Clemson vs. College of Charleston Preview

May 14, 2007

Watch Clemson vs. College of Charleston Live!

Complete Notes in PDF FormatDownload Free Acrobat Reader

Clemson vs. College of Charleston Clemson (34-18), ranked as high as #14 in the nation, will play host to College of Charleston (37-15) on Tuesday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 PM. The game will be broadcast live on the radio by WCCP (104.9 FM) out of Clemson and can be heard live on the internet at WCCPFM.com. The game will also be shown live via webcast at ACCSelect.com. Live stats will be available at ClemsonTigers.com as well.

The Series Clemson and College of Charleston have met 17 times on the diamond. The Tigers have won all 17 games, including two wins last season by scores of 6-0 at College of Charleston and 1-0 at Clemson. In the first game, three Tigers combined for a six-hit shutout in #1 Clemson’s victory in front of a record crowd of 3,122 fans at Patriots Point Field. Then later in the year at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, P.J. Zocchi pitched 8.2 scoreless innings of five-hit ball to earn the win over the #21 Cougars.

During the 2005 season, Clemson won both matchups, including an 8-5 win at the end of the regular season and a 6-0 victory in the Clemson Regional. The Tigers won both meetings in 2002, 2003, and 2004 along with a single game in 2001. Before the game in 2001, the two had not played each other since 1912.

The Tigers lead 11-0 in games played at Clemson and 7-0 in games played at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Head Coach Jack Leggett is 11-0 against the Cougars as well.

The Starting Pitchers College of Charleston will start junior lefthander Michael Bunton (4-0, 6.52 ERA) on the mound Tuesday. The Tallahassee, FL native has made 12 starts and one relief appearance for a total of 59.1 innings pitched. He has allowed 86 hits (.333 opponents’ batting average) and 24 walks with 41 strikeouts.

The Tigers’ starter has yet to be determined.

The Cougars College of Charleston, led by eighth-year Head Coach John Pawlowski, enters Tuesday’s game with a 37-15 overall record and 18-6 Southern Conference mark after fallling twice in three games at home to UNC Greensboro over the weekend. The team is also 15-8 on opponents’ home fields this season.

Pawlowski lettered at Clemson three times (1983-85) and went on to play two years (1987,88) in the Major Leagues with the Chicago White Sox. He later went on to be Clemson’s pitching coach from 1994-98, coaching the likes of Kris Benson, Billy Koch, and Ken Vining.

The Cougars are hitting .352 as a team with a .426 on-base percentage this season, thanks in part to 85 hit-by-pitches. They have also totaled 133 doubles, 23 triples, and 78 home runs, good for a .565 slugging percentage, along with 63 sacrifice bunts. College of Charleston has also stolen 82 bases in 109 attempts. Four players have double-digit steals, including Oliver Marmol (26), Gabe Marchant (15), Clay McCord (13), and Stuart Haywood (10).

Ben Lasater is hitting .392 with 14 homers and 51 RBIs, and Miami (FL) transfer Alex Garabedian is batting .354 with 12 homers and 54 RBIs. Michael Harrington has added 10 homers, 19 doubles, and 57 RBIs, and Chris Campbell is hitting .385 with 19 doubles, eight triples, seven home runs, and 73 RBIs.

The Cougars have a 4.67 ERA and .273 opponents’ batting average. Freshman righthander Russ Tomlinson has a team-high three saves and a 5-1 record in 24 relief appearances. The team sports a .956 fielding percentage as well.

The Tigers Clemson enters Tuesday’s game with a 34-18 overall record and 17-10 ACC mark after winning two of three games at #2 Florida State over the weekend. The Tigers, who are 24-11 at home, are ranked as high as #14 in the nation.

The team is hitting .289 with a .372 on-base percentage. Brad Chalk is hitting a team-best .407 with a .531 on-base percentage, but has sat out the last 11 games due to a back injury. Doug Hogan is hitting .328 with nine homers and 32 RBIs, while Andy D’Alessio has come alive to raise his batting average to .314. The reigning ACC Player-of-the-Week also has 14 homers and 41 RBIs, giving him 56 career long balls.

The pitching staff has a 3.57 ERA and .258 opponents’ batting average. It has combined to strike out 449 against 180 walks. Daniel Moskos has a team-high six saves and 2.63 ERA, while Stephen Clyne has a 1.88 ERA along with three saves in 25 relief appearances. The team is fielding at a .971 clip as well.

Polls Clemson climbed to the #15 spot in the Baseball America poll and #15 in the Collegiate Baseball poll on Monday after going 3-2 in five games last week, including winning two of three games at #2 Florida State over the weekend. Clemson also jumped to #14 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.

