Clemson to Play at Georgia, Play Host to ETSU in Midweek Games

April 21, 2003

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Clemson (27-12), ranked as high as #20, will travel to Athens, GA to play border-rival Georgia (19-20) and play host to East Tennessee State (11-24 entering its game Tuesday) in midweek games. The game at Foley Field Tuesday will start at 7:00 PM, while the game versus East Tennessee State will start at 7:15 PM. Both games will be broadcast live 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 for both games on Clemson’s website.

Clemson, who beat Georgia 7-3 earlier this season on March 26, trails the all-time series 108-90-2 dating back to 1900. In the game earlier this year, former Georgia signee Brad McCann went 3-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the Tigers to victory at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Last season, each team won on its own home field. Georgia has won three-straight games over Clemson at Foley Field, as the last Tiger win came in 1999, a 7-6 victory. The two teams have played at least one game every year since 1959. Head Coach Jack Leggett is 13-6 against Georgia as the Tiger skipper, but only 4-6 at Foley Field.

Clemson and East Tennessee State have met 24 times, with the Tigers holding an 18-6 advantage in the series dating back to 1969. Clemson has won eight in a row in the series by a combined score of 102-19, as Clemson has scored at least 11 runs in seven of the eight games and the Buccaneers have not scored more than four runs in a game during that stretch. East Tennessee State’s last win came at Johnson City on March 12, 1985, a 10-6 decision. The last meeting came last season, a 7-1 Tiger win on April 2. Leggett is 19-6 against the Buccaneers in his career (17-6 while at Western Carolina and 2-0 while at Clemson).

Clemson will start freshman righthander Kris Harvey (3-0, 6.30 ERA) on the mound Tuesday at Georgia. In his last outing, he earned the win against Coastal Carolina in 5.0 innings of work. The Tigers’ starter for Wednesday versus East Tennessee State has yet to be determined.

Georgia is coming off two losses in three games to Florida at Athens this past weekend. The Bulldogs, who are 4-14 in SEC play, are hitting .316 and have an excellent .972 fielding percentage. David Coffey is hitting a team-best .366 along with seven homers and 27 RBIs. Lee Mitchell also has seven homers along with a team-best 36 RBIs. Georgia sports a 5.78 team ERA and .277 opponents’ batting average, but no Bulldog who has seen at least five innings this season has an ERA better than 3.38. Georgia is 15-11 at Foley Field this year.

East Tennessee State, who will play host to Gardner-Webb Tuesday, is coming off two losses in three games at The Citadel over the weekend. The team has a 3-17 road record and is hitting .253 on the season, led by Steven Calicutt’s .333 average. Andy Howdeshell leads the team in both homers (7) and RBIs (26). East Tennessee State also has a .950 fielding percentage and 6.30 team ERA.

Clemson is coming off two losses in three games at Maryland and has already played 18 games away from home this year. Brad McCann is tied for the team lead in homers (7) and has a team-best 46 RBIs, 15 more than the next closest Tiger. Clemson has a .972 fielding percentage and 4.03 team ERA as well.

Terrapins Take Two of Three Over Clemson Clemson continued its road swing with three games at Maryland from April 19-20 at College Park. The Terrapins won two of three games, both of which were in a Saturday doubleheader. Maryland hit .377 in the series against Clemson’s .322 average. Kyle Frank was 8-for-13 with two doubles, two homers, and six RBIs to lead all Tiger hitters. He also had hits in each of his last seven official at bats and nine plate appearances of the series. Herman Demmink and Russell Triplett contributed six hits apiece as well. Clemson outscored the Terrapins by a combined score of 30-22 despite losing two of three games.

In game one of the doubleheader Saturday, Clemson jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning only to fall 9-6 to the Terrapins. Maryland committed six errors in the game and did not allow an earned run. A four-run sixth inning was the difference for Maryland, as it won its first ACC game of the season in 12 tries. Triplett had two of the Tigers’ six hits. Steve Schmoll came in to close out the game for the Terrapins, as he earned the save.

