Monday 06/21/1999
April 1, 1999
Clemson (16-11) will travel to the greater Charlotte area to face perennial powerhouse Miami (FL) this weekend in a three game series at Knights Stadium in Fort Mill, SC. Game times are 7:00 on Friday, 3:00 on Saturday, and 1:00 on Sunday. The games will be considered neutral games for both teams. It will be the first meeting between the two schools since 1996, when Miami (FL) defeated the Tigers twice in the College World Series. Tiger second baseman Kurt Bultmann is the only player on either team to play in the games in Omaha. The then freshman shortstop was 4-for-9 with a double in the two games.
The Hurricanes, who are ranked as high as #6 and have an overall record of 22-6, have a team batting average of .364 and team ERA of 3.15 in ’99. Miami has played only two games in the last 12 days (both against New York Tech) entering the weekend series. All-America righthander Alex Santos (6-1, 1.92 ERA) will start on Friday, righthander Darryl Roque (4-0, 1.16 ERA) will start on Saturday, and righty David Gil (2-0, 3.38 ERA) will start on Sunday. The Tigers will send out righthander Ryan Mottl (2-2, 6.13 ERA) on Friday and righty Mike Paradis (3-0, 2.41 ERA) on Saturday, while the starter for Sunday has not been determined.
Clemson and Miami have two common opponents in Georgia and East Carolina. The Hurricanes, who played the two teams in a tournament in Miami, fell to the Bulldogs 4-3 in the first game and defeated Georgia 8-1 in the second game. East Carolina downed Miami 6-5 in the same tournament. The Tigers on the other hand took two games from Georgia in home-and-home games by 17-5 and 7-6 scores, but were swept at East Carolina by scores of 5-4 and 14-2.
1999 Clemson Baseball Promotional Dates
Date Day Opponent Time Promotion(s) Apr. 17 Sat. Duke 7 p.m.
Family Night Apr. 18 Sun. Duke 2 p.m. #Senior CitizensSpecial Apr. 21 Wed. South Carolina 7:15 p.m. Secretaries DaySpecial Apr. 25 Sun. Georgia Tech 2 p.m. +Purple Day Special/#Sr.Citizens Special May 2 Sun. Virginia (DH) 12 p.m. #Senior CitizensSpecial May 9 Sun. North Carolina 4 p.m. #Senior Citizens Special
– bring whole family for $5 with coupon in the Journal/Tribune or The Messenger + – wear purple shirt or jacket receive $3 off adult admission # – present AARP card and receive free admission – secretaries/administrative assistants receive free admission when accompanied by a supervisor or employer who is paying full admission price
East Tennessee State Falls To Clemson 18-1 Patrick Boyd went 2-for-2 with two homers, three walks, four RBIs, and five runs scored in Clemson’s 18-1 over East Tennessee State on April 1 at Tiger Field. The Tigers jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back. Eleven different Tigers had at least one hit. Thomas Boozer (4-3) pitched 5.0 innings allowing just one run on five hits to pick up the win. Four Tiger relievers (Matt Henrie, Justin Lombardi, Steve Reba, and Doug Roper) pitched an inning apiece to close out the game. All four pitchers allowed no hits and no runs as the Buccaneers managed only one hit after the second inning.
Tigers On The Road A Lot Lately The Tigers are in the middle of a 21 game stretch in which 16 of the games are away from home. The Tigers lost two games at East Carolina, who is currently ranked #24 in this week’s Collegiate Baseball poll, and three games at Wake Forest, who has been ranked in or near the top 25 all season. In upcoming weekend series, the Tigers will play annual powerhouses Miami (FL) and Florida State on the road. Both programs have a history of College World Series appearances and have both been ranked in the top 10 all season. Florida State has been ranked #1 in almost every poll in ’99 as well. The Tigers final road game of the stretch is at arch-rival South Carolina, who has also been ranked many times this season. Therefore of the 16 games, 12 are against teams that have been ranked so far in 1999. After the South Carolina game, the Tigers will have played just 16 games at home compared to 20 games away from the friendly confines of Tiger Field.
