Clemson vs. Boston College Preview

May 4, 2007

Watch Clemson vs. Boston College Live!Saturday | Sunday – Game 1 | Sunday – Game 2

Complete Game NotesDownload Free Acrobat Reader

Clemson vs. Boston College Clemson (29-15, 13-8 ACC), ranked as high as #17 in the nation, will play host to Boston College (20-23-1, 11-13 ACC) this weekend in a two-day, three-game series at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Game times are 7:15 PM (Saturday), 2:00 PM (Sunday), and 6:00 PM (Sunday). All three games will be broadcast live on the radio by Clemson Tiger Sports Network. All three games will also be shown live via webcast at ClemsonTigers.com for the series as well.

The Series Clemson and Boston College have met three times on the diamond, all three of which took place on April 21,22, 2006 at Boston College. Clemson won game-one 6-3, then the two teams split a doubleheader in chilly and windy Chestnut Hill, MA the following day. The Eagles won 3-2 before the Tigers won the series-finale 4-1. In the final game, Ryan Hinson picked up his first career save, as he pitched 3.0 scoreless innings of one-hit ball.

Tiger Head Coach Jack Leggett was 1-1 against Boston College as Vermont’s head coach, meaning he has a 3-2 record against the Eagles in his career.

The Starting Pitchers In game-one, Boston College will start senior righthander Kevin Boggan (4-4, 4.01 ERA) on the mound. The Lexington, MA native has made 10 starts for a total of 60.2 innings pitched. He has allowed 61 hits (.260 opponents’ batting average) and 27 walks with 62 strikeouts. He has allowed given up just two stolen bases in five attempts.

The Tigers will counter with junior lefthander Daniel Moskos (3-3, 1.94 ERA) in game-one. The Alta Loma, CA native has made 17 relief appearances and four starts for a total of 41.2 innings pitched. He has allowed 38 hits (.253 opponents’ batting average) and 18 walks with 54 strikeouts.

In game-two, the Eagles will start senior lefty Nate Jeanes (1-4, 5.09 ERA) on the mound. The Methuen, MA native has made six starts and four relief appearances for a total of 53.0 innings pitched. He has yielded 62 hits (.295 opponents’ batting average) and 14 walks with 57 strikeouts. He has also allowed just one home run.

The Tigers will counter with junior righty David Kopp (5-2, 3.16 ERA) in game-two. The Margate, FL native has made 12 starts for a total of 68.1 innings pitched. He has allowed 64 hits (.246 opponents’ batting average) and 20 walks with 54 strikeouts.

In game-three, Boston College will start junior righty Terry Doyle (3-3, 4.83 ERA) on the mound. The Warwick, RI native has made six starts and seven relief appearances for a total of 54.0 innings pitched. He has allowed 62 hits (.301 opponents’ batting average) and 22 walks with 40 strikeouts. He has also tallied one complete game and three saves, and has allowed just four steals in 13 tries.

Clemson will start sophomore lefthander Ryan Hinson (4-2, 2.05 ERA) in game-three. The Rock Hill, SC native has made 11 starts (61.1 innings pitched). He has allowed 53 hits (.235 opponents’ batting average) and 25 walks with 50 strikeouts.

The Eagles Boston College, led by first-year Head Coach Mik Aoki, enters the series with a 20-23-1 overall record and 11-13 ACC mark after winning two midweek games over Quinnipiac (13-2) and Dartmouth (12-6). Th Eagles, who are10-13 on opponents’ home fields, also won two of three games at home over Virginia Tech last weekend.

The Eagles are hitting .284 as a team with a .368 on-base percentage. They have also hit 90 doubles and 19 homers, and have totaled 41 sacrifice bunts along with 66 stolen bases in 93 attempts.

Johnny Ayers leads the squad with a .380 batting average and .464 on-base percentage. He also has eight doubles and four triples in just 92 at-bats. Eric Campbell is batting .343 with three homers, 18 doubles, and a team-high 32 RBIs. Freshman catcher Tony Sanchez is hitting .318 with 14 doubles as well. Sanchez has allowed just 28 steals in 48 attempts as well.

The pitching staff has a 5.31 ERA and .296 opponents’ batting average on the season. The team has allowed 200 walks with 319 strikeouts. Junior righthander Terry Doyle has a team-high three saves, while freshman righty Geoff Oxley has made a team-high 17 relief appearances and has a 3.16 ERA in 25.2 innings pitched. The team is fielding at a .965 clip as well.

The Tigers Clemson enters the series against Boston College with a 29-15 overall record and 13-8 ACC mark after winning two of three games at home over #19 Georgia Tech last weekend. The Tigers have not played since Sunday, as they have had the week off for final exams. The Tigers, who are 22-9 at home and will conclude their 11-game homestand this weekend, are ranked as high as #17 in the nation.

The team is hitting .287 with a .370 on-base percentage. Brad Chalk is hitting a team-best .407 with a .531 on-base percentage, but did not play in the Georgia Tech series. Doug Hogan is hitting .329 with eight homers and 27 RBIs, while Wilson Boyd is hitting .314 thanks to hitting .403 in the month of April.

The pitching staff has a 3.25 ERA and .247 opponents’ batting average. It has combined to strike out 377 against 146 walks. Daniel Moskos has a team-high six saves, while Stephen Clyne has a 1.69 ERA along with two saves in 21 relief appearances. The team is fielding at a .971 clip as well.

