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Tiger Baseball Team to Face Georgia in Home-and-Home Series Tuesday and Wednesday

Tiger Baseball Team to Face Georgia in Home-and-Home Series Tuesday and Wednesday

March 31, 2008

Complete Game Notes

Clemson vs. Georgia Clemson (18-8) will take on Georgia (15-10) in a midweek, home-and-home series. The two teams will play at Georgia’s Foley Field on Tuesday at 7:00 PM, then they will play at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Wednesday at 7:15 PM. Tuesday’s game will be televised live by CSS, while Wednesday’s game will be shown live via webcast at ClemsonTigers.com for both games.

Wednesday: Watch Clemson vs. Georgia Live on ACC Select!

The Series Clemson and Georgia have met 212 times on the diamond, with the Bulldogs holding a 114-96-2 advantage in the series that dates back to the 1900 season. Georgia is Clemson’s second-most played rival in school history, trailing only South Carolina (281).

Last year, Clemson won both games that were decided by a total of three runs. At Foley Field on April 3, the Tigers won 4-2. Then the Tigers won 11-10 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium the following day when Addison Johnson’s walkoff double capped Clemson’s two-run ninth inning.

The Bulldogs lead 67-40 in games played at Georgia, while the Tigers lead 53-44-2 in games played at Clemson and 33-9 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

The Starting Pitchers On Tuesday, Georgia will start sophomore lefthander Alex McRee (3-1, 4.34 ERA) on the mound. The Gainesville, GA native has made one start and eight relief appearances for a total of 18.2 innings pitched. He has allowed 17 hits (.236 opponents’ batting average), including 16 singles and one homer, and six walks with 21 strikeouts.

The Tigers will counter with freshman lefthander Craig Gullickson (3-0, 1.61 ERA) on Tuesday. The Palm Beach Gardens, FL native has made four starts and three relief appearances for a total of 22.1 innings pitched. He has yielded 19 hits (.232 opponents’ batting average) and five walks with 24 strikeouts.

On Wednesday, the Bulldogs will send out freshman righthander Justin Grimm (0-0, 3.60 ERA) on the mound. The Bristol, VA native has made three starts and two relief appearances for a total of 10.0 innings pitched. He has yielded three hits (.100 opponents’ batting average) and 10 walks with eight strikeouts.

Clemson will counter with freshman righthander Trent Rothlin (1-0, 11.37 ERA) on Wednesday. The Hickory, NC native has made one start and four relief appearances for a total of 6.1 innings pitched. He has allowed seven hits (.269 opponents’ batting average) and seven walks with two strikeouts.

The Bulldogs Georgia, led by seventh-year Head Coach David Perno, enters the home-and-home series against Clemson with a 15-10 overall record and 6-3 SEC mark after winning two of three games at Mississippi State over the weekend. The Bulldogs, who have won nine of their last 12 games, also sport an 8-5 home record and 6-3 record on opponents’ home fields.

Georgia is averaging 7.6 runs per game and hitting .299 with a .393 on-base percentage thanks to 127 walks in 25 games. The team also has a .495 slugging percentage and has stolen 26 bases in 34 attempts.

Junior shortstop Gordon Beckham is hitting .454 with 38 runs scored, eight doubles, one triple, 15 homers, 35 RBIs, a .963 slugging percentage, .524 on-base percentage, eight steals in nine attempts, and a .980 fielding percentage. Rich Poythress is batting .381 with five homers and 22 RBIs as well.

The pitching staff has a 3.67 ERA and .248 opponents’ batting average along with 207 strikeouts against 90 walks in 223.0 innings pitched. In 12.1 innings pitched over 13 relief appearances, senior righty Joshua Fields has allowed only five hits (.116 opponents’ batting average), one unearned run, and four walks with 26 strikeouts. Georgia is fielding at a .966 clip as well.

The Tigers Clemson enters the home-and-home series against Georgia with an 18-8 overall record and 6-6 ACC mark after winning two of three games at Maryland over the weekend. The Tigers, who are 4-4 on the road and 14-4 at home, have won nine of their last 11 games.

The Tigers are hitting .308 with a .389 on-base percentage and .484 slugging percentage thanks to 90 extra-base hits. The team has also swiped 30 bases in 43 attempts, including a team-high seven by Stan Widmann.

Mike Freeman leads the team with a .381 batting average and .451 on-base percentage. Freeman played at Georgia during the 2007 season. As a freshman, he hit .237 in 48 games (40 starts) as the primary second-baseman for the Bulldogs.