The Tigers will come home for a 15-game homestand after the South Carolina game, including four straight home weekends against ACC teams after playing their first three ACC series on the road. Ironically, when Clemson faces Florida State on April 9-11, it will be the last ACC home series for the Seminoles while the Tigers (at the time) will not have yet played a home ACC series. Clemson is 11-3 at home and 4-8 away from home in ’99.
Night Time Is The Right Time Despite the sluggish start in ’99, the Tigers have had success under the lights. Clemson is 4-1 at night with wins against Creighton, Georgia (twice), and Wofford. The only loss was at UNLV in 10 innings by a 12-11 score. The Tigers were 17-4 in night games in ’98 as well.
Patience, Running Key Factors In ’99 Clemson has an outstanding team on base percentage of .441 and has stolen 59 bases through 27 games of 1999. The .441 on base percentage is aided by a team batting average of .311, but moreso by its 214 walks. That averages to be 7.9 walks per game. Add that to the Tigers 10.9 hits per game and 18 hit-by-pitches, the Tigers are averaging 19.5 baserunners per game. Henr Stanley leads the team with 35 walks and Brian Ellis is second with 26 walks. Ellis set the Tiger single-season record for walks per at bat in ’98 and both he and Stanley are on pace to break that mark again in ’99. Freshman outfielder Kyle Frank also has walked 19 times in just 47 at bats, well ahead of the record. Although he is hitting just .255, the Wolfeboro, NH native has a .470 on base percentage. In three games against George Mason (Mar. 12-13), the Tigers walked 41 times and had a team on base percentage of .553.
Stealing bases has also been a success this year as the Tigers have stolen 59 bases in 71 attempts, good for 83.1 percent success rate. Clemson has stole at least one base in 25 of the 27 games this season. Jason Harris and Stanley are tied for the team lead with 11 apiece.
Tigers Off To Fast Starts In First Innings The Tigers have not had a problem in ’99 getting early leads, as they hold a 45-9 advantage in scoring in first innings of games. Clemson has scored in the first inning in 19 of the 27 games (70.4 percent) this year, including 16 of the last 21 games. The Tigers have scored 267 runs in the 27 games of ’99, an average of 9.9 runs per game. Below is a list of inning-by-inning scoring:
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Ex Total CLEMSON 45 31 19 29 51 34 24 26 6 2 267 Opponents 9 25 23 12 37 16 18 29 13 3 185
Khalil Greene Having Stellar Freshman Campaign This fall, Jack Leggett said that freshman Khalil (pronounced kuh-LEEL) Greene was the Tigers’ most consistent hitter. The Key West, FL native has down nothing to disprove Leggett, as he is hitting .378 with four homers and 28 RBIs in 27 games as the everyday third baseman. Greene shined in the UNLV/Coors Desert Classic from Feb. 25-28, hitting .458 with two homers (one of which was an inside-the-park homer) and five RBIs in five games. He also hit two homers in the first game of a doubleheader against George Mason on Mar. 13. He had an 11-game hit streak earlier this season as well, the longest by a Tiger in ’99. Greene is vying to become the top freshman hitter in Tiger history in terms of batting average. The record is .391 by Billy McMillon (1991).
Boyd Has Perfect Day Against East Tennessee State Palm Harbor, FL native Patrick Boyd had one of the best games by a Tiger in recent years when he was 2-for-2 with two homers, three walks, four RBIs, and five runs scored in Clemson’s 18-1 win over East Tennessee State on April 1 at Tiger Field.
Boyd, who has started at designated hitter in 17 of 20 starts, has recently gotten over surgery on his right labrum (shoulder area) that caused him to miss six games earlier in the season. He is listed as questionable to play in centerfield against Miami on April 2-4. The sugery has not taken anything away from the 1998 ACC Rookie-of-the-Year’s bat, as he is hitting .351 with seven homers, five doubles, 28 runs scored, 22 RBIs, and eight stolen bases in ’99.
