Clemson Baseball Weekly Wrapup

April 12, 2009

Clemson University Overall Season Record: 23-12 ACC Regular-Season Record: 11-7

Last Week: 3-2 Tue. L, Away vs. South Carolina, 7-6 Wed. W, Home vs. South Carolina, 7-5 Sat. L, Home vs. #5 Miami (FL), 12-8 (Game 1) Sat. W, Home vs. #5 Miami (FL), 9-1 (Game 2) Sun. W, Home vs. #5 Miami (FL), 9-6

Next Week Tue. Away vs. Western Carolina, 6:00 PM Wed. Home vs. Western Carolina, 6:30 PM Fri. Away vs. Virginia Tech, 5:30 PM Sat. Away vs. Virginia Tech, 5:30 PM Sun. Away vs. Virginia Tech, 1:00 PM

Notes Clemson, ranked as high as #20 in the nation, went 3-2 in five games this past week, which included a split of a home-and-home midweek series against South Carolina and two wins in three games versus #5 Miami (FL) at home over the weekend.

In the Tigers’ split of the series against South Carolina on April 7,8, Clemson outscored the Gamecocks by a combined score of 13-12 and outhit them .242 to .239. Kyle Parker went 4-for-8 with two doubles and four RBIs, while Ben Paulsen added two doubles and two RBIs.

DeAngelo Mack’s two-run single in the ninth inning lifted South Carolina to a 7-6 come-from-behind win over Clemson at Carolina Stadium on April 7. The Tigers took a 6-5 lead with two outs in the seventh inning on John Nester’s run-scoring, infield single. But the Gamecocks put their first two batters on base in the ninth and later loaded the bases before Mack’s sharp single through the right side gave South Carolina the walkoff win. Parker had a team-high three RBIs, while Paulsen drove in two runs. Tomas Cruz pitched 4.0 stellar innings in relief, allowing just one hit, one run, and no walks with five strikeouts.

Chris Epps’ pinch-hit, run-scoring single with two outs in the fifth inning gave Clemson a lead it never relinquished in its 7-5 win over South Carolina at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on April 8. The Tigers scored three runs in the third inning, highlighted by Addison Johnson’s two-run homer. Clemson then scored three runs in the fifth inning to take the lead for good. Parker went 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI, while Wilson Boyd added two RBIs. Relievers Matt Vaughn, Craig Gullickson, and Graham Stoneburner combined to pitch the final 6.0 innings, allowing just four hits and two runs with five strikeouts. Vaughn earned the win, while Stoneburner recorded his first career save.

Clemson won two of three games against Miami on April 11,12. Clemson outscored the Hurricanes 26-19 and outhit them .352 to .255. The Tigers also hit .405 with runners in scoring position and .452 with two outs. Jeff Schaus went 7-for-14 with four runs, Boyd totaled six hits and five runs, and Parker went 4-for-10 with two homers and seven RBIs in the series.

In game-one on April 11, which was the first game of a doubleheader, Miami hit three home runs in the first three innings and defeated Clemson 12-8. The Tigers outhit Miami 17-13, but Hurricane batters walked seven times while the Tigers did not draw a walk. Thirteen of Clemson’s 17 hits came with two outs, but the Hurricanes put six leadoff batters on base and scored in five of the first six innings. Miami scored two runs in the second inning and never trailed again. Dave DiNatale went 2-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs to pace the Hurricanes. Schaus went 4-for-5 with two runs, while Nester and Parker hit opposite-field home runs for the Tigers.

In game-two on April 11, which was the second game of a doubleheader, Chris Dwyer pitched a complete game two-hitter to lead Clemson to a 9-1 win over Miami. Dwyer pitched 9.0 innings, allowing only two hits, one run, and four walks with 10 strikeouts to earn the victory. He allowed only two runners to advance past first base and one runner to advance past second base. Paulsen’s two-run triple and Parker’s two-run homer in the first inning gave the Tigers an early lead. Paulsen had a game-high three hits for the Tigers, who totaled 10 hits in the game. Clemson also walked six times and struck out just twice.

