Tigers Down Georgia Tech 9-7 in the College World Series

June 16, 2002

Omaha, NE – Clemson scored eight runs in the second inning and then leaned on the relief efforts of Jeff Hahn and Matt Henrie to garner a 9-7 win over Georgia Tech in the winner’s bracket of the College World Series in Omaha, NE on Sunday. Clemson will next play at 7:00 PM EDT Wednesday on espn2 against the winner of the Georgia Tech-South Carolina contest.

After stater Jeff Hahn (3-0) threw 3.2 innings, allowing only two runs, to get his third win of the year. Matt Henrie made his second straight relief appearance and pitched 2.1 innings of one-hit relief for his first save of the year.

Lumsden got himself into a jam with no outs in the first inning by sandwiching two hit batsmen around a Victor Menocal single. But the freshman got himself out of the quandry by striking out Matt Murton and inducing a 4-6-3 double play to end the frame.

Clemson started the scoring with eight runs in the second inning. Roberto Valiente followed with an infield single. Kyle Frank then hit a single to left that brought Johnson to the plate. The first baseman slid in just past the tag of Tech catcher Tyler Parker to put Clemson on the board. Steve Pyzik walked to load the bases and David Slevin followed with a single up the middle that scored two runs. After a a Zane Green strikeout and Khalil Greene walk, Jeff Baker cleared the bases by driving a 1-2 pitch to the gap in left center for three runs and a 6-0 lead.

The hit knocked Yellow Jacket starter Chris Goodman out of the game but the offense continued. Johnson hit his second double of the inning to score Baker and Valiente doubled to plate Johnson and cap the scoring. Georgia Tech got two runs back in the bottom of the inning with Jason Perry’s leadoff home run and Eric Patterson’s RBI-infield single.

Tech scored three runs in the third inning to make the score 8-5. Perry singled to center to score one run and a throwing error by Baker allowed to runners to come home. The Yellow Jackets scored another run in the sixth inning before Clemson answered in the seventh. Johnson notched his third hit of the day and his 24th home run of the season, a solo shot that extended the Tiger advantage to 9-6.

With two outs in the seventh, Menocal took a 3-2 pitch to right field that brought the Yellow Jackets to within 9-7. Henrie then entered the game and was steady the rest of the way. He gave up a leadoff single in the ninth inning and after he retired one batter, Tech’s Patterson hit a line drive headed towards left-center field. However, shortstop Khalil Greene leaped in the air and snagged the ball to prevent a sure hit and Henrie retired the next batter to seal the win.

Johnson led the offense by going 3-3 with two doubles, a home run and two RBIs. Baker’s three RBIs paced the team and Slevin also knocked in two runs. Khalil Greene went 0-4 with a walk to snap his 34-game hitting streak.