Highlights of Series Win at #2 Florida State Clemson tasted victory twice in three games at #2 Florida State from May 11-13, a feeling it had not had for quite some time. In fact, the Tigers had not won more than one game in a three-game series in Tallahassee in the last six series, and last won a series there in 1993, the year before Jack Leggett became Clemson’s head coach. The Tigers also handed the Seminoles their first back-to-back losses and their first series loss of 2007. The Seminoles entered the series with a 32-2 home record, but Clemson doubled their loss total with two wins in the final two games of the series.

From an all-sports perspective, the series win had significance as well. The Tiger football team defeated the #9 Seminoles 27-20 in Tallahassee in September, and the Clemson men’s basketball team downed Florida State 68-66 in Tallahassee in January. Therefore, Clemson beat the Seminoles in all three sports (series win in baseball) in Tallahassee in the same academic year for the first time in school history.

D’Alessio Earns National, ACC POTW Honors Andy D’Alessio was one of three players selected as national player-of-the-week by Collegiate Baseball on May 14. He also earned ACC Player-of-the-Week honors for his efforts in five games from May 8-13. He was 10-for-19 (.526) with seven runs scored, two doubles, five homers, 11 RBIs, a 1.421 slugging percentage, and a .609 on-base percentage. He hit two homers and a double against Wofford at Greenville, SC on May 8, then hit three home runs in the series at #2 Florida State, leading the Tigers to two wins. On May 13, he slugged two homers with five RBIs in Clemson’s 11-6 victory as well.

Take Me Away From Home Alan Farina likes to get away from home. In seven appearances on the road, all in relief, he is 3-1 with a miniscual 0.42 ERA in 21.1 innings pitched. He has also allowed just eight hits (all singles), one run, and three walks with 31 strikeouts on the road as well. And he has put up those numbers against solid competition, including #4 South Carolina (two appearances), Maryland, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, and #2 Florida State.

Against the Seminoles, the nation’s top-hitting team, Farina entered the game with the Tigers trailing 6-3 in the fifth inning on May 12. In 4.1 innings pitched, he allowed just four hits, no runs, and no walks with six strikeouts to record the win. His stellar performance allowed Clemson to earn a dramatic 7-6 comeback victory. It was a memorable day for the Florida native, as both his parents graduated from Florida State and he grew up a Seminole fan. Farina also attended Mike Martin’s Camp on that very field five times as a youth.

Tigers Top #2 Seminoles Twice in Tallahassee Clemson, ranked #16 in the nation, won two of three games at #2 Florida State from May 11-13. It was the Tigers’ first series win in Tallahassee since 1993. Clemson hit .306 in the series and totaled 15 extra-base hits, including 10 doubles and five home runs. Doug Hogan added five hits, including three doubles. The pitching staff had a 6.23 ERA, while the Tiger defense turned six double plays as well.

In game-one on May 11, Tony Thomas, Jr. reached base in all five plate appearances to lead Florida State to an 11-1 win over Clemson at Dick Howser Stadium. Thomas was 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, hit-by-pitch, and two steals, as the Seminoles totaled 15 hits and were 9-for-13 with runners in scoring position. A six-run seventh-inning blew the game open for the Seminoles, who clinched the ACC Atlantic Division title with the victory. Starter Bryan Henry allowed eight hits, one run, and no walks with eight strikeouts to improve to 13-0 on the season. D’Alessio’s solo homer in the fourth inning scored Clemson’s lone run. The Tigers totaled 10 hits, but they were just 2-for-18 with runners on base.

In game-two on May 12, Clemson scored three runs in the ninth inning to top Florida State 7-6 at Dick Howser Stadium. Alan Farina pitched 4.1 scoreless innings of relief, allowing just four hits and no walks with six strikeouts to record the win. It was the first time all season the Seminoles lost when leading at any time after the third inning.

In game-three on May 13, D’Alessio went 3-for-5 with two homers and five RBIs to lead Clemson to an 11-6 win over Florida State at Dick Howser Stadium. D’Alessio gave the Tigers an early lead on a three-run homer in the first inning. After the Tigers scored four runs in the sixth inning, D’Alessio blasted a two-run homer in the seventh inning to give Clemson a 10-2 lead. Florida State rallied with four runs in the seventh, but Stephen Clyne shut the door to record the save. D.J. Mitchell pitched 6.0 effective innings in his first career weekend start to earn the win on his 20th birthday. Clemson outhit the Seminoles 12-7 and totaled eight extra-base hits, including a two-run homer by Harbin.