Schmoll came right back in game two in a starting role and pitched 6.0 innings, allowing just one unearned run on four hits in 6.0 innings pitched as Maryland was victorious 8-4. The Tigers again had a lead (4-1 advantage heading into the bottom of the seventh), but Maryland scored six runs in the seventh and held on for the win. Zane Green and Frank each had three hits to pace the Tigers.

Clemson salvaged the series with a convincing win in game three by a 20-5 margin. Clemson scored eight runs in the second inning, all it would need in the game. Brad McCann both went deep twice, as Clemson hit a season-high six homers in all. Its previous season high was three. Frank was 5-for-5 with a double, walk, four runs scored, four RBIs, and a stolen base as well. Frank hit both homers in the second inning to become just the third Tiger to hit two homers in the same inning in Tiger history. Ironically, the previous two times were against Maryland as well. Frank also set a personal career high for hits in a game. Triplett, Brad McCann, and David Slevin all had at least four RBIs, as Slevin was 4-for-6 with a homer, double, and five RBIs. Clemson also hit six doubles and had 12 extra-base hits as well after totaling just 11 in its last six games (1-5 record).

Winning Close Games…Again Clemson has had success this year in close ballgames. The team has played in 12 games decided by two runs or less, and has won 10 of them. Clemson is 3-1 in one-run games and 7-1 in two-run games this year. Last season, Clemson was 6-1 in one-run games and 13-4 in two-run games for a total of 19-5 in games decided by two runs or less. Therefore, in the last two seasons, Clemson is 29-7 in games decided by two runs or less.

Three Tigers Above .400 in ACC Competition Clemson’s three middle infielders, Herman Demmink (has been the designated hitter of late), Russell Triplett (SS) are all hitting over .400 in ACC play this season. They rank #1, #5, and #8 respectively in batting average (through games of April 20), as Demmink is at .467, Slevin is hitting .419, and Triplett is hitting .404. Demmink, a freshman, has provided a spark from the leadoff spot of late, as he has a .515 on-base percentage in ACC play. As a team, Clemson is out-hitting its ACC opponents .308 to .301 despite the 5-7 mark.

Pyzik OK After Incident at Maryland Mount Airy, MD native and catcher Steve Pyzik was taking a warmup pitch in the middle of the sixth inning in game one of a doubleheader at Maryland on April 19 when a pitch bounced off the ground and hit him in the neck. After taking another warmup pitch, Pyzik went to the ground and laid there for approximately 15 minutes. He experienced dizziness and an EMS crew was called in. Pyzik was taken off the field on a stretcher and to a local hospital as a precaution. The diagnosis was a stinger, as the senior returned to the dugout for game two later in the day. He is medically cleared to play at Georgia Tuesday.

Frank Has Career Day at Maryland At Maryland on April 20, Kyle Frank was 5-for-5 with two homers, a double, four runs scored and four RBIs. The two homers both came in the second inning, as he became just the third Tiger to hit two long balls in a single inning. Frank’s five hits were a career high as well.

It was a special day for the fifth-year senior, as his parents, who reside in Wolfeboro, NH were on hand to see Frank’s finest game as a Tiger. Frank entered the game with just eight career homers in 719 career at bats. Frank added a walk and stolen base to his credit in the game and has reached base in nine-straight plate appearances entering the Georgia game Tuesday. He also is 7-for-his-last-7, as he was 3-for-4 in the previous game.

Freshman Herman Demmink Stepping Up Freshman middle infielder Herman Demmink (Midlothian, VA) went 3-for-4 and had a key double in Clemson’s seven-run, come-from-behind win at #16 N.C. State in game two on March 29. That game and a 4-for-5 performance at Maryland on April 20 has helped raise his batting average to .351, as he has started 21 games and played in 12 others. He also has committed just three errors in the field.