No. 23 Clemson Defeats No. 10 North Carolina, 20-7

May 9, 1999

Clemson, SC – Clemson moved a half game ahead of North Carolina into third place in the ACC standings with a 20-7 win over the Tar Heels in ACC baseball action at Tiger Field on Sunday afternoon.

Clemson improved to 32-19 overall and 11-7 in the ACC, while the Tar Heels fell to 38-11 and 11-8 in the ACC.

Both teams posted three runs each in the first inning and North Carolina added two more in the top of the third before the Clemson bats came alive.

The Tigers responded with five runs in the bottom of the third thanks in part to a two RBI single by third baseman Khalil Greene. Greene finished the day 3-for-4 with five RBIs as he had another two RBI single in the fourth and a solo home run in the sixth.

North Carolina’s Clay Hooper and Chris LaMarsh scored runs for the Tar Heels in the top of the fourth inning to cut the Clemson lead to 8-7. Hooper scored on a wild pitch, while LaMarsh came home on an RBI single by Tyrell Godwin.

Clemson blew the game open in the bottom of the inning as Patrick Boyd and Kurt Bultmann recorded back-to-back two RBI singles and Derek Borgert added a solo home run to help give the Tigers eight runs in the inning. Borgert had a solid day at the plate as he was 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs.

The Tigers added three runs in the fifth, two of which came on a two RBI triple by Boyd. Boyd finished the game 3-for-5 with five RBIs and three runs. Greene’s home run in the sixth was the last run that crossed the plate in the game.

Clemson received help from its bullpen as reliever Brandt Cook (1-0), who came on in the fourth for starter Mike Paradis, shut down the Tar Heel bats in the next 4.1 innings. Cook allowed no runs on three hits to earn the first win of his career. Taking the loss was North Carolina starter Ryan Snare (5-3).

North Carolina entered the game with the seventh best ERA in the nation at 3.58, but gave up its highest run total this season to the Tigers. Contributing to the 20 run total were 16 walks given up by North Carolina pitchers, three shy of an ACC record.

Clemson leadoff man Brian Ellis tied a school record as he walked five times in the contest He tied the record set by Jason Harris earlier this season and Doug Livingston in 1996. It was the first time Ellis has been the lead off hitter in the lineup since March 20.

The two teams will meet in game two of the three game series on Monday night beginning at 7:15 p.m. at Tiger Field.