Tigers Back On Track, Sweep Blue Devils

April 15, 2001

CLEMSON, SC – Clemson scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on its way to a 6-4 victory and a three-game sweep of the Duke Blue Devils Sunday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

The Tigers fell in an early hole, trailing 3-0 before a five-run, fifth inning that gave them the lead. It was the fourth time in as many games that Clemson put up five runs in one inning. The Tigers scored five runs in the ninth inning in a come-from-behind extra inning win over Coastal Carolina. Clemson scored five in the fifth inning against the Blue Devils on Friday and then scored five in the first inning on Saturday.

Clemson’s three-game sweep coupled with Wake Forest’s 2-1 series win over Georgia Tech vaulted the Tigers from fourth place in the ACC standings on Friday into second place behind only Florida State on Sunday. The Seminoles, who swept Clemson, April 6-8, are 14-1 in first place, followed by Clemson (8-4), Wake Forest (11-7) and Georgia Tech (9-6).

Duke, which had failed to score a run before the fourth inning in either of the two previous games this weekend, scored one run in the first inning. Troy Caradonna singled to score Bryan Smith who opened the game with a single over the third baseman’s head. The Blue Devils scored the one run on three hits in the inning.

The Blue Devils added a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning. After a Doug Bechtold and J.D. Alleva drew walks, Caradonna singled to center field, where Chad Coder let the ball get past him. Both Bechtold and Alleva scored and Caradonna ended up at third before Jarrod Schmidt struck out Drew Jerdan for his third strike out.

Clemson scored five runs on four hits in the fifth inning to take a 5-3 lead. Casey Stone led off with a double and then Ryan Riley was hit by Duke starter Justin Dilucchio. Michael Johnson followed with a single to score Stone and then Khalil Greene doubled to score Riley. Schmidt tied the game with a base hit that scored Johnson. The Tigers added two runs on a throwing error by Alleva at third base.

Duke got one run back in the top of the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Scott Grossi that scored Kevin Kelly, but Clemson added an insurance run in the eighth on a base hit by Riley that scored Steve Pyzik.

Schmidt got the win in 5 1/3 innings allowing just four runs (three earned) off eight hits. He improved to 4-3 on the year and struck out four batters. Dilucchio dropped to 1-2 on the year after giving up four the of the five Clemson runs in 4 1/3 innings. Josh Cram picked up his fourth save for the Tigers.

Four Tigers had 2 for 4 performances on Sunday including Stone, Riley, Greene and Pyzik, who led the team with two RBIs,

Clemson returns to action Tuesday night versus Georgia at 7:15 PM at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Georgia claimed an 8-4 meeting with the Tigers in Athens on March 18.