Search Shop
Announce
Clemson Baseball Weekly Wrapup

Clemson Baseball Weekly Wrapup

May 2, 2010

Clemson University Overall Season Record: 27-17 ACC Regular-Season Record: 11-10

Last Week: 2-1 Sat. L, Home vs. Florida Gulf Coast, 4-2 Sun. W, Home vs. Florida Gulf Coast, 9-3 (Game 1) Sun. W, Home vs. Florida Gulf Coast, 7-6 (Game 2)

Next Week Mon. Home vs. Florida Gulf Coast, 6:30 PM Fri. Away vs. Maryland, 6:00 PM Sat. Away vs. Maryland, 1:00 PM Sun. Away vs. Maryland, 1:00 PM

Notes Clemson, ranked as high as #25 in the nation, went 2-1 in the first three games of the four-game series against Florida Gulf Coast over the weekend. The Tigers are hitting .314 while outscoring the Eagles 18-13 in the series. Mike Freeman is 7-for-12 (.583) with two doubles, one homer, four RBIs, four runs, two walks, and two steals. Clemson is also 10-10 on stolen bases, while the Tiger pitching staff has a 4.00 ERA and .318 opponents’ batting average in the series.

In game-one on May 1, Luke Smierciak’s two-run homer in the eighth inning propelled Florida Gulf Coast to a 4-2 win over Clemson. Tim Roberson’s two-run homer in the top of the fourth gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead, but Brad Miller hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth and Freeman’s run-scoring single in the fifth tied the score. Clemson put runners on second and third in the ninth inning, but Freeman grounded out to end the game. Chris Sale tossed 8.0 innings, allowing four hits, two runs, and two walks with 10 strikeouts to earn the win. Clemson stranded nine runners on base, including six in scoring position.

In game-two on May 2, which was the first game of a doubleheader, Clemson scored in six of its eight innings at the plate in its 9-3 win over Florida Gulf Coast. The Tigers took a 4-2 lead with two runs in the third inning and led the rest of the way. Freeman went 2-for-4 with a homer, double, two RBIs, and two runs, while Scott Weismann pitched the first 5.0 innings to earn the win, then Tomas Cruz pitched 4.0 scoreless innings in relief to record the save. It was also Jack Leggett’s 750th career victory as Clemson’s head coach.

In game-three on May 2, which was the second game of a doubleheader, Jeff Schaus’ two-out single scored the go-ahead run in Clemson’s 7-6 win over Florida Gulf Coast. The Tigers scored three runs in the seventh inning to take a 5-4 lead, but an error helped the Eagles score two runs in the top of the eighth to regain the lead. Addison Johnson led off the bottom of the eighth with a single, stole second, and tied the score on Freeman’s run-scoring single. Alex Frederick retired all five batters he faced to earn the win. Freeman went 3-for-3 with two steals, while Schaus went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Clemson outhit the Eagles 15-12 , had six steals, and snapped its 12-game losing streak in games decided by two runs or less.

During the week, the Tigers hit .314 with a .467 slugging percentage, .381 on-base percentage, 18 runs, seven doubles, three homers, 10 walks, and 10 stolen bases. The pitching staff had a 4.00 ERA and .318 opponents’ batting average along with 18 strikeouts against 11 walks in 27.0 innings pitched. The Tigers also had a .973 fielding percentage.

Freeman led the Tigers at the plate by going 7-for-12, while Schaus was 5-for-12 with four RBIs. Will Lamb added three stolen bases as well.

On the season, the Tigers sport a 27-17 overall record, including a 22-8 home record, 4-8 road mark, and 1-1 neutral-site record. The Tigers, who are 11-10 in the ACC, are in second place in the ACC Atlantic Division standings behind Florida State (14-7). Boston College is third in the division with a 12-12 record, while N.C. State is fourth at 11-13. Virginia and Miami (FL) are tied for the overall ACC lead at 18-6, while Georgia Tech is third overall with a 17-7 record. The Tigers are sixth in the overall ACC standings.

Clemson, who has been ranked in the top 25 by at least one poll every week since the start of the 2009 season (a span of 29 weeks), is hitting .302 with a .484 slugging percentage and .408 on-base percentage thanks to 257 walks and 39 hit-by-pitches in 44 games. The Tigers have also accumulated 58 homers, 92 doubles, seven triples, 77 steals, and are averaging 8.4 runs per game.

Parker leads the team with a .367 batting average, 16 homers, five doubles, 43 RBIs, 51 runs, a .720 slugging percentage, a .495 on-base percentage, and four steals in 41 games. John Hinson is hitting .347 with nine homers, eight doubles, 49 RBIs, and a team-high 16 stolen bases in 41 games (31 starts), while Schaus is batting .318 with eight homers and a team-high 57 RBIs. Chris Epps (14) and Lamb (10) have totaled double-digit steals as well.

The pitching staff has a 4.64 ERA and .275 opponents’ batting average along with 307 strikeouts against 146 walks in 396.0 innings pitched on the season.

Casey Harman is 5-1 with a 3.31 ERA and .232 opponents’ batting average along with 60 strikeouts against 18 walks in 70.2 innings pitched over 11 starts. Frederick is 2-1 with a 3.55 ERA and two saves in 33.0 innings pitched over a team-high 20 relief appearances.

Clemson will conclude its four-game home series against Florida Gulf Coast on Monday night before it travels to College Park, MD to take on Maryland in a three-game series starting Friday night.

News