Tiger Baseball Team to Play Host to UNC-Greensboro Tuesday and Wednesday

March 11, 2008

Clemson vs. North Carolina-Greensboro Clemson (7-4), ranked as high as #24 in the nation, will play host to North Carolina-Greensboro (8-3) in a two-game, midweek series at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Game times are 4:00 (Tuesday) and 4:00 (Wednesday). The series will start Clemson’s 12-game homestand that will last until March 26.

Tuesday’s game will be shown live via webcast at ACCSelect.com. Both games will be broadcast live on the radio by WCCP (104.9 FM) out of Clemson and can be heard live on the internet at WCCPFM.com. Live stats will also be available at ClemsonTigers.com.

The Series Clemson and North Carolina-Greensboro have never met on the diamond.

The Starting Pitchers North Carolina-Greensboro’s starting pitchers were not disclosed.

Clemson will start freshman righty Graham Stoneburner (1-0. 6.00 ERA) on Tuesday. The Richmond, VA native has made two starts and one relief appearance for a total of 12.0 innings pitched. He has allowed 13 hits (.277 opponents’ batting average) and three walks with nine strikeouts.

The Tigers will start freshman lefthander Craig Gullickson (1-0, 1.42 ERA) on Wednesday. The Palm Beach Gardens, FL native has made one start and two relief appearances for a total of 6.1 innings pitched. He has yielded six hits (.240 opponents’ batting average) and two walks with five strikeouts.

The Spartans North Carolina-Greensboro, led by 18th-year Head Coach Mike Gaski, enters the series against #24 Clemson with an 8-3 overall record after winning two of three games at home against Ohio over the weekend. The Spartans also lost to Wake Forest 13-6 on March 5 in their only road game of the season.

The Spartans are averaging 9.0 runs per game and hitting .323 with a .429 on-base percentage thanks to 67 walks and 14 hit-by-pitches in 11 games. The team has also swiped 14 bases in 18 attempts.

Corey Overholtzer is hitting a team-best .531 with two homers and 11 RBIs and Ricky Orton is hitting .419 with two homers and 10 RBIs. Matt Gaski, son of Head Coach Mike Gaski, is hitting just .256, but he has a .474 on-base percentage thanks to 15 walks.

The pitching staff has a 4.72 ERA and .298 opponents’ batting average along with 86 strikeouts against 45 walks in 103.0 innings pitched. Three Spartans have one save apiece. North Carolina-Greensboro is fielding at a .975 clip as well.

The Tigers Clemson enters the weekday series against North Carolina-Greensboro with a 7-4 overall record after falling twice in three close games at Wake Forest over the weekend. The Tigers, who are 5-1 at home, also bring a #24 national ranking into the midweek series.

The Tigers are hitting .322 with a .399 on-base percentage and .524 slugging percentage thanks to 18 home runs in 11 games. Kyle Parker, who went 5-for-5 with three homers and seven RBIs in the series-finale at Wake Forest, leads the team with a .382 batting average along with four homers and nine RBIs. Wilson Boyd is hitting .367 with five homers and 16 RBIs as well.

The pitching staff has a 5.34 ERA and .286 opponents’ batting average. Righthander Matt Vaughn has struck out 12 against just two walks in 7.0 innings pitched and has four saves in six relief appearances. The Tigers are fielding at a .962 clip as well.

Junior righthander Clinton McKinney is in his first season in the Tiger program after playing two years at North Carolina-Greensboro. McKinney made 55 appearances and pitched 90.2 innings in 2006 and 2007.

Eight Tigers hail from the state of North Carolina, including Boyd (Hickory), John Hinson (Asheville), Addison Johnson (Pfafftown), Alex Martin (Charlotte), D.J. Mitchell (Rural Hall), Trent Rothlin (Hickory), Josh Thrailkill (Arden).

Polls Clemson dropped out of the Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball polls on Monday after going 2-2 in four games last week. However, the Tigers remained in the Sports Weekly poll at #24.