In game-three on April 12, Sanders went 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs to lead Clemson to a 9-6 win over Miami. Sanders hit a three-run homer in the second inning to give the Tigers the lead for good. The Tigers held a 9-4 lead before the Hurricanes chipped away with two runs in the seventh inning, but Clemson turned a crucial double play later in the frame. The Hurricanes also loaded the bases in the ninth inning before Clemson pulled out the win. Boyd added three hits, Schaus went 2-for-5 with two runs, and Parker had two RBIs. Stoneburner earned the win in relief, while Cruz pitched 2.0 scoreless innings to record the save.

During the week, the Tigers outhit their two opponents .310 to .248 and outscored them 39-31. The Tigers also had a .477 slugging percentage and .396 on-base percentage along with eight steals in 10 attempts. The pitching staff had a 5.28 ERA along with 36 strikeouts against 27 walks in 44.1 innings pitched.

Parker had an outstanding week on two fronts. On the diamond, he went 8-for-18 (.444) with two doubles, two homers, 11 RBIs, four runs, and three walks in the five games. He had at least one hit and one RBI in all five games (and at least two RBIs in four of the five games) during the week. In a remarkable day on Saturday, he first led his White squad to a 30-13 win in Clemson’s Spring Football Game by completing 13-21 passes for 171 yards and one touchdown against no interceptions along with a rushing touchdown, then he rushed over to Doug Kingsmore Stadium to play a doubleheader against the Hurricanes, as he missed the first few innings of the first game after running from the football stadium. In the doubleheader, he was 3-for-7 with two homers and five RBIs.

Schaus added to the Tigers’ .310 batting average on the week by going 8-for-21 (.381), while Paulsen went 7-for-21 (.333) with three doubles, two triples, and six RBIs. Sanders went 6-for-10 (.600) with a homer and seven RBIs as well.

The Tigers sport a 23-12 overall record and 11-7 ACC mark on the season, good for first place in the ACC Atlantic Division standings. Boston College and Florida State are tied for second place in the division with a 9-7 record. Clemson is also tied for the second-best ACC record among all 12 teams, as it only trails Georgia Tech (10-5-1) and is tied with Miami (11-7).

On the season, Clemson is hitting .292 with a .442 slugging percentage and .383 on-base percentage while scoring 6.6 runs per game. Clemson has also totaled 59 doubles, 10 triples, 34 homers, 164 walks against 198 strikeouts, and 45 stolen bases in 59 attempts.

Paulsen is hitting a team-best .384 with 12 doubles, four triples, seven homers, and 39 RBIs, while Schaus is up to .302 with a .427 on-base percentage thanks to 26 walks against only 12 strikeouts. Parker is batting .286 with seven home runs and 33 RBIs. One of Clemson’s hottest hitters is Sanders, who is batting .347 with five doubles, three homers, and 16 RBIs in only 72 at-bats.

The pitching staff has a 3.76 ERA and .245 opponents’ batting average along with 293 strikeouts against 106 walks in 318.1 innings pitched. The team is fielding at a .967 clip as well.

Dwyer has a 4-2 record and 4.40 ERA along with 46 strikeouts in 47.0 innings pitched over a team-high nine starts. Opponents are only hitting .210 against the freshman lefthander. Cruz has a team-high three saves and a 2.20 ERA in 28.2 innings pitched over 14 relief appearances. Opponents are only hitting .160 against Cruz as well.

The Tigers will play four of their five games on the road this upcoming week. Clemson will travel to Cullowhee, NC to take on Western Carolina on Tuesday night before hosting the Catamounts on Wednesday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Then over the weekend, the Tigers will travel to Blacksburg, VA to take on Virginia Tech in a three-game series. In the last four weekends, only two of the 24 ACC series have resulted in a sweep. Virginia Tech had one of those two sweeps when it won all three games at Maryland this past weekend.