Clemson Baseball to Play Host to Elon Tuesday and Wednesday

March 25, 2008

Clemson vs. Elon Clemson (14-7) will play host to Elon (19-4) in a two-game, midweek series at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Game times are 7:15 (Tuesday) and 7:15 (Wednesday). The series will conclude Clemson’s 12-game homestand.

Tuesday’s game will be shown live via webcast at ClemsonTigers.com for both games.

Tuesday: Watch Clemson vs. Elon Live on ACC Select!

The Series Clemson and Elon have met 11 times (all at Clemson) on the diamond, with the Tigers holding a 6-5 lead in the series. In 1920, Elon defeated the Tigers 6-3. The two teams did not meet again until 80 years later, when Clemson came away with a 17-5 victory in 2000.

In 2007, Elon outlasted Clemson by a score of 13-12. The Tigers won both regular-season meetings in 2006 by scores of 5-3 and 7-4. The two teams also met in the 2006 Clemson Regional, as the Tigers came away with a 13-3 victory in that contest.

Jack Leggett is 6-4 against Elon as Clemson’s head coach and was 1-3 against the Phoenix as Western Carolina’s head coach. Therefore, he is 7-7 all-time against Elon.

The Starting Pitchers In game-one, Elon will start junior lefthander Cory Harrilchak (2-0, 4.64 ERA) on the mound. The Cary, NC native has made four starts and three relief appearances for a total of 21.1 innings pitched. He has allowed 25 hits (.291 opponents’ batting average) and seven walks with 17 strikeouts.

Clemson will counter with freshman righthander Trent Rothlin (1-0, 18.90 ERA) on Tuesday. The Hickory, NC native has made four relief appearances for a total of 3.1 innings pitched. Rothlin, who will be making his first career start, has allowed five hits (.333 opponents’ batting average) and five walks with two strikeouts.

Elon’s starter for Wednesday’s game has yet to be determined.

The Tigers will start freshman lefthander Craig Gullickson (2-0, 1.56 ERA) on Wednesday. The Palm Beach Gardens, FL native has made three starts and three relief appearances for a total of 17.1 innings pitched. He has yielded 15 hits (.238 opponents’ batting average) and five walks with 16 strikeouts.

The Phoenix Elon, led by 12th-year Head Coach Mike Kennedy, enters the series at Clemson with a 19-4 overall record and 4-2 Southern Conference mark after winning two of three games at Wofford over the weekend. Elon also sports a 4-2 road record in 2008.

Elon is averaging 9.1 runs per game and hitting .327 with a .444 on-base percentage thanks to 137 walks and 38 hit-by-pitches. The team also has a .515 slugging percentage and has stolen 52 bases in 68 attempts.

Chris Dove is hitting .411 with eight doubles, five triples, four homers, 16 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases. Bennett Davis is batting .385 and leads the team in homers (7) and RBIs (32). Donny Jobe is hitting .337 with eight stolen bases as well.

The pitching staff has a 4.11 ERA and .257 opponents’ batting average along with 180 strikeouts against 96 walks in 203.2 innings pitched. Freshman righthander Thomas Girdwood has a 3.24 ERA and team-high four saves. Elon is fielding at a .960 clip as well.

The Tigers Clemson enters the series against Elon with a 14-7 overall record and 4-5 ACC mark after winning two games against N.C. State over the weekend. The Tigers, who are 12-4 at home, have had 14 of their 21 games decided by three runs or less.

The Tigers are hitting .319 with a .397 on-base percentatge and .514 slugging percentage thanks to 43 doubles, five triples, and 30 home runs in 21 games. The team has also swiped 26 bases, including a team-high seven by Stan Widmann.

Kyle Parker leads the team with a .391 batting average along with five doubles, six homers, and 15 RBIs. Wilson Boyd is hitting .341 with five homers and 25 RBIs, while Doug Hogan has totaled eight doubles, seven home runs, and 25 RBIs.

The pitching staff has a 4.31 ERA and .272 opponents’ batting average. Righthander Matt Vaughn has struck out 19 against just five walks in 12.1 innings pitched and has six saves in 10 relief appearances. The Tigers are fielding at a .963 clip as well.

