Clemson Crushes Georgia Southern in Baseball, 20-8

March 12, 2002

CLEMSON, SC – Clemson got hits from 12 different Tigers, 10 of which knocked in runs, in a 20-8 victory over Georgia Southern on Tuesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The start of the game was delayed for 20 minutes because of rainy conditions all day in Clemson, but the damp and frigid weather did not cool off the Tiger bats. Clemson pounded out 23 hits total and moved to 11-0 on the season while dropping Georgia Southern, who had won 12 straight, to 12-6.

Khalil Greene went 5-5 with a walk and three RBIs to lead seven Tigers with multiple hits and five with multiple RBIs. Jeff Baker also had a solid game, hitting 2-4 with two walks and four RBIs. Ryan Childs (2-0) picked up his second win in as many starts for Clemson. The junior gave up four runs over six innings while striking out four. Scott Tolbert (0-1) picked up the loss for Georgia Southern

Geogria Southern’s Chris Walker began the scoring by sending Childs’ second offering of the game deep to left field. Clemson answered in the bottom of the inning when Jeff Baker single up the middle scored Kyle Frank. After another run by Georgia Southern in the second, Clemson took the lead for good in the bottom of the frame with seven runs.

Designated hitter Jeff Hourigan, who went 3-4, led off the inning with his first career home run. David Slevin knocked in Zane Green with an RBI single and then the Tigers loaded the bases with walks by Frank and Greene. A walk by Baker plated one run and then another run scored on Johnson’s ground out. Greene and Baker scored a few pitches later off of a wild pitch by Tolbert and an error by catcher Brendan Gilligan. Jarrod Schmidt then blasted the next pitch over the left field fence to end the scoring in the second.

The Tigers added another run in the third inning off of Greene’s sacrifice fly for a 9-2 lead, but the scoring did not end there. Michael Johnson’s eighth home run of the year highlighted a four-run fourth that gave the Tigers a 13-2 advantage.

Georgia Southern added a pair of runs in the top of the fifth before Greene hit his third home run of the season. The Eagles added a pair of runs in the seventh and eighth inning, but Clemson responded with runs each time. Russell Triplett’s single to right field scored two of Clemson’s four runs in the seventh and the Tigers added a pair of runs in the eighth to make the final margin 20-8.

The two teams will square off again tomorrow at 4:00 PM at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.