Clemson vs. Miami at ACC Tournament Preview

May 22, 2007

Complete ACC Tournament NotesDownload Free Acrobat Reader

Clemson vs. Miami (FL) Clemson (36-20, 18-12 ACC), the #4 seed, will play #5-seed Miami (FL) (35-20, 17-13 ACC) Wednesday at 4:00 PM on the first day of the ACC Tournament. The Tigers will be the home team and occupy the third-base dugout. The game will be televised live by SportSouth and Sun Sports.

The Tigers will not play on Thursday, then will play #8-seed Wake Forest on Friday at 4:00 PM. Clemson will be the visiting team and occupy the first-base dugout in that game. The game against the Demon Deacons will be televised live by FSN South.

Clemson will then face #1-seed Florida State on Saturday at 4:00 PM. The home team for Saturday’s game will be determined by a coin flip. The game will be televised live by SportSouth.

The games will be played at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville (FL). It is the third year the ACC Baseball Tournament will be held at Jacksonville. The new round-robin format features two separate pools that guarantees each team will play a minimum of three games.

The winner of each pool will meet in the ACC Championship Game on Sunday at 1:00 PM. The game will be televised live by FSN South and Sun Sports.

All of Clemson’s ACC Tournament games will be broadcast live on the radio by the Clemson Tiger Sports Network and can be heard live via the internet at ClemsonTigers.com. Live stats will also be available for all Tiger games on Clemson’s website.

The Series Clemson and Miami (FL) have met 45 times on the diamond, with the Hurricanes holding a 23-21-1 lead in the series dating back to the 1977 season. Earlier this season, the Hurricanes won two of three games at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Last season, Clemson swept the Hurricanes in three games at Coral Gables.

In 2005, Clemson won all four meetings between the two, including three games at Doug Kingsmore Stadium and one in the ACC Tournament at Jacksonville, FL by a score of 9-1. That is the only time the two have met in the ACC Tourney.

The Hurricanes hold a 7-5 lead all-time in neutral-site games. Tiger Head Coach Jack Leggett is 13-11 against Miami as Clemson’s head coach, including a 3-4 record in neutral-site games. He was also 0-1 against Miami as the head coach at Western Carolina, therefore is 13-12 all-time against the Hurricanes.

The Starting Pitchers Miami (FL) will start junior lefty Scott Maine (5-5, 3.06 ERA) on the mound Wednesday. The Palm Beach Gardens, FL native has made 15 starts for a total of 85.1 innings pitched. He has allowed 82 hits (.252 opponents’ batting average) and 20 walks with 69 strikeouts.

The Tigers will counter with junior lefty Daniel Moskos (3-5, 3.07 ERA) on Wednesday. The Alta Loma, CA native has made 17 relief appearances and seven starts for a total of 58.2 innings pitched. He has allowed 56 hits (.265 opponents’ batting average) and 31 walks with 68 strikeouts.

The Hurricanes Miami (FL), led by 14th-year Head Coach Jim Morris, enters the ACC Tournament with a 35-20 overall record and 17-13 ACC mark after sweeping Duke this past weekend at home by a combined score of 28-9. After starting the season with 22-17 record, the Hurricanes have gone 13-3 in their last 16 games, including winning nine of their last 10 games and four in a row. They bring a #25 national ranking into the tourney as well.

Miami is hitting .295 as a team with a .399 on-base percentage thanks to 285 walks, an average of 5.2 per game. The Hurricanes have 64 sacrifice bunts and 74 stolen bases in 104 attempts as well.

Yonder Alonso has a team-high .376 batting average and .518 on-base percentage along with 18 homers and 72 RBIs. Roger Tomas is batting .350 with 17 sacrifice bunts, and Blake Tekotte is hitting .349. Freshman Mark Sobolewski is also hitting .348 with six homers and 49 RBIs, while Dennis Raben has added 11 long balls and 44 RBIs.

The pitching staff has a 4.16 ERA and .252 opponents’ batting average. The staff has also struck out 398 against 199 walks. Senior righthander Danny Gil has a 3.97 ERA and team-high five saves in 30 appearances. The team is fielding at a .967 clip as well.

