Pirates Bomb Clemson 14-2; Sweep Series

March 17, 1999

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina pounded out 15 hits on the day and sophomore outfielder John Williamson tied a school record with three home runs in the game as East Carolina bombed Clemson 14-2 here Wednesday in college baseball action.

Starter Foye Minton held the Tigers in check early as he allowed just one hit in the first five innings while the Pirates jumped to a 10-0 lead.

ECU (16-5) started off the game with four runs in the bottom of the first as Lee Delfino walked and was followed by Steve Salargo with a double and John Williamson and Erik Bakich each with a RBI single. Cliff Godwin drove in the final run of the frame with a single as ECU opened a 4-0 lead. The Pirates added two more in the second as Salargo singled before Williamson hit his first home run of the game to make it a 6-0 cushion.

Clemson (10-8) got its first hit of the game in the third as Justin Singleton knuckled a ball into shallow left behind the shortstop. In the bottom of the same frame, Williamson led off with his second straight home run while singles by Bakich and Chad Tracy were followed by a Jason Howard home run to make it 10-0 in favor of the Pirates.

The Tigers got on the board in the top of the sixth as Singleton walked and took second on Joe Don Reames’ single to right center. Singleton then scored and Reames took second on Brian Ellis’ single. Reames took third on Khalil Greene’s fly out to center and scored on Jason Harris’ single to cut ECU’s advantage to 10-2.

That would be the extent of the Tiger’s run production, however, as Minton allowed just one hit in each of the seventh and eighth before Josh Bucy came in in relief in the top of the ninth without giving up a hit. On the day, Minton went 8.0 innings while allowing just six hits and two runs while walking one and striking out eight. Bucy finished the game for the Pirates allowing one walk with two strikeouts in 1.0 hitless inning.

The Pirates edged even further away from the Tigers in the seventh as Delfino singled before Salargo and Williamson hit back-to-back home runs for a 13-2 lead. Williamson’s third home run of the game tied the school record last accomplished by Tom Moye in 1992 against Campbell. Prior to Wednesday’s game, Williamson had three home runs during the season after finishing tied with a team-high 13 last year.

Williamson then finished off the Pirates’ scoring as he hit a sacrifice fly that scored Delfino in the eighth. For the day, Williamson went 4-4 with four runs scored and six RBI while Salargo was 4-5 with three runs and two RBI. Delfino was 2-4 with three runs while Bakich was 2-5 with a pair of runs and one RBI.

Singleton led the Tigers by going 2-3 at the plate with a run while four other Clemson batters each recorded one hit. Thomas Boozer (2-3) took the loss for Clemson as he went 0.1 innings allowing four runs on four hits with two walks. Mike Proto came in for 3.2 innings while giving up six runs on six hits before Skip Browning took over for 3.0 innings, allowing three runs on three hits. Doug Roper finished the game with 1.0 inning, giving up two hits and one run.

ECU will next be in action on Saturday, March 20 when it plays host to Youngstown State in a doubleheader at 1 p.m. The Pirates and Penguins will follow that up with a single game at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 21.