Tiger Baseball Team to Face College of Charleston in Final Regular Season Home Game Tuesday

May 12, 2009

Clemson vs. College of Charleston Clemson (35-17), ranked as high as #14 in the nation, will host College of Charleston (35-16) on Tuesday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in the Tigers’ final regular-season home game. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 PM. The game will be broadcast live on the radio by WCCP (104.9 FM) out of Clemson and can be heard live on the internet at ClemsonTigers.com. The game will also be available live via webcast at ACCSelect.com.

Watch Clemson vs. College of Charleston Live on ACC Select!

The Series Clemson and College of Charleston have met 20 times on the diamond. The Tigers have won all 20 games, including two wins last season. The Tigers won 7-6 in Mount Pleasant on February 29, then Clemson won 12-6 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on May 13.

The Tigers also registered victories over College of Charleston in 2007 (1), 2006 (2), 2005 (2), 2004 (2), 2003 (2), 2002 (2), and 2001 (1). Prior to the matchup in the 2001 season, the two teams had not played since 1912.

The Tigers hold a 13-0 lead over the Cougars in games played at Clemson and 9-0 advantage at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

The Starting Pitchers College of Charleston will start sophomore righthander Casey Lucchese (1-1, 10.50 ERA) on the mound. The Lexington, KY native has made seven relief appearances and three starts for a total of 18.0 innings pitched. He has allowed 25 hits (.305 opponents’ batting average) and 10 walks with 15 strikeouts.

Clemson will counter with freshman righty Scott Weismann (1-0, 1.27 ERA) on Tuesday. The Boxborough, MA native has made 12 relief appearances and one start for a total of 21.1 innings pitched. He has yielded 15 hits (.197 opponents’ batting average) and six walks with 19 strikeouts.

The Cougars College of Charleston, led by first-year Head Coach Monte Lee, enters Tuesday’s game at #14 Clemson with a 35-16 overall record and 17-10 SoCon mark after sweeping Wofford on the road over the weekend. The Cougars, who are 12-10 on opponents’ home fields, have won 10 games in a row, the longest active streak in the nation.

College of Charleston is one of the nation’s best offensive teams. The Cougars are averaging 10.5 runs per game and hitting .358 with a .620 slugging percentage and .441 on-base percentage. The team has also totaled 145 doubles, 11 triples, 108 home runs, and 111 stolen bases in 137 attempts.

Joey Bergman is hitting a team-best .467 with 22 doubles, 15 homers, 55 RBIs, 81 runs, an .814 slugging percentage, .561 on-base percentage, and 21 steals in 23 attempts. Clay McCord is hitting .408 with 27 stolen bases, Ryan Daniels is hitting .368 with 10 homers and 58 RBIs, and Joash Brodin is batting .362 with 12 home runs and 63 RBIs. Matt Mansilla has added 19 homers, Brandon Sizemore has hit 16 homers, and Cole Rakar has added 11 long balls, as six Cougars in all have totaled at least 10 home runs. Sizemore has tallied a team-high 70 RBIs as well.

The pitching staff has a 6.30 ERA and .293 opponents’ batting average along with 330 strikeouts against 184 walks in 448.2 innings pitched. Senior lefthander Owen Brittle has a team-high three saves in 25.2 innings pitched over 12 appearances. The Cougars are fielding at a .960 clip as well.

The Tigers Clemson, ranked as high as #14 in the nation, enters Tuesday’s game against College of Charleston with a 35-17 overall record and 16-11 ACC mark after topping Furman 8-5 at Fluor Field in Greenville, SC on Monday. The Tigers also won two of three games against UNC Wilmington at home over the weekend. The Tigers are 26-8 at home as well.

The Tigers are averaging 7.0 runs per game and hitting .301 with a .456 slugging percentage and .392 on-base percentage. Clemson has also totaled 93 doubles, 15 triples, 52 homers, and 62 stolen bases in 82 attempts.

Ben Paulsen is hitting a team-best .383 with 15 doubles, four triples, 11 homers, and 53 RBIs. Jeff Schaus is hitting .337 with a .438 on-base percentage thanks to 33 walks against only 17 strikeouts. Kyle Parker has added 11 homers and 48 RBIs, while Mike Freeman is 16-for-37 (.432) with nine walks during his current 10-game hitting streak, the longest by a Tiger in 2009.

The pitching staff has a 3.57 ERA and .250 opponents’ batting average. The staff has allowed 155 walks against 434 strikeouts, good for a 2.8-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Tomas Cruz and Matt Vaughn are tied for the team-lead with three saves apiece. The Tigers are fielding at a .968 clip as well.

Polls The Tigers moved up five spots to #14 in the Sports Weekly coaches poll this week after going 2-1 in three games last week. Clemson also moved up two spots to #17 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and moved up one spot to #19 in the Baseball America poll.

Clemson has had at least one final top-25 ranking in 12 of Head Coach Jack Leggett’s first 15 seasons in Tigertown. The Tigers have also been ranked #1 for 20 weeks by at least one of the three major polls under Leggett.

Boyd Streaking Junior outfielder Wilson Boyd (Hickory, NC) had a streak of seven consecutive hits over a two-game span on May 10,11. He went 3-for-3 against North Carolina-Wilmington on May 10, then he had a hit in each of his first four at-bats against Furman a day later before he grounded out in his fifth at-bat of the game. He also went 2-for-3 against the Seahawks on May 9, meaning he is 9-for-11 in the last three games.

After the Georgia Tech game on April 25, his season batting average stood at .250. But in the last eight games, he is 16-for-27 (.593) with three doubles, two triples, one homer, six RBIs, 10 runs, five walks against only one strikeout, a .963 slugging percentage, and .656 on-base percentage. Thanks to his hot bat, he has raised his season batting average to .323 with a .412 on-base percentage. He also has nine doubles, three triples, three homers, 31 RBIs, and 19 walks against only 10 strikeouts in 127 at-bats in 2009.

Tigers Outlast Furman 8-5 at Fluor Field Ben Paulsen both tallied four hits to lead #14 Clemson to an 8-5 victory over Furman at Fluor Field in Greenville, SC on May 11. The Tigers jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks to Boyd’s three-run double in the first inning and Paulsen’s two-run homer in the third. The Paladins scored four runs in the eighth but got no closer. Boyd went 4-for-5 with a double, triple, three RBIs, and two runs. Justin Sarratt retired all four batters he faced to record his first career save.