Kyle Parker is hitting .360 with six homers and 17 RBIs, while Ben Paulsen is batting .344 with nine doubles, seven home runs, and 19 RBIs. Doug Hogan has added 10 doubles, seven homers, and 30 RBIs as well.

The pitching staff has a 3.83 ERA and .255 opponents’ batting average. Righthander Matt Vaughn has struck out 19 against just six walks in 14.2 innings pitched and has eight saves in 13 relief appearances. The Tigers are fielding at a .964 clip as well.

Three Tigers hail from the state of Georgia, including William Bond (Lawrenceville), Chris Epps (Stone Mountain), and Paulsen (Acworth).

Worth Noting • Eighteen of Clemson’s 26 games have been decided by three runs or less and 17 have been decided by two runs or less. Amazingly, none of the 26 games have had a tie score at the end of eight innings, and Clemson has yet to play an extra-inning game.

Freeman Making Successful Transfer Sophomore infielder Mike Freeman (Orlando, FL) is in his first season at Clemson after spending the 2007 season at Georgia, where he hit .237 in 48 games (40 starts). But this season in a Tiger uniform, his average has climbed substantially. He leads the team with a .381 batting average and .451 on-base percentage in 21 games (19 starts). He has also walked eight times and struck out just seven times.

Hinson’s Big Week Leads to ACC Honor Junior lefthander Ryan Hinson (Rock Hill, SC) got back to his winning form in two outings in the last full week of March. In two outings, including one in relief, he earned a save and victory, as he pitched 9.0 innings, allowing just six hits, two runs, and one walk with 11 strikeouts. He also faced just 33 batters (six over the minimum). For his efforts, he earned ACC Co-Pitcher-of-the-Week honors.

He earned a save against Elon on March 26 by pitching 2.0 perfect innings in relief with three strikeouts. Then in a start at Maryland on March 30, he pitched 7.0 innings, allowing six hits, two runs, and one walk with eight strikeouts to earn the win.

On the season, Hinson is 2-3 with a save, 4.75 ERA, and .287 opponents’ batting average. In 36.0 innings pitched over six starts and one relief appearance, he has allowed just nine walks with 37 strikeouts.

Clemson Wins Two Games at Maryland Clemson won two of three games at Maryland from March 28-30. The Tigers, who outscored the Terrapins 11-8 in the series, outhit Maryland .272 to .189, while Clemson’s pitching staff had a 1.38 ERA. Mike Freeman led the Tigers at the plate by going 5-for-11 (.455), while Jeff Schaus was 5-for-12 (.417) with three doubles. The Tiger pitching staff allowed just 17 hits, four earned runs, and six walks with 19 strikeouts as well.

In game-one on March 28, Clemson held on to defeat Maryland 2-1 at Shipley Field. The Tigers built a 2-0 lead thanks in part to Kyle Parker two-out, run-scoring single in the sixth inning. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Maryland had runners on first and second with no outs. Nick Jowers’ bunt was thrown away by Matt Vaughn combined to retire the next three batters without allowing a run to preserve the win. Mitchell allowed just five hits and no earned runs in 8.0 innings pitched to earn the win, while Vaughn picked up the save. Freeman had a game-high three hits.

In game-two on March 29, Maryland took advantage of two key Tiger errors to defeat Clemson 5-3 at Shipley Field. Clemson built a 3-0 lead after three innings, highlighted by Stan Widmann run-scoring double in the second inning. But the Terrapins put their leadoff batter on base in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, as they took a 4-3 lead. Maryland’s two runs in the fourth inning and one run in the fifth inning all came after costly Clemson errors. The Tigers left 11 runners on base, including eight in scoring position, while Maryland left just three runners on base and totaled six hits. Schaus had two of Clemson’s four doubles. The Tigers’ 33-inning streak of not allowing an earned run in an ACC game came to an end in the sixth inning.

In game-three on March 30, Clemson scored four runs in the final two innings to top Maryland 6-2 at Shipley Field. The Tigers scored two runs in the first inning, only to see the Terrapins tie the score with two runs in the fourth inning. In the eighth inning, Widmann, making his first career appearance off the bench, hit a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to score the go-ahead run. The Tigers added three insurance runs in the ninth inning, highlighted by Ben Paulsen totaled three hits, including two doubles, to lead the Tigers’ 13-hit attack.

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