Eight Tigers hail from the state of North Carolina, including Boyd (Hickory), Trent Rothlin (Hickory), Josh Thrailkill (Arden).

Worth Noting Fourteen of Clemson’s 21 games, including 12 of the last 14 games, have been decided by three runs or less.

Mitchell Keeping Things Grounded Junior righthander D.J. Mitchell (Rural Hall, NC) has a penchant for groundball outs. With the sinking action on all his pitches, he has made his mark by keeping the ball down in the strikezone and forcing opponents into groundball outs.

In 2007, his first season to appear on the mound in a Tiger uniform, he had 69 groundball outs compared to just 31 flyball outs. This season, he has had similar results, as he has thrown 38 groundball outs and 22 flyball outs. Therefore in his career, he has 107 groundball outs compared to only 53 flyball outs, better than a 2-to-1 ratio.

On the season, Mitchell has a 2-2 record and 3.24 ERA. In 33.1 innings pitched over five starts and two relief appearances, he has allowed 32 hits (.254 opponents’ batting average) and 15 walks with 31 strikeouts.

Stoneburner Pitches Shutout vs. N.C. State Doug Kingsmore Stadium on March 23. In 9.0 innings pitched, he allowed just two singles (one of which was an infield hit), no runs, and one walk with seven strikeouts in throwing 118 pitches and facing only 31 batters. He earned ACC Pitcher-of-the-Week honors for his effort.

He did not allow an N.C. State baserunner to reach third base, while only one advanced to second base in the game, which lasted only one hour and 58 minutes. The individual shutout was the Tigers’ first since June 4, 2005, when Josh Cribb blanked #22 College of Charleston 6-0 in the Clemson Regional.

Stoneburner also picked up two wins in two starts during one week against North Carolina-Greensboro and Boston College the week prior to his outing against the Wolfpack. In 9.0 innings pitched during those two outings, he combined to allow just six hits, one run, and one walk with eight strikeouts. He also faced just 31 batters (four over the minimum).

Tigers Outpitch Wolfpack to Win Two Games Clemson won two of three games over N.C. State from March 21-23 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Tigers outscored the Wolfpack 9-7 and outhit N.C. State .278 to .211 in the series. Kyle Parker went 6-for-11 (.545) to lead the Tigers. Clemson also had a 1.67 ERA and struck out 21 against only four walks. Six Tiger pitchers combined to allow just three hits in 31 at-bats with runners on base as well.

In game-one on March 21, N.C. State rallied for a 5-4 victory over Clemson at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. In the fifth inning, Ben Paulsen hit a three-run homer and Parker followed with a solo home run to give Clemson a 4-2 lead. But the Wolfpack responded with back-to-back solo homers by Ryan Pond and Russell Wilson in the sixth inning to tie the score. Then in the eighth inning, Nick Stanley’s sacrifice fly scored the go-ahead run. The Tigers had a runner at second base with no outs in both the eighth and ninth innings, but they were unable to score in each frame. Clemson, who had 16 batters reach base, stranded 10 baserunners. Parker led the Tigers with three hits.

In game-two on March 22, Clemson scored three runs in the seventh inning to defeat N.C. State 3-2 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Wolfpack scored two unearned runs in the sixth inning thanks to two Tiger errors. But in the seventh inning, singles by Parker, Matt Vaughn pitched 2.0 hitless and scoreless innings to record the save. The two Tiger hurlers held N.C. State batters to 0-for-13 with runners on base and 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

In game-three on March 23, Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Stoneburner allowed just two singles and one walk with seven strikeouts to record the Tigers’ first individual shutout since 2005. He threw 118 pitches and allowed just one Wolfpack player to reach second base, while none reached third base in a game that lasted just one hour and 58 minutes. Clemson scored two runs in the first inning. Wilson Boyd brought home Clemson’s first run on an RBI groundout, while Doug Hogan later stole third and scored on a throwing error on the play. Hogan had a game-high two hits, including a double and triple.