Tigers Drop Two at UNLV Desert Classic

February 26, 1999

LAS VEGAS – In game one, Creighton pitchers allowed just six Clemson hits as the Bluejays defeated the Tigers 4-3 in the first of two games on Friday. Clemson fell to 4-1 while Creighton improved to 7-2. It was the first time in ’99 that Clemson did not score double-digit runs.

Starter Peyton Lewis (2-0) pitched 6.0 innings, allowing just two hits and one run to pick up the victory. Scott Yahraus earned his second save of the season. Tiger starter Brian Adams (0-1) suffered the loss despite pitching 8.0 innings and allowing three runs. Creighton plated three runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by David Valentin’s run-scoring double. Lewis followed with a sacrifice fly to left field and Bryon Bennett added another run with an RBI single.

Clemson responded with a run in the seventh inning. Justin Singleton reached via a hit by pitch to lead off the inning and scored on Derek Borgert’s opposite field single. The Tigers had runners on first and second with one out but Brian Ellis struck out and Henri Stanley flied out to deep centerfield.

After the Bluejays added a crucial insurance run in the top of the ninth, Clemson rallied. After pinch-hitter Brian Holstad walked, pinch-hitter Doug Roper laced an RBI triple down the right field line. Ellis followed with an RBI single to right. But Creighton reliever Yahraus got Stanley to groundout and Kurt Bultmann to pop up to end the game.

In game two against host UNLV (4-10), the Rebels rallied with three runs in the bottom of the 10th inning after Clemson (4-2) took an 11-9 lead in the top of the 10th inning to win a 12-11 thriller. Bill Scheffels (1-0) picked up the win, while Steve Reba suffered the loss, falling to 0-1. Clemson also left 14 men on base.

UNLV scored in first inning when Ryan Ludwick brought home Denny Seybert on a sacrifice fly.

The Rebels then put four runs on the board in the third inning. Seybert reached when Bultmann dropped a pop-fly. Ludwick and Nate Kaup followed with singles, and Ryan Hamill hit his first homer of the season, a three-run towering blast down the left field line, to put UNLV ahead 5-0.

The Tigers had their chances in the third and fourth innings. Ryan Gidge walked five Tiger batters in those two innings, but Clemson could not bring home any of those five baserunners. The Rebels walked 13 batters in the game. Clemson finally scratched in the fifth inning with nine runs while sending 14 batters to the plate. Stanley led off with a walk and Bultmann singled. After Harris walked, Khalil Greene singled to left to plate Stanley and Singleton doubled to left center, driving home two more runners. Greene then scored on a wild pitch. Singleton then scored when catcher Harold Betts dropped the ball trying to tag Singleton out at the plate on a squeeze bunt. Four batters later, Jason Harris singled home two runners and Greene followed with an RBI single.

UNLV came right back with two runs in the fifth inning. Nate Kaup reached when Roper dropped a pop fly. Hamill, who had seven RBIs, followed with a long two-run home run, his second in the game. UNLV tied the game in the bottom of the eight on a solo homer by Seybert, his first of the year. The Rebels rallied again in the ninth and had the bases loaded with one out. Seybert flied out to right field and A.C. Smith tried to score from third, but was gunned down at the plate by Singleton to extend the game.

The Tigers then put two runs on the board in the 10th inning. Bradley LeCroy hit a double down the left field line with two outs to give Clemson the lead. Joe Don Reames then reached on an error, which plated LeCroy.

Hamill then hit his third homer, a two-run shot on a hanging breaking ball to tie the game in the 10th inning. Four batters later, Eliott Sarabia won the game for the Rebels with a single to left.

Clemson will next play Nevada on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 1:00 EST.

Creighton   0 0 0   3 0 0   0 0 1  -   4 10 0Clemson     0 0 0   0 0 0   1 0 2  -   3  6 0Lewis, Ringleb (7), Yahraus (8) and Smith. Adams,Browning (9) and Borgert, Ellis (8). Win - Lewis (2-0).Loss - Adams (0-1). Save - Yahraus (2). 2B - Valentin 2 (4),Lewis (2), Bennett (2), Smith (3). 3B - Roper (1). Time: 2:44.Attendance: 441.

Clemson 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 2 – 11 9 4 UNLV 1 0 4 0 2 1 0 0 0 3 – 12 14 4 Paradis, Reba (6) and Ellis. Gidge, Lopez (5), Olson (5), Scheffels (8) and Betts. Win – Scheffels (1-0). Loss – Reba (0-1). 2B – Bultmann (3), Singleton (2), LeCroy (1), Adolph (4), Kaup (3). HR – Hamill 3 (3), Seybert (1). Time: 3:53. Attendance: 661.