Clemson Baseball Weekly Wrapup

April 21, 2008

Clemson University Overall Season Record: 19-20-1 ACC Regular-Season Record: 7-13-1

Last Week: 1-3-1 Tue. L home vs. Western Carolina, 6-2 Wed. L home vs. #10 South Carolina, 6-0 Fri. W away vs. Duke, 7-4 Sat. L away vs. Duke, 1-10 Sun. T away vs. Duke, 6-6 (10 innings)

Next Week Tue. Away vs. Western Carolina, 7:00 PM Wed. Neutral (Greenville, SC (Fluor Field)) vs. Presbyterian, 7:15 PM Fri. Home vs. Virginia Tech, 7:15 PM Sat. Home vs. Virginia Tech, 7:00 PM Sun. Home vs. Virginia Tech, 1:00 PM

Notes Clemson went 1-3-1 in five games this past week, including losing midweek home games to Western Carolina (6-2) and #10 South Carolina (6-0) before splitting a three-game series at Duke 1-1-1 over the weekend.

Western Carolina scored two runs in the seventh inning and three runs in the ninth to down Clemson 6-2 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on April 15. Matt Sanders hit his first career home run in the third inning. But with the Tigers ahead 2-1, Barrett Shaft hit a two-out, two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning. Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Clemson had runners at second and third with one out, but the Tigers failed to tie the score. Then a costly Tiger error led to three Catamount runs in the ninth inning. Shaft went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, while Reid Rollison went 3-for-3 with a home run for the Catamounts. Western Carolina outhit Clemson 12-5 as well.

Nick Godwin pitched 7.2 scoreless innings of three-hit ball to lead #10 South Carolina to a 6-0 victory over Clemson at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on April 16. With the win, the Gameocks won the season series 4-0. Godwin allowed just three singles, no runs, and three walks with seven strikeouts to earn his second win over the Tigers in as many weeks. He and Craig Thomas combined for 10 strikeouts and allowed just three singles in the game. South Carolina scored five runs in the fourth inning behind five extra-base hits, including back-to-back home runs by Justin Hopper and Scott Wingo. Reese Havens and Whit Merrifield added three hits apiece for the Gamecocks, who had 13 hits in the contest.

Clemson split a three-game series at Duke by going 1-1-1 from April 18-20. The Blue Devils outscored Clemson 20-14 in the series despite being outhit .287 to .286. Jeff Schaus led the Tigers by going 8-for-13 (.615) in the series. Mike Freeman added five hits, while Sanders hit three doubles. Clemson pitchers combined to walk just two batters against 17 strikeouts as well.

In game-one on April 18, Clemson pounded out 14 hits and snapped its 11-game losing streak with a 7-4 victory over Duke. The Tigers took the lead in the sixth inning on Chris Epps’ two-out, two-run single. Clemson scored two runs in the seventh inning on Kyle Parker’s two-run single and two more runs in the eighth inning. Five Tigers totaled at least two hits, including three hits apiece by Freeman and Schaus. Parker and Epps both added two hits and two RBIs as well. D.J. Mitchell pitched 7.0 strong innings to earn the win, while Matt Vaughn pitched 2.0 scoreless innings to record the save.

In game-two on April 19, Christopher Manno struck out 12 batters in 5.2 innings pitched to lead Duke to a 10-1 win over Clemson. Manno, making his first ACC appearance of the season, allowed only four hits, no runs, and three walks to earn the win. The Blue Devils broke the game open with five two-out runs in the sixth inning on Matt Williams’ three-run double and Nate Freiman’s two-run homer. Williams totaled four RBIs, while Freiman went 3-for-3 with two homers and three RBIs. Clemson had only seven hits, including two by Schaus. Duke’s win snapped Clemson’s 11-game winning streak in the series.

In game-three on April 20, Clemson and Duke played to a 6-6 tie in 10 innings. The Blue Devils scored two runs apiece in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to take a 6-2 lead. But with two outs in the ninth inning, Doug Hogan hit a run-scoring single and Ben Paulsen followed with a three-run homer to tie the score. After a scoreless 10th inning, Parker hit a two-run homer to give Clemson an 8-6 lead. However, inclement weather halted play. After over an hour of rain, the game was called due to unplayable field conditions, resulting in the final score reverting back to the score at the end of the 10th inning. The Tigers outhit Duke 12-9, including three hits by Schaus.

During the week, the Tigers hit .236 with a .304 on-base percentage and 16 runs scored in five games. The pitching staff had a 5.00 ERA and .302 opponents’ batting average, while Clemson fielded at a .964 clip.

Schaus led the Tigers by going 9-for-18 (.500) with two walks and one hit-by-pitch on the week. Sanders added three doubles, a homer, and three RBIs as well. In three relief appearances, Vaughn recorded one save in 9.0 innings pitched. He also allowed nine hits, two runs, and no walks with 10 strikeouts.

The Tigers have a 19-20-1 overall record and 7-13-1 ACC mark on the season, good for seventh place in the league standings. The team is hitting .276 with a .362 on-base percentage. Clemson is fielding at a .963 clip as well.

Freeman leads Clemson with a .319 batting average on the season. Paulsen is hitting .313 with 11 homers and 31 RBIs, while Hogan has 12 doubles, nine homers, and 39 RBIs.

The pitching staff has a 4.74 ERA and .276 opponents’ batting average in 2008. Vaughn has nine saves and 30 strikeouts against only six walks.

The Tigers will travel to Cullowhee, NC to play at Western Carolina on Tuesday night before playing Presbyterian for the first time in 58 years on Wednesday night at Fluor Field in Greenville, SC. Then over the weekend, Clemson will host Virginia Tech for a three-game series.