Clemson Baseball Weekly Wrapup

May 4, 2009

Clemson University Overall Season Record: 32-16 ACC Regular-Season Record: 16-11

Last Week: 2-1 Sat. W, Home vs. Maryland, 11-2 Sun. W, Home vs. Maryland, 7-4 (Game 1) Sun. L, Home vs. Maryland, 8-6 (Game 2)

Next Week Wed. Neutral* vs. Furman, 7:00 PM Fri. Home vs. UNC Wilmington, 6:30 PM Sat. Home vs. UNC Wilmington, 6:30 PM Sun. Home vs. UNC Wilmington, 1:00 PM * – Greenville, SC (Fluor Field)

Notes Clemson, ranked as high as #17 in the nation, went 2-1 in three games this past week, all games against Maryland at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Clemson locked up an ACC Tournament berth over the weekend as well.

Clemson won two of three games against Maryland at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on May 2,3. Clemson outscored the Terrapins 24-14 and outhit them .348 to .221, including a .395 to .133 advantage with runners in scoring position. Mike Freeman went 6-for-12 (.500) with two doubles and three walks, John Nester went 5-for-8 (.625), and Jason Stolz went 5-for-12 (.417) with two doubles and three RBIs in the series. The Tiger pitching staff had a 3.00 ERA as well.

In game-one on May 2, Clemson totaled 15 hits, including eight extra-base hits, on its way to an 11-2 victory over Maryland. The Tigers broke the game open with four runs in the fifth inning and never looked back. Brad Miller had a game-high three hits, while Chris Epps added two hits and two RBIs. Wilson Boyd and Richard Mounce added solo home runs as well. Ryan Hinson pitched 2.2 scoreless innings in relief of one-hit ball with four strikeouts to earn the win. Four Tiger pitchers combined to allow just five hits and two unearned runs. The four hurlers also limited Maryland to just 1-for-18 with runners on base, as the Terrapins stranded 12 runners on base in the game.

In game-two on May 3, which was the first game of a doubleheader, Clemson scored three runs in the sixth inning and beat Maryland 7-4. Jeff Schaus gave Clemson an early lead with a two-run homer in the first inning. The Terrapins took a 3-2 lead with two runs in the top of the sixth inning, but Ben Paulsen led off the bottom of the sixth with a homer to tie the score. The Tigers later scored two more runs in the frame to take the lead for good. The Tigers outhit Maryland 9-7 and totaled four extra-base hits. Reliever Scott Weismann earned his first career win by allowing no hits and one run in 2.2 innings pitched, while Matt Vaughn recorded the save with a scoreless ninth inning.

In game-three on May 3, which was the second game of a doubleheader, Tyler Bennett’s two-run single in the ninth inning broke a 6-6 tie and lifted Maryland to an 8-6 win over Clemson. The Tigers had a 6-4 lead before two costly errors set up Matthew Murakami’s two-out, two-run triple in the sixth inning to tie the score. Clemson also left the bases loaded in both the sixth and seventh innings without scoring a run. Clemson, who outhit the Terrapins 15-11, put 23 batters on base, but it scored just six runs and stranded 13 runners on base. The win was Maryland’s first at Clemson since 1992, snapping the Tigers’ 23-game home winning streak over the Terrapins.

The Tigers sport a 32-16 overall record and 16-11 ACC mark on the season, good for second place in the ACC Atlantic Division standings behind first-place Florida State (18-7). With the Seminoles’ three-game sweep of Virginia Tech this past weekend, they clinched the division title and will either be the #1 or #2 seed in the ACC Tournament. The Tigers can be anywhere from the #3 to #8 seed in the ACC Tourney. Clemson also has a 24-7 home record, 7-9 road record, and 1-0 neutral-site mark.

Clemson is hitting .296 with a .449 slugging percentage and .387 on-base percentage in 48 games. Paulsen is hitting a team-best .381 with 15 doubles, four triples, 10 homers, and 50 RBIs, while Schaus is hitting .331 with 10 doubles, one triple, nine homers, 34 RBIs, a .435 on-base percentage thanks to 30 walks against only 15 strikeouts, and seven stolen bases. Kyle Parker has added 10 homers and 47 RBIs, while Freeman is 11-for-20 (.550) with eight walks in the last six games, all against ACC foes, to raise his season batting average to .319.

The pitching staff has a 3.59 ERA and .250 opponents’ batting average along with 405 strikeouts against 148 walks in 433.1 innings pitched this season. The Tigers are fielding at a .968 clip as well.

Casey Harman is 5-3 with a 3.83 ERA and 50 strikeouts against only 10 walks in 56.1 innings pitched over 17 appearances (eight starts). Graham Stoneburner has 62 strikeouts in 54.2 innings pitched, while Chris Dwyer has 63 strikeouts in 59.2 innings pitched. Tomas Cruz and Vaughn are tied for the team-lead with three saves apiece. Weismann has allowed just 12 hits (.176 opponents’ batting average), two runs (0.93 ERA), and five walks with 18 strikeouts. His 17-scoreless-innings-pitched streak came to an end this past weekend as well.

The Tigers will return to action on Wednesday night when they travel to Greenville, SC to take on Furman at Fluor Field. The Tigers will be the designated visiting team for the neutral-site contest. Then over the weekend, Clemson will host UNC Wilmington in a three-game series at Doug Kingsmore Stadium beginning Friday at 6:30 PM.