Clemson Baseball Weekly Wrapup

March 18, 2007

(Week of March 12 – March 18, 2007)

Clemson University Overall Season Record: 14-4 ACC Regular-Season Record: 3-0

Last Week: 4-0 Wed. W home vs. Georgia Southern, 3-0 Fri. W home vs. Duke, 6-4 Sat. W home vs. Duke, 7-2 Sun. W home vs. Duke, 9-6

Next Week Tue. Away vs. Western Carolina, 7:00 PM Fri. Away vs. Maryland, 7:00 PM Sat. Away vs. Maryland, 1:00 PM Sun. Away vs. Maryland, 1:00 PM

Notes

Clemson went 4-0 in four games last week to up its winning streak to six games. The Tigers shut out Georgia Southern 3-0 on Wednesday, then swept Duke over the weekend.

Four pitchers combined to hold Georgia Southern to three hits in #6 Clemson’s 3-0 victory at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on March 14. David Kopp earned the win by tossing 5.0 innings of two-hit ball, while Matt Zoltak, Stephen Clyne, and Daniel Moskos combined to pitch the final 4.0 innings to close out the win. Moskos also earned the save with a scoreless ninth inning. The Tigers upped their scoreless innings streak against the Eagles to 44 innings over the last five meetings. Ben Paulsen hit a run-scoring double in the sixth inning, then Doug Hogan’s RBI single in the eighth gave the Tigers an insurance run. Clemson had 10 hits as a team as well.

Clemson then swept Duke by a combined score of 22-12 in three games from March 16-18 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Tigers hit .297 to Duke’s .214 in the series, including a team-best 6-for-11 (.545) by Addison Johnson. Brad Chalk was also 5-for-10 (.500) with four walks. Moskos recorded two saves, while the Tigers had a 3.00 team ERA and 26 strikeouts. The Tigers also increased their ACC home winning streak to 21 (dating back to 2005) and their overall ACC winning streak to 16 (dating back to 2006).

In game-one on March 16, Clemson jumped out to a 6-0 lead and held on for a 6-4 victory over Duke in the Tigers’ ACC opener. Clemson scored two runs in the third inning, then Taylor Harbin’s three-run homer in the fifth inning put the Tigers ahead 5-0. Duke scored three unearned runs in the eighth inning after the first two batters were retired, then put the tying run on first base in the ninth before Moskos shut the door to earn the save. Starter P.J. Zocchi pitched 7.0 scoreless innings of three-hit ball with eight strikeouts to record the win. The Blue Devils outhit the Tigers 8-6, but Clemson turned two crucial double plays in the game.

In game-two on March 17, Clemson totaled 12 hits, including seven for extra bases, in its 7-2 win over Duke. The Tigers scored four runs on five hits in the first inning, capped by Marquez Smith’s two-run homer. Johnson led off the fourth with his first career home run, then a two-out, two-run single by Andy D’Alessio gave Clemson a 7-0 lead. Every Tiger starter had at least one hit, including two hits and three RBIs by D’Alessio. D.J. Mitchell pitched 2.2 scoreless innings in relief with four strikeouts to close out the game. Both teams were errorless as well.

In game-three on March 18, five Tiger relievers combined to pitch 7.0 scoreless innings in Clemson’s 9-6 victory over Duke. Matt Vaughn earned his first career win by pitching 4.0 scoreless innings, while Moskos pitched a perfect ninth inning to record the save. The Blue Devils scored four runs in the first inning, but the Tigers answered with four runs in the bottom of the first, capped by J.D. Burgess’ two-out, two-run single. Burgess tallied the first three RBIs of his career. Duke scored two more runs in the third inning, then Clemson regained the lead in the bottom of the third with three runs, including the go-ahead run on David Bunnell’s two-out, run-scoring single. All nine Tiger starters scored a run, while only four of Clemson’s nine runs were earned thanks to two costly Blue Devil errors.

In four games during the week, Clemson hit .303 with nine doubles and three homers, while its opponents hit just .189 while scoring only 12 runs. Johnson was a team-best 7-for-14 (.500) with a triple, homer, and three RBIs, while Chalk was 6-for-14 (.429) with four walks.

The pitching staff had a 2.25 ERA and struck out 33 against 13 walks. Moskos earned three saves in his three relief appearances, while Vaughn did not allow an earned run or walk and struck out five in 5.0 innings pitched over two relief outings. Six Tiger relievers combined to pitch 15.2 innings in relief during the week, as they allowed just 11 hits and one earned run, good for an 0.57 ERA.

Chalk upped his streak of reaching base via a hit or walk to 45 games, and he also is riding a 10-game hitting streak. He has hit safely in 41 of those 45 games and is hitting a team-best .460 with a .568 on-base percentage overall. Hogan is hitting .400 and Smith has a team-high 17 RBIs as well.

Clyne has pitched 31.1 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to 2006, just behind the school record of 32.2 scoreless innings by Scott Berney (2000). Since allowing three earned runs in his first inning of the year, Vaughn has pitched the last 11.1 innings in a row without allowing an earned run. He has a 2.19 ERA and .213 opponents’ batting average overall. Zocchi is 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA this season, and a perfect 10-0 in his career. Moskos has added a team-high five saves in 2007 as well.

The Tigers have a .290 team batting average and .372 on-base percentage through 18 games. The pitching staff has a 2.96 ERA and .229 opponents’ batting average, and has 151 strikeouts in 161.1 innings pitched.

Clemson will play all four of its games this upcoming week on the road, starting with a game at Western Carolina on Tuesday at 7:00 PM. Head Coach Jack Leggett, who has 999 career victories, will try to beat the team that he once served as head coach at from 1983-91. Then over the weekend, Clemson will travel to College Park to take on Maryland in a three-game series beginning Friday. Twelve of the Tigers’ next 19 games will be on the road.