Clemson Defeats No. 10 Auburn, 9-4

Feb. 8, 1998

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Clemson scored seven runs in the sixth inning to defeat 10th-ranked Auburn 9-4, claiming the Olive Garden Classic Championship. Clemson’s wins over South Florida, Central Florida, and Auburn in the tournament came against teams that all participated in the 1997 NCAA Tournament.

Sophomore Mike Paradis (1-0) picked up the victory in relief of starter Skip Browning. The Auburn, MA native pitched four innings, allowing two hits, two walks, and no runs, while striking out five. Starter Hayden Gliemmo (0-1) took the loss for Auburn. Gliemmo was Auburn’s first lefthanded starter in seven years and 387 games.

Clemson (3-0) was led at the plate by juniors Derek Borgert and Kurt Bultmann, who each had two hits and two RBIs. One of Borgert’s hits was a home run, his first roundtripper since his freshman season. Auburn (1-2) was led by Chad Wandall, who went 2-for-4.

Down 4-1 in the sixth inning, Clemson rallied for seven runs on three hits and three Auburn errors. After a Jason Harris one out single, Borgert connected on an opposite field home run to cut the Auburn lead to 4-3. Then, Auburn pitchers walked five of the next eight batters and Auburn fielders committed two costly errors as Clemson took a commanding 8-4 lead.

Clemson added a run in the seventh inning on Doug Roper’s RBI fielder’s choice, scoring Matt Padgett, who had walked.

Clemson’s next action will be on Friday against East Carolina at 3:00 PM at Tiger Field. The two teams will also play on Saturday (2:00 PM) and Sunday (1:00 PM).

Auburn    0 3 0  1 0 0  0 0 0 -   4  8  5Clemson   0 0 1  0 0 7  1 0   -   9  7  2WP - Paradis (1-0); LP - Gliemmo (0-1)3B - Hyde (1)HR - Borgert (1)Start:  12:00 PMTime:  2:53