Clemson’s Bats Erupt in 14-3 Victory at Auburn Sunday

March 6, 2005

Auburn, AL –

Andy D’Alessio hit two homers and drove in six runs, and #24 Clemson totaled 19 hits en route to a 14-3 win at Auburn Sunday in front of 2,807 fans at Plainsman Park. Clemson (5-4) won game three of the series after falling in the first two games. Auburn fell to 12-5.

Clemson, who had just one two-out RBI in the first two games of the series, had 12 two-out RBIs and 13 two-out hits in the game. Meanwhile, Auburn was 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

Kris Harvey (2-1) earned the win by pitching 6.1 effective innings. He allowed two earned runs on nine hits while striking out five. Auburn reliever Grant Cardwell (1-1) suffered the loss.

Clemson took the game’s first lead in the first inning. Herman Demmink led off with a walk and stole second with two outs. Harvey helped his own cause by blooping a single to left-center to score Demmink. It was Clemson’s first two-out RBI in the series.

The ACC Tigers came right back in the second inning and added another run. A day after he was benched for going 2-for-22 in his first seven starts, D’Alessio lined a solo home run to centerfield, his second of the season. It was also his first hit in seven at-bats against lefthanders this year.

Auburn responded in the bottom of the second inning. Ben Sprague reached on a one-out infield single and scored on Russell Dixon’s line-drive double to the gap in left-center.

Neither team scored in the next two innings, but Auburn tied the score in the fifth inning thanks to the legs of Clete Thomas. Thomas singled with one out. He stole second base and then stole third base on an 0-2 count with two outs. Adrian Casanova’s throw to third was errant, as the ball sailed into left field and allowed Thomas to score. It was Clemson’s first error of the series and Casanova’s first of the season.

Tyler Colvin helped untie the score in the sixth inning. He led off with a wind-blown triple off the “green monster” in left field and scored when D’Alessio grounded out to second base. Two batters later, Casanova made up for his error by skying a home run off the foul pole in left field, his first as a Tiger.

Clemson took a commanding lead in the seventh inning thanks to three infield hits and the power of D’Alessio. After the first two batters were retired, Travis Storrer, Harvey, and Colvin all reached on “hustle” infield singles. D’Alessio then blasted a grand slam off the top of the scoreboard in left-center. It was his second homer of the game, third of the season, and first career grand slam. It was also the first homer allowed by senior righthander John Madden in his two years at Auburn.

Auburn cut Clemson’s lead to five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Adam Stacey bounced a double over Demmink at third base to lead off the inning and advanced to third on Tyler Johnstone’s groundout. After Thomas walked, Karl Amonite brought home Stacey with an RBI fielder’s choice. Drew Fiorenza avoided further damage when Brad Chalk made a running catch of a deep fly ball by Josh Bell on the warning track.

Clemson got the run back in the eighth inning. Demmink reached with two outs thanks to a fielding error by Johnstone and scored on Taylor Harbin’s double down the left-field line. It was Harbin’s eighth double of the season.

Clemson added five more runs in the ninth inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, pinch-hitter Tanner Leggett laced an infield single to the hole at shortstop, scoring Daniel Pritchard on the play. It was Leggett’s first career hit. Jorge Andrade Jr. followed with another infield single to plate John Ingram. It was also Andrade’s first career hit. Harbin followed with a two-run, bloop single down the right-field line. Storrer then singled up the middle to score Andrade, giving the Tigers a 14-3 lead.

Storrer had a game-high three hits, while Harbin added two hits and three RBIs. Harvey, Colvin, and Chalk also had two hits in the contest. Twelve different Tigers had hits in all. Thomas and Sprague led Auburn with two hits apiece.

Clemson will play host to Winthrop Wednesday at 4:00 PM at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.