Bultmann Nearing Tiger, ACC Doubles Record Senior second baseman Kurt Bultmann gets the most out of his 5′-8″ frame. He showed he belonged when he hit .471 in the College World Series as a freshman after hitting just .243 in the first 41 games of his career. Then he hit a school record 31 doubles and 48 extra base hits as a sophomore. Now he is rising to the top of the Tiger career doubles and home run lists. The Seminole, FL native has 73 career doubles, good for second place, and 35 career home runs, tied for fifth best. The 73 doubles is also approching the ACC record of 82 held by Yellow Jacket Jason Varitek (1991-94). He had one of his best games against #24 Washington on Feb. 25 when he was 3-for-5 with two homers (grand slam and three-run) and eight RBIs. He also has shown why Baseball America listed him as the best defensive second baseman in the ACC. Bultmann went 29 consecutive games (dating back to last season) without committing an error (127 chances) before his streak ended on Feb. 26 at UNLV. He has started a new streak and has not committed an error in his last 69 chances over 14 games (and also has a 13-game errorless streak). Bultmann has seen his fielding percentage rise to .967 in ’99 after fielding at a .979 clip in ’98. He is a career .393 hitter (22-for-56) in NCAA Tournament play as well. All this for a player who was all but resigned to attending junior college out of high school. Below is a list where Bultmann ranks in the all-time Tiger doubles list:
Clemson Career DOUBLE Leaders
Rk. Name (Years) Doubles 1. Gary Burnham (1994-97) 77 2. Kurt Bultmann (1996-present) 73 3. Bert Heffernan (1985-88) 63 4. Chuck Baldwin (1984-87) 62 5. Shane Monahan (1993-95) 60
Bultmann has returned to his form of ’97 as he is hitting .358 with 14 doubles, a triple, four homers, 34 RBIs, and three stolen bases in 26 games in ’99. Ironically, the righthanded hitter is hitting better than twice as good against righthanders as he is lefthanders (.441 vs. ..211) this season.
Paradis Found Junior righthander Mike Paradis has been one of the bright spots on the Tiger pitching staff so far this season. Control problems plagued the fireballer in his first two seasons, but he has had command of all his pitches in ’99. The Auburn, MA native is 3-0 with a team-best 2.41 ERA and opponent batting average of .229, including .205 against left-handed batters, in six starts. The key to his success has been his ability to key the ball down in the strike zone as he has thrown 53 ground-ball outs compared to just 16 fly-ball outs. He also has struck out 39 batters compared to just 12 walks. In all six of his starts he has gone at least 5.0 innings and in five of the six he has allowed either zero, one, two earned runs. Baseball America rated Paradis as the #7 prospect in the ACC and #42 college prospect for the 1999 Major League Draft. Paradis was a seventh-round draft pick by the Oakland Athletics out of high school.
LeCroy Solid At The Plate And In The Field Junior shortstop Bradley LeCroy (Walhalla, SC) has emerged as one of the Tigers clutch hitters. LeCroy (no relation to former Tiger great Matthew LeCroy) is hitting .349 in 63 at bats with two homers, seven doubles, and 22 RBIs in 22 games. He is also 17 for his last 45 (.378) with 19 RBIs over 14 games. He is hitting .375 against righthanders and is hitting .500 with runners in scoring position. LeCroy, a righthanded hitter, has been platooning with switch-hitter Doug Roper at shortstop but has recently been starting against righthanders. His defense has also been outstanding, as he has committed just four errors in ’99 and has a respectable .952 fielding percentage.
Borgert Drives In Nine RBIs In One Game Entering the second game of a doubleheader against George Mason on Mar. 13, fifth-year senior catcher Derek Borgert (Greenwood, SC) had four hits and four RBIs in 21 at bats in ’99. But that all changed when Borgert exploded with four hits and nine RBIs in one game. The nine RBIs, which all came after two outs, is the most by a Tiger since Jerry Brooks’ 10 against UNC Charlotte in 1988. Borgert doubled to right field in the first inning to bring home two runs. In the second inning, he hit an opposite-field grand slam off the right field foul pole. The only time he was retired came in the fourth inning when he laced a line-drive that was caught by the right fielder. In the fifth inining, Borgert singled with the bases loaded bringing home two more runs. He drove in his ninth run of the game with a run-scoring single in the sixth inning. He also walked in his final plate appearance in the eighth inning. Ironically, Brian Ellis, who caught in the first game of the doubleheader, had a double, homer, two hits, and four RBIs meaning Tiger catchers totaled six hits, two homers, two doubles, and 13 RBIs in one day. Not a bad days work for an unheralded position.