Worth Noting * With less than two outs, Clemson is hitting .354 with runners in scoring postion. With two outs, the Tigers are hitting .225 with runners in scoring position.

Polls Clemson jumped to the #18 spot in the Baseball America poll and fell to #23 in the Collegiate Baseball poll on Monday after going 3-2 in five games last week. Clemson also remained at #17 in the Sports Weekly poll.

The Tigers’ #1 ranking by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball on February 12 was their first since February 27, 2006, when Clemson was ranked #1 by those same two polls. The Tigers have been ranked #1 for 20 weeks by at least one of the major polls in Head Coach Jack Leggett’s 14th season at Clemson.

Weekend Rotation Solid Last Two Series Clemson’s weekend rotation of lefty Daniel Moskos, righty David Kopp, and lefty Ryan Hinson has been outstanding the last two weekends, which included three-game series against #6 Virginia and #19 Georgia Tech. In a combined 33.0 innings pitched, the trio allowed just 23 hits (.192 opponents’ batting average) and three earned runs, good for a 0.82 ERA. Kopp (0.69 ERA), Moskos (0.90 ERA), and Hinson (0.90 ERA) all have ERAs under 1.00 in their last two outings.

D’Alessio’s Homers Come in Bunches When he’s “on,” there’s few power hitters in the country who are better than Andy D’Alessio. The Tiger senior has five home runs in the last 10 games to bring his 2007 total to eight. He has been showing signs of coming out of his season-long power slump of late, as evidenced by his ability to hit for power to the opposite field.

Against #19 Georgia Tech on April 28, the lefthanded batter blasted two opposite-field home runs in Clemson’s 10-3 win. It was his ninth multi-homer game, meaning 18 of his 50 career long balls have come in multi-homer games.

Chalk Named to Wallace Award Watch List Brad Chalk was one of 112 players named to the 2007 Brooks Wallace Award Watch List, announced on May 2. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top college baseball player. Chalk is hitting a team-best .407 with a .531 on-base percentage in 37 games this season.

Hogan Walks Away With ACC POTW Honor Doug Hogan had a week to remember from April 24-29. In five games, four of which were against teams ranked in the nation’s top 20, he was 9-for-18 (.500) with six runs scored, three home runs, six RBIs, and five walks to earn ACC Player-of-the-Week accolades. He also had a .625 on-base percentage and 1.000 slugging percentage during the week.

On April 24 against Elon, he went 2-for-3 with three runs scored, two homers, and five RBIs. One of the two long balls was a grand slam, the first by a Tiger in 2007. Therefore, it was his second multi-homer game of the season.

Then against #19 Georgia Tech on April 27, he led off the 11th inning with a walkoff home run to left-center to give Clemson a dramatic 3-2 come-from-behind victory. It was the Tigers’ 20th all-time walkoff homer.

His extra-inning heroics were nothing new for the Tigers, as his 10th-inning, three-run homer at Virginia Tech gave Clemson a 5-2 victory on April 8. His two extra-inning home runs are the only two by a Tiger since 2004, when Lou Santangelo hit a 10th-inning home run at #10 North Carolina in Clemson’s 4-2 win.

Moskos a Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist Junior lefthander Daniel Moskos was one of 50 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, announced May 1 by USA Baseball. The award goes to the nation’s top college baseball player. The semifinalists will be narrowed down to five finalists later in the season. The ACC leads all conferences with 10 semifinalists. Moskos is 3-3 with a 1.94 ERA and six saves in 17 relief appearances and four starts this season. In 41.2 innings pitched, he has allowed 38 hits and 18 walks with 54 strikeouts.

Tigers Top Georgia Tech Twice in Three Games Clemson, ranked #17 in the nation, won two of three games over #19 Georgia Tech at Doug Kingsmore Stadium from April 27-29. The Tigers outscored the Yellow Jackets 16-11 and outhit them .300 to .250. Doug Hogan was 5-for-11 (.455) with a homer and three walks, while Andy D’Alessio added four hits, including two homers, and three walks in the series. Clemson’s pitching staff had a 1.86 ERA and 27 strikeouts while allowing 16 walks and no homers. The three Tiger starting pitchers combined to allow just two earned runs in 16.0 innings pitched as well.

In game-one on April 27, Hogan’s walkoff homer in the 11th inning gave Clemson a 3-2 victory over Georgia Tech at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Yellows Jackets scored two runs in the 10th inning to break a scoreless tie, then the first two Tigers in the bottom of the 10th inning were retired. But pinch-hitter Daniel Moskos pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five hits and no runs with eight strikeouts.

In game-two on April 28, D’Alessio went 4-for-4 with two solo homers to lead Clemson to a 10-3 victory over Georgia Tech at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Tigers totaled 14 hits, as D’Alessio amassed his first career four-hit game and three runs scored, while David Kopp picked up the win, as he allowed six hits, one earned run, and one walk with four strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched.

In game-three on April 29, starter Ryan Turner pitched 5.2 strong innings to lead Georgia Tech to a 6-3 victory over Clemson at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Turner allowed two runs on six hits to earn the win. The Yellow Jackets scored three unearned runs in the fourth inning and added another unearned run in the sixth to take a 5-0 lead. The Tigers rallied back to score two runs in the bottom of the sixth and one run in the eighth, but Clemson was only 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and could not even the score. Clemson left 13 runners on base, including nine in scoring position. The Tigers outhit the Yellow Jackets 11-8, including a 3-for-3 performance with two walks by Hogan. Georgia Tech was aided by 10 walks and two hit-by-pitches.