Clemson ended its third season in a row ranked in the top 15 in the nation in 2007, as Clemson has had at least one final top-25 ranking in 12 of Head Coach Jack Leggett’s first 14 seasons in Tigertown. The Tigers have also been ranked #1 for 20 weeks by at least one of the major polls in Head Coach Jack Leggett’s 15th season at Clemson.

Parker Hits Three Homers in One Game Freshman Kyle Parker (Jacksonville, FL) had an afternoon to remember in the second game of a doubleheader at Wake Forest on March 9. He entered the game with just one homer and two RBIs in his first eight games as a Tiger.

In his ninth game, Parker went 5-for-5 with a school-record-tying three home runs, a double, five runs scored, seven RBIs, and 15 total bases against the Demon Deacons. He hit a two-run double in the second inning, a solo homer in the fourth inning, another solo home run in the sixth inning, and a single in the eighth inning. He then stepped up to the plate with the Tigers trailing 11-8 in the ninth inning and hit a towering three-run home run, his third of the game, to tie the score. Clemson scored another run in the ninth inning to rally from an 11-4 deficit to win 12-11 in the series-finale.

Parker became the 12th Tiger in history to hit three home runs in a game and the first since Taylor Harbin accomplished the feat as a freshman at N.C. State in 2005. Denny Walling, who played in the Major Leagues for 18 years, also hit three homers in a game at Wake Forest in Clemson’s 7-2 win on April 19, 1975. Eight of the last nine Tigers to hit three homers in a game have done so on the road.

On the season, the utility player leads the team with a .382 batting average along with 12 runs scored, three doubles, four homers, nine RBIs, and an ACC-best .824 slugging percentage.

The fact that he is donning a Tiger uniform at all in 2008 is a story in itself. Parker, a standout quarterback who was rated as the #34 prospect in the nation on the gridiron by ESPN.com, graduated from high school a semester early to enroll at Clemson in January. In fact, he should be playing for the baseball team at Bartram Trail High School this semester.

Parker is on a football scholarship and will be with the Tiger gridders during spring practice along with playing on the diamond. Spring football practice began on March 8, so he was assigned to read the football playbook in his downtime during the Wake Forest series.

Wake Forest Takes Two in ACC Opener Clemson, ranked #17 in the nation, lost two of three games at Wake Forest on March 8,9. The Tigers hit .293, while the pitching staff had a 9.36 ERA. Wake Forest outscored the Tigers 29-26, as the three games were decided by a combined five runs. The Demon Deacons also hit .472 with runners in scoring position in the series. Kyle Parker was 5-for-8 with six runs scored, a double, three homers, and seven RBIs, while Matt Sanders was 4-for-8 with three RBIs in the series.

In game-one on March 8, Wake Forest outslugged Clemson 13-11 at Hooks Stadium behind Allan Dykstra’s 4-for-4 performance with two homers and three RBIs. Clemson trailed 3-0 but rallied to take a 7-4 lead in the fourth, highlighted by Doug Hogan’s three-run homer. However, Wake Forest scored the next nine runs to take a 13-7 lead, including five runs in the sixth after the first two batters of the frame were retired. Clemson clawed its way back to a two-run deficit with four runs in the seventh, but the Tigers left runners at second and third base in the ninth. Sanders led Clemson’s 12-hit attack with three hits and three RBIs, while every Tiger starter scored at least one run on a day with strong winds blowing out to right field.

In game-two on March 9, which was the first game of a doubleheader, Wake Forest scored four runs in the sixth inning to defeat Clemson 5-3 at Hooks Stadium. D.J. Mitchell and Casey Harman limited Wake Forest to just five hits, but they combined to allow five walks. Demon Deacon starter Garrett Bullock only allowed five hits and three unearned runs in 7.1 innings pitched to earn the win. The Tigers scored two runs in the eighth inning, but they came up short thanks to leaving eight runners on base against five for Wake Forest.

In game-three on March 9, which was the second game of a doubleheader, Parker hit three homers with seven RBIs in Clemson’s 12-11 comeback win over Wake Forest at Hooks Stadium. Parker, who went 5-for-5 with five runs scored, a double, and 15 total bases, became the 12th Tiger in history to hit three homers in a game, as his last was a three-run shot that tied the score in the ninth. Matt Vaughn recorded the save.