Clemson To Face William & Mary In Opening Round Of NCAA Tournament

May 21, 2001

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Clemson, SC – Clemson will be the No. 2 regional seed when it plays host to the Clemson Regional at Doug Kingsmore Stadium this weekend in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, the NCAA Baseball Committee announced Monday.

The field also includes top-seeded South Alabama, third-seeded William & Mary and fourth-seeded Seton Hall. South Alabama will face Seton Hall on Friday at 2:00 PM, while Clemson and William & Mary will meet on Friday at 7:00 PM.

The two losers of Friday’s games will meet in Saturday’s 11:00 AM game, while the winners will play Saturday at 3:00 PM. Saturday’s 7:00 PM game will pit the winner of the 11:00 AM game vs. the loser of the 3:00 PM game. The winner of the 3:00 PM game on Saturday advances to Sunday’s 2:00 PM game to meet the winner of Saturday’s 7:00 PM game. If both teams have just one loss after Sunday’s 2:00 PM game, the teams will meet again 50 minutes following that game.

Clemson will take on the Tribe of William & Mary for only the second time. The last meeting occurred last season, a 10-6 victory by Clemson. Clemson is 4-4 against top seeded South Alabama. The last meeting between the two schools was an NCAA Tournament game at Clemson in 1998. The Jaguars out-lasted the Tigers 2-1 in a 16-inning game that took 4:14 minutes to complete. Clemson is 4-0 alltime against Seton Hall, including a 6-3 victory in the second game of the NCAA South Regional in 1987.

Clemson will be making its 27th appearance in the NCAA Baseball Tournament, the seventh-best total in the nation. It marks the 15th consecutive selection for the tournament, which is the third longest active streak. The Tigers are 70-55 all-time in the NCAA tournament with nine appearances in the College World Series. Clemson finished as the regular season runner-up in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season behind Florida State. Clemson was 17-7 in ACC action and 38-20 overall, including a 24-8 mark at home.

Clemson enters the tournament led by third baseman Jeff Baker, who leads the ACC with 22 home runs and 69 RBIs. Senior outfielder Casey Stone is tied with Baker with a team-leading .376 batting average and leads the team with 96 hits. Steve Reba, a junior right hander with an ACC best 11-3 record, is expected to start in the opener against William & Mary. Reba started against the Tribe last season and allowed only one run and five hits while striking out seven in 5.2 innings.

South Alabama (44-17) won five straight games in the Sun Belt Conference after losing in the opening round Arkansas-Little Rock. Nick Gretz leads the offense with a .374 batting average while Tim Merritt leads the team with 12 home runs and 63 RBIs. Clark Girardeau leads the pitching staff with a 10-3 record.

William & Mary (35-18) defeated James Madison for the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament title to receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Tribe has won 10 of its last 11 games and is led by Marshall Hubbard’s .395 batting average. Brendan Harris is the team leader in home runs (17) and RBIs (65). Clark Saylor is the team’s leading pitcher with a 9-1 record and 2.96 ERA.

Seton Hall enters the regional as the champion of the Big East tournament with a 33-21-1 record. Casey Grimm is the top hitter with a .363 batting average and is tied for the team lead in home runs with five. The pitching staff is led by Chris Reilly, who has a 6-1 record and a 3.00 ERA, and Shawn Turkington, who is 6-2 with a 4.18 ERA.

The 2001 Clemson Regional marks the eighth time Clemson has been the site of the NCAA tournament. The Tigers also played host in 1980, 1981, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998 and 2000. Last season the Tigers won the four-team regional at Doug Kingsmore Stadium and then defeated Mississippi State in the Super Regional to advance to the College World Series.

The winner of the Clemson Regional will move on to play the victor of the Coral Gables, FL Regional in a Super Regional at a site to be determined Monday, May 29. The Coral Gables Regional consists of Bucknell, Stetson, Florida and Miami (FL), the regional host and second seed nationally. The winner of the Super Regional will advance to Omaha, NE for the College World Series.

The Clemson ticket office will sell tournament passes this week. Reserved tickets can be picked up at the ticket office between May 23-25 between 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Tickets that have not been picked up by May 25 will be available 90 minutes prior to the first game at the third base gate at Kingsmore Stadium. No tickets will be mailed. Single session general admission tickets will go on sale beginning Wednesday, May 23. The single session tickets are available at $8 for adults and $6 for students high school age and under. For more information, call the ticket office at 1-800 CLEMSON or 864-656-2118.