Clemson Matches Up With Georgia Tech In First Round Of ACC Tournament

May 19, 2002

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Clemson vs. Georgia Tech Number-four seeded Clemson (44-12) will play #5 seed Georgia Tech (44-12) Wednesday, May 22 at Saint Petersburg, FL in the first round of the ACC Tournament. Game time is 10:00 AM for the game at Al Lang Field and Florida Power Park. Clemson will be the home team. The winner of the game will move on to play Thursday at 5:00 PM againt the winner of the Florida State-“play-in game” winner. The two losers will play Thursday at 10:00 AM. All of Clemson’s ACC Tournament games will be broadcast on the radio by Clemson Tiger Sports Properties and can be heard live via the internet at www.clemsontigers.com. Live stats will also be available on Clemson’s website.

The Series Georgia Tech won two of three games over Clemson from May 4-6 in Atlanta, GA to tie the all-time series 83-83-3 dating back to 1902. Clemson won the series opener 12-9, while the Yellow Jackets won games two and three 15-6 and 11-0, respectively. Head Coach Jack Leggett is 18-14 against Georgia Tech as the Tiger skipper, including a 3-3 record in ACC Tournament play.

Clemson is 10-7 against Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament. The Yellow Jackets, however, have a three-game winning streak against Clemson in the tourney, including wins of 8-4 and 9-8 in the 2000 tournament at Fort Mill, SC. Prior to the Georgia Tech’s three-game streak, Clemson had won eight in a row over the Yellow Jackets in ACC Tournament play.

The Starting Pitchers Neither team has determined a starter for Wednesday’s game. Georgia Tech has a 4.13 team ERA and 2.93 team strikeout-to-walk ratio. Clemson sports a 4.06 team ERA and .257 opponents’ batting average.

Georgia Tech Overview Georgia Tech, led by ninth-year Head Coach Danny Hall, is coming off two wins in three games against North Carolina in Atlanta, GA. The 2000 ACC Tournament Champions are hitting .332 this year, led by Victor Menocal’s .382 batting average. Eric Patterson, a leading candidate for ACC Rookie-of-the-Year, is hitting .373 with a .464 on-base percentage and 33 stolen bases. Georgia Tech has 113 steals as a team, including eight players with at least seven steals. Freshman Jeremy Slayden is hitting .349 with 16 homers and 53 RBIs as well. Georgia Tech has a .960 team fielding percentage.

Clemson Overview Clemson enters the ACC Tournament after a three-game sweep to the hands of #2 Florida State at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Tigers, who are hitting .328, are led by Khalil Greene, who is hitting .476 with 21 homers and 73 RBIs. Greene needs just four hits to move into second place in NCAA history for hits. Greene is also riding a 22-game hitting streak, tied for fourth-longest in Clemson history. Jeff Baker is hitting .332 with 21 homers and 70 RBIs, as he has 55 career long balls in under three seasons. The Tigers have a .971 fielding percentage, best ever in school history.

Clemson’s ACC Tournament History Clemson has won eight ACC Tournaments in history, more than any other school. This is the 29th ACC Baseball Tournament and Clemson has been to the finals in 19 of the previous 28 tournaments, 10 more than any other school. Clemson has an 84-43 record in ACC Tournament games. The 84 wins are 21 more than any other school. The Tigers also have the most first-team All-ACC Tournament players with 38, eight more than N.C. State.

While Clemson has had unique success in the ACC Tournament, the Tigers will be looking for their first championship since 1994. That was Jack Leggett’s first year as Clemson’s head coach. Clemson defeated Florida State 4-1 in the championship game held in Greenville Municipal Stadium.

Leggett has been on the field to accept the championship trophy twice, however. In 1993, then Head Coach Bill Wilhelm was suspended for the championship game. Leggett, then the top assistant for the Tigers, was in charge for that 1993 championship game, an 11-7 win over N.C. State. Clemson’s eight tournament titles came in 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1989, 1991, 1993, and 1994. Wilhelm is credited with the first seven tournament championships.

Clemson has been a consistent team in tournament play. The Tigers have won at least two tournament games in 26 of their previous 28 appearances. The only years Clemson did not win at least two games were 1998 (0-2) and 2001 (1-2). While Clemson has not won the title since 1994, Clemson has been to the championship round four of the last six years.

Only nine times in the 28-year history has a #1 seed won the tournament. Clemson has done it five times, while Georgia Tech, and North Carolina have done it twice each. Clemson last won the tournament as the #1 seed in 1994, the last time Clemson won the tournament.

The Tigers have won the ACC Tournament with a perfect record five times. Clemson was 3-0 in 1976 and 1978 in winning both events at Clemson, then had a 4-0 record in winning the title in Raleigh in 1980. Clemson’s only other perfect run through the tournament came in 1991, when a Clemson team that won a record 60 games had a 5-0 mark in the ACC Tournament held in Greenville, SC.

This will be the second time the tournament has been held in Saint Pete. Clemson had a 3-2 record in that ’97 tournament and reached the championship round before losing to Florida State, 10-0.

Clemson has a winning record against every other ACC team in tournament play with the exception of Florida State. Clemson is 7-8 against the Seminoles in the event. The Tigers are 8-2 against Duke, 10-7 versus Georgia Tech, 12-0 versus Maryland, 14-9 against North Carolina, 13-9 against N.C. State, 10-4 versus Virginia and 10-4 versus Wake Forest. That computes to an 84-43 record and a .661 winning percentage. Only Florida State (.673) has a better winning percentage than Clemson in ACC Tournament play.

Clemson was the dominant team when the ACC Tournament was played in Greenville from 1987-95. In those nine tournaments, Clemson posted a 36-12 record, won the event four times, and finished second on two other occasions. Clemson won at least three games in eight of the nine tournaments held in Greenville.

The success was reflected in the attendance. Each of the top eight ACC tournament crowds in history were held in Greenville, including the record 43,675 that attended the 1992 event. The last time the tournament was held in Saint Petersburg, FL, 32,141 attended, the largest attendance for the tournament since it left Greenville in 1996.

The ACC Tournament began in 1973 and has been held every year but one since then. In 1979, Clemson won the regular-season title and was declared conference champion. The tournament was not held because of a scheduling conflict between school exam schedules and the tournament. Clemson has been the declared conference champion 13 times in its history, more than any other school.

Clemson will enter the ACC tournament as the #4 seed this year. The Tigers have won the tournament without being a top three seed just once. That came in 1993, Bill Wilhelm’s final season, when the Tigers were 11-11 in the regular season and seeded fifth in the tournament.

NCAA Regional Information The pairings, brackets, and site selection for the 64-team field will be announced on espn2 on Monday, May 27 at 12:30 PM EDT. In previous years, the sites have been announced the week before the pairings, but that is not the case this year. The pairings and sites will be announced at the same time.

Clemson has played host to an NCAA Regional Tournament eight times in its history, including six of the last eight seasons. The Tigers have a 24-6 record in home NCAA Tournament Regionals, including a 17-2 record in home NCAA Tournament games since 1995. Clemson’s only home losses in NCAA Tournament games since 1995 came in 1998, a 2-1 loss to South Alabama in 16 innings, and an 8-5 loss to eventual NCAA Champion Southern California.

The Clemson Athletic Department has established ticket prices for the Sub-Regional and Super Regional tournaments if the Tigers are selected as a host site. Call the ticket office at 1-800-CLEMSON for further information.

Sub-Regional All-Tournament Pass – $60 Reserved Game Seat – $10 General Admission Game Seat – $7

Super Regional All-Tournament Pass – $30 Reserved Game Seat – $10 General Admission Game Seat – $7