Borgert has been one of the top Tiger hitters in recent weeks raising his average to .340. He also has a .500 average with runners in scoring position and has 17 RBIs in just 50 at bats. Borgert, who already has a job lined up in the computer information systems field in New York, is 13 for his last 29 (.448) with 13 RBIs and nine runs scored over 11 games.
Leggett 35-13 Against SEC Teams While At Clemson In six seasons under Head Coach Jack Leggett, Clemson has had tremendous success against the Southeastern Conference. Leggett’s record against the SEC as the Tigers’ skipper is 35-13 (.729), including 14 wins against top-25 teams. Leggett also has at least a ..500 record against all six SEC schools he has faced while at Clemson. Below is a list of Leggett’s record at Clemson against each of the six SEC member schools he has faced:
SEC Leggett's Record Winning Opponent at Clemson Percentage Alabama 2-0 1.000 Auburn 1-1 .500 Georgia 9-3 .750 Kentucky 3-0 1.000 South Carolina 11-6 .647 Tennessee 9-3 .750 Totals 35-13 .729
Tigers Rally To Sweep Season Series Against Georgia Henr Stanley broke an 0-for-15 slump with a ninth-inning single to propel Clemson to a 7-6 come-from-behind win at Georgia on Mar. 30. The Tigers (15-11) committed three costly errors in the eighth inning as the Bulldogs (14-13) plated three runs to take a 6-4 lead. But Jason Harris and Patrick Boyd led off the ninth inning with single and eventually scored, with the latter tying the game. Justin Singleton broke out of a season-long slump with three hits, with the last plating Harris and Boyd in the ninth. Brian Adams (3-3) pitched 2.0 hitless innings allowing an unearned run in the process to pick up the win. All 25 hits in the game (including 15 by Clemson) were singles.
1999 Preseason Honors – Clemson
#21 recruiting class by Collegiate Baseball
#24 Patrick Boyd
#1 college prospect for 2000 Major League Draft by BaseballAmerica First-Team All-American by Baseball America ACCPlayer-of-the-Year by Baseball America Best defensive outfielder inthe ACC by Baseball America First-Team All-ACC by Baseball America
#18 Kurt Bultmann
Best defensive second baseman in the ACC by Baseball AmericaFirst-Team All-ACC by Baseball America
#27 Ryan Mottl
#29 college prospect for ’99 Major League Draft by BaseballAmerica #3 prospect in ACC for ’99 Major League Draft by BaseballAmerica
#30 Mike Paradis
#42 college prospect for ’99 Major League Draft by BaseballAmerica #7 prospect in ACC for ’99 Major League Draft by BaseballAmerica
Clemson’s 246 Wins Since ’94 Fifth In The Nation The barometer of a great season in college baseball is getting to Omaha and winning 50 games. Since Jack Leggett took over as Clemson’s head coach in 1994, the Tigers have won 246 games (excluding ’99) for an average of over 49 per season. Leggett has led Clemson to three 50-win seasons and two appearances in the College World Series in five seasons. Included in that total is 61 wins over top 25 team and a 33-13 record against the SEC.
Renovations To Tiger Field Planned Early in the next century, Tiger Field will undergo a face-lift at the entrance of the stadium. A brick facade with a wrought iron fence will be constructed behind the north entrance to create a fan-friendly pavilion and a more asthetically-pleasing look. There are also plans to refurbish the press box and to build a visitors’ lockerroom. The plans are still in the conceptual design phase and have not been finalized.
Clemson also has plans to renovate Littlejohn Coliseum (basketball) and Memorial Stadium (football), and plans to build a new indoor track and field facility along with a practice golf range. The improvements to Littlejohn include a new sound system, restrooms, concessions area, and reformatted seating along with a new practice facility located where the driveway to the tunnel currently lays. Memorial Stadium will add a year-round restaurant along with cosmetic improvements to include new lockerrooms, concession areas, and restrooms. The new indoor track will also house an indoor practice field for football, soccer, and baseball. Tiger Pride is the capital campaign established to raise money for the cost of all renovations, which is an estimated $30-million, and is expected to take five years to complete.
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