8-3 in two-run games this year.

Clemson is 36-3 when it totals 10 hits or more in a game. The three losses came at #1 South Carolina in 12 innings, against #3 Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament, and to #1 Stanford in the College World Series.

Clemson was 37-5 at home this season, breaking the school record for home wins. The Tigers broke the record of 34 set in 1996.

Clemson averaged 2,833 fans in its 39 home dates. That is a 874-fan per date increase from last season. Both Super Regional games saw the school attendance record fall, as 6,392 fans saw Clemson down Mississippi State on June 3 to advance to the College World Series.

Individual Player Miscellaneous Batting Stats Below is a look at Tiger batters’ batting averages in certain situations.

Clemson’s 339 Wins Since 1994 Fifth In The Nation The barometer of a great season in college baseball is getting to Omaha and winning 50 games. Since Jack Leggett took over as Clemson’s head coach in ’94, the Tigers have won 339 games for over a 48-win average. Leggett has led Clemson to four 50-win seasons and three appearances in the College World Series in seven seasons. Included in that total is 87 wins over top-25 teams and a 41-16 (.719) record against SEC teams.