The Tigers Clemson enters the ACC Tournament with a 36-20 overall record and 18-12 ACC mark after falling twice in three games at N.C. State this past weekend. The Tigers, who are 1-0 in neutral-site games, are ranked as high as #15 in the nation.

The team is hitting .289 with a .373 on-base percentage. Brad Chalk is hitting a team-best .407 with a .531 on-base percentage, but has sat out the last 15 games due to a back injury. He is listed as questionable to play in the ACC Tournament.

Doug Hogan is hitting .333 with 11 homers and 39 RBIs, while Andy D’Alessio is hitting .303 with 14 homers and 41 RBIs. Taylor Harbin has added nine homers and 55 RBIs, including 14 RBIs in the last six games. Marquez Smith is hitting .317 with 11 homers and 48 RBIs as well.

The pitching staff has a 3.79 ERA and .261 opponents’ batting average. It has combined to strike out 476 against 206 walks. Daniel Moskos has a team-high six saves and 3.07 ERA, while Stephen Clyne has a 2.47 ERA along with three saves in 27 relief appearances. The team is fielding at a .972 clip as well.

Clemson has six players on its ACC Tourney roster from the state of Florida. Clyne (Parkland), D’Alessio (Naples), Alan Farina (Chuluota), David Kopp (Margate), Buddy Munroe (Miami), and Smith (Ocala) all hail from the Sunshine State.

Clemson Trying to Defend ACC Tourney Title Clemson won the 2006 ACC Tournament title by going 4-1 in five games from May 24-28 at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville (FL). The Tigers, who won their ninth tournament title, defeated N.C. State for the championship after beating Wake Forest in the opener and winning two of three games over #7 Georgia Tech. Clemson hit .321 with a .415 on-base percentage and 13 stolen bases in 14 attempts. The offense also totaled 47 runs, 11 doubles, five triples, two homers, and 26 walks in five games. The defense committed just one error and did not allow a stolen base as well.

Clemson’s ACC Tournament History Clemson has won nine ACC Tournaments in history, more than any other school, including in 2006 when it defeated N.C. State 8-4 in the championship game. This is the 34th ACC Baseball Tournament and Clemson has been to the finals in 21 of the previous 33 tournaments, 10 more than any other school. Clemson has a 95-52 record in ACC Tournament games. The Tigers also have the most All-ACC Tournament players (50) in history.

Prior to capturing the 2006 title, the Tigers had not won it all since 1994. That was Jack Leggett’s first year as Clemson’s head coach. Clemson defeated Florida State 4-1 in the championship game held in Greenville (SC) Municipal Stadium.

Leggett has been on the field to accept the championship trophy three times in all. In 1993, then Head Coach Bill Wilhelm was suspended for the championship game. Leggett, then the top assistant for the Tigers, was in charge for that 1993 championship game, an 11-7 win over N.C. State. Clemson’s nine tournament titles came in 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, and 2006. Wilhelm is credited with the first seven tournament championships.

Clemson has been a consistent team in tournament play. The Tigers have won at least two tournament games in 30 of their previous 33 appearances. The only years Clemson did not win at least two games were 1998 (0-2), 2001 (1-2), and 2003 (0-2). While Clemson has won the title just once since 1994, Clemson has been to the championship round six of the last 12 years.

Only 13 times in the 33-year history has a #1 seed won the tournament. Clemson has done it six times, Georgia Tech and North Carolina three times, and Florida State once. Clemson, who is the #4 seed in the 2007 tournament, was last seeded at that position in 2004. No #4 seed in ACC Tournament history has won the tourney title.

The Tigers have won the ACC Tournament with a perfect record five times. Clemson was 3-0 in 1976 and 1978 in winning both events at Clemson, then had a 4-0 record in winning the title in Raleigh in 1980. Clemson’s only other perfect run through the tournament came in 1991, when a Clemson team that won a record 60 games had a 5-0 mark in the ACC Tournament held in Greenville, SC.

