Cribb Carries #12 Clemson to 9-1 Victory Over #8 Miami (FL) Thursday in ACC Tournament

May 26, 2005

Jacksonville, FL –

Josh Cribb pitched a complete game six-hitter in #12 Clemson’s 9-1 win over #8 Miami (FL) Thursday in an elimination game in the ACC Tournament at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. Cribb allowed one run and no walks with eight strikeouts in facing just four batters over the minimum, while the Tiger offense jumped out to a 6-0 lead after four innings and cruised to its 10th win in its last 11 games. The Tigers, the #2 seed, improved to 38-20, including 16-7 against top-25 ranked teams, while Miami, the #3 seed, fell to 38-17-1 and was eliminated from its first-ever ACC Tournament. It was the Hurricanes’ sixth loss in a row, their longest losing streak since 1966.

Cribb, who entered Thursday’s start with back-to-back ACC Pitcher-of-the-Week honors, was 2-0 in his two starts against Miami in 2005. In those two outings, he had a 1.69 ERA and allowed just 13 hits and one walk with 17 strikeouts in 16.0 innings pitched against one of the best hitting teams in the country. Thursday, he allowed just two Hurricanes past first base, one on a home run and one on back-to-back infield singles in the ninth inning. The complete game was also the first by a Tiger in an ACC Tournament game since Ryan Mottl went the distance in an 8-4 win over Florida State on May 18, 2000 at Fort Mill, SC. Hurricane starter Dan Touchet (3-5) suffered the loss, as the righthander allowed six runs on five hits in 3.0 innings pitched.

Clemson, who swept Miami in a three-game series at Clemson from May 19-21, improved to 4-0 against the national power in 2005 with the win Thursday. Clemson also outscored the Hurricanes 39-10 and hit 17 extra-base hits to Miami’s five in the four games.

Like Wednesday’s game, eight of the nine Tiger starters had at least one hit, led by Herman Demmink’s three in five at-bats. Brad Chalk and Taylor Harbin added two hits apiece, as both extended their hitting streaks to 11 games. Six different Hurricane batters had one hit apiece.

The Tigers got on the board in the second inning with four runs. Kris Harvey was hit by a pitch with one out and went to third on Travis Storrer’s double to left-center. After Andy D’Alessio struck out and Stan Widmann walked to load the bases, Adrian Casanova drew another walk to bring home Harvey. Demmink followed with a two-run single up the middle, as Casanova went to third. That advancement allowed the Miami, FL native to score on Chalk’s bunt single.

In the fourth inning, D’Alessio led off with an infield single and Widmann followed with a two-run, line-drive homer to left field, his four of the season.

After facing the minimum through 5.1 innings, Cribb gave up an opposite-field, solo homer to Eddy Rodriguez in the sixth inning. It was his seventh homer of the season and cut the Tiger lead to 6-1.

Clemson added a run in the seventh inning. Tyler Colvin led off with his first hit of the tournament, a double down the right-field line, and went to third on a wild pitch. Harvey followed with a line-drive double to left field, bringing home Colvin.

The Tigers added two insurance runs in the eighth inning. Casanova reached on a hit-by-pitch and went to third on Demmink’s double down the right-field line. Two batters later, Harbin hit a bloop single to right-center, scoring Casanova and moving Demmink to third. Colvin followed with a sacrifice fly to center to score Demmink.

Clemson will play N.C. State on Friday at 4:00 PM in another elimination game. Clemson will be designated the visiting team and occupy the first-base dugout.