This will be the fifth time the tournament has been held in the state of Florida, as the 1997 and 2002 events were held at Saint Petersburg, FL, and the 2005 and 2006 tourneys were held at Jacksonville. The 2008 tournament will also be held at Jacksonville, while the 2009 tourney is scheduled to be played at Fenway Park in Boston, MA.

Clemson has a winning record against every ACC team (excluding Boston College and Virginia Tech, who have not faced the Tigers in the event) in tournament play with the exception of Florida State. Clemson is 7-10 against the Seminoles in the event. The Tigers are 8-3 against Duke, 13-9 versus Georgia Tech, 12-0 versus Maryland, 1-0 against Miami (FL), 15-11 against North Carolina, 17-9 against N.C. State, 10-6 versus Virginia, and 12-4 versus Wake Forest. That computes to a 95-52 record and a 64.6-percent winning mark. Only Florida State (68.8) has a better winning percentage than Clemson in ACC Tournament play.

Clemson was the dominant team when the ACC Tournament was played in Greenville from 1987-95. In those nine tournaments, Clemson posted a 36-12 record, won the event four times, and finished second on two other occasions. Clemson won at least three games in eight of the nine tournaments held in Greenville.

The ACC Tournament began in 1973 and has been held every year but one since then. In 1979, Clemson won the regular-season title and was declared conference champion. The tournament was not held because of a scheduling conflict between school exam schedules and the tournament. Clemson has been the declared conference champion 14 times in its history, more than any other school.

Polls Clemson fell to the #19 spot in the Baseball America poll and remained at #15 in the Collegiate Baseball poll on Monday after going 2-2 in four games last week. Clemson also dropped to #16 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.

Four Tigers Named All-ACC Third-baseman Marquez Smith was named First-Team All-ACC in 2007. Smith, who is hitting .317 with 11 homers and 48 RBIs, was the lone Tiger to make the first team. It was the first selection for the senior. The team was compiled after a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches.

Three Tigers made Second-Team All-ACC, including junior outfielder Daniel Moskos.

Wolfpack Takes Two Over Tigers in Raleigh N.C. State defeated #14 Clemson twice in three games at Raleigh, NC from May 17-19 to close the regular season. The Wolfpack outscored the Tigers 20-15 and outhit them .330 to .257. Doug Hogan was 5-for-12 (.417) with four RBIs, while Marquez Smith, Addison Johnson, and Wilson Boyd added four hits apiece. Clemson’s pitching staff had a 7.20 ERA thanks in part to 23 walks allowed. Neither team committed an error in the series as well.

In game-one on May 17, N.C. State used 14 hits and 11 walks to defeat Clemson 11-4 at Doak Field. Six Tiger pitchers combined to walk 11 batters, while N.C. State scored in five different innings. In each of those innings, the Wolfpack had the leadoff runner reach base, including four times via a walk. The Tigers cut a 5-1 deficit in half in the seventh inning on Boyd’s two-run single, but N.C. State put the game out of reach with five runs in the eighth inning. Starter Clayton Shunick pitched 5.0 innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits to earn the win. Johnson led Clemson with two hits.

In game-two on May 18, Dallas Poulk’s walkoff home run lifted N.C. State to a 6-5 win over Clemson at Doak Field. Taylor Harbin tied the score with a two-run homer in the sixth inning, then J.D. Burgess’ RBI single in the seventh inning gave the Tigers a 5-4 lead. But Tommy Foschi hit a leadoff homer in the seventh inning, then Poulk hit the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth inning off and over the fence in right-center for his first career home run and a Wolfpack victory. Harbin had a game-high three RBIs to lead the Tigers.

In game-three on May 19, P.J. Zocchi combined to pitch 4.1 scoreless innings in relief to lead Clemson to a 6-3 victory over N.C. State at Doak Field. Hinson earned the win by pitching 2.0 innings of one-hit ball, while Zocchi picked up the save with 2.1 innings pitched and four strikeouts. Hogan went 3-for-5 with a homer, double, and three RBIs, while Boyd added a solo homer. The Tigers built a 4-0 lead with three runs in the third inning and a 6-1 lead on Hogan’s two-run double in the fifth inning. The Wolfpack had 16 baserunners, but grounded into two double plays and stranded 11 runners on base.