Tigers Host Gamecocks In Series Finale

April 25, 2001

Clemson vs. South Carolina This the fourth and final meeting between the two rivals this season. South Carolina has won two of the first three games against Clemson this season and will be going for the season series win in tonight’s game. Clemson will be looking to prevent the Gamecocks from winning the season series for the second straight year, which would be a first for South Carolina against the Tigers since 1981 and 1982. The Gamecocks have not won two games at Clemson since head coach Jack Leggett’s first year in 1994.

Overall this is the 253rd meeting between the schools in a series that dates back to 1899. Clemson leads the all-time series 149-101. Under Leggett, the Tigers are 14-10 against the Gamecocks.

Bradley, Price Awards The Most Valuable Players of the Clemson vs. South Carolina four-game baseball series this year will be presented awards in honor of two legendary figures in each program’s history. Clemson’s Most Valuable Player of the series will be presented the Bob Bradley Award, while South Carolina’s MVP will be presented the Tom Price Award. The voting will be done by media covering the four-game series. The awards will be presented immediately after tonight’s ball game.

Both gentlemen served their respective schools as sports information director for over 30 years. For the past nine years, Price has served as a consultant for the Gamecocks athletics department in the role of SID emeritus and department historian. Bradley passed away October 30 after a long bout with cancer.

Bradley served the Clemson athletic department for 45 years, 34 as Sports Information Director and 11 in an emeritus capacity. He was presented the Order of the Palmetto by Governor Jim Hodges in October for his service to the state of South Carolina. The native of Randelman, NC was inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame in 1985 and was presented the Service of Sports Award by the State of South Carolina Hall of Fame.

Bradley was the 1976 recipient of the Arch Ward Award by CoSIDA, which is presented to the Sports Information Man of the Year. He was also inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame. He was a recipient of the Wilbur Snypp Award for excellence in promotion of college baseball.

Tom Price has spent more than half of his life associated with the University of South Carolina. A native of Augusta, GA, Tom served as USC’s Sports Information Director for 31 years, from 1961 until retiring from his post in 1992. Following his retirement from USC, Tom received the Service to Sports Award in 1993 from the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame.

Price was the recipient of CoSIDA’s Arch Wade Award in 1994 and is also a member of that organization’s Hall of Fame. Price also has received the Wilbur Snypp award for excellence in the promotion of college baseball and was chosen to serve as a baseball statistician for the Games of the XXIII Olympiad in LosAngeles in 1984.

Bradley authored three books on Clemson sports, while Price has authored four that deal with South Carolina sports.

Who is in the Running? Third baseman Jeff Baker’s numbers clearly stand out against South Carolina with seven hits in nine at bats, but the sophomore has only played in two of the games. He missed last Wednesday’s game in Columbia with a head cold. Baker is batting .778 against the Gamecocks largely in part to his 5 for 5 performance in Columbia on March 4, a game Clemson won 7-4. It was South Carolina’s first loss of the season against 13 victories. Baker has two home runs against the Gamecocks and three RBIs. Michael Johnson has the next best batting average against South Carolina. He is 3 for 9 with two homers and three RBIs. He has also walked three times and has been hit by pitch once for an on-base percentage of .538.

South Carolina Takes Game Three of Season Series South Carolina scored in every inning but the first and second on its way to a 9-3 victory against Clemson last Wednesday night at Sarge-Frye Field in Columbia.

Drew Meyer was 3 for 5 with one RBI and Chris Plummer went 2 for 4 for the Gamecocks with two RBIs as South Carolina moved ahead 2-1 in this season’s four-game series between the two rivals. Gary Bell pitched 6 2/3 innings allowing just two earned runs off five hits and struck out six to improve to 7-4 on the season.

Clemson started the scoring in the top of the third inning, scoring one run without the aid of a hit. Ryan Riley walked to start the inning and then was moved over on a sacrifice bunt by Kyle Frank.

Frank was safe on the play, thanks to an error by the first baseman. Riley and Frank were advanced on the second sacrifice bunt of the inning and then Riley scored on the third sacrifice of the inning a fly out to right field.

South Carolina answered in the bottom of the inning with a run of its own. After a walk by Sheldon Brown, Meyer doubled and as Brown rounded third, he tripped on the base. The Gamecocks ended up getting the run after a wild pitch by Tiger starter Matt Henrie. South Carolina took the lead in the fourth inning, scoring twice after stringing three hits with the aid of a walk to take a 3-1 advantage. Plummer made it 5-1 in the fifth inning on a single that scored Michael Floyd and Bryon Jeffcoat. Floyd had reached on a fielder’s choice and Jeffcoat on a single. South Carolina scored one run in the sixth.

Clemson added a pair of runs in the seventh to pull within 6-3. Russell Triplett and Riley each had base hits and then both scored on a double by Frank. South Carolina got the two runs back in the bottom of the inning on a Landon Powell home run that also scored Tripp Kelly, who had walked to start the inning. The Gamecocks took an 8-3 lead through seven and then added the ninth run in the bottom of the eighth.

Henrie got the loss for the Tigers to drop his record to 4-2. Kip Bouknight earned the save for South Carolina, which improved to 30-11. Bouknight threw 2 1/3 innings without allowing a run and recorded four strikeouts against the seven batters he faced. Clemson fell to 26-14 with the loss. The two teams will play again April 25 in Clemson, which will be the fourth and final game between the teams of the season.

South Carolina – Game TwoSarge-Frye Field, Columbia, SC * March 4, 2001 Jeff Baker’s went 5 for 5 with a solo home run in the ninth inning as Clemson cruised to a 7-4 victory over South Carolina Sunday afternoon in front of a record crowd of 6,727 at Sarge Frye Field. With the win the Tigers got revenge for Saturday’s loss to the Gamecocks in Clemson and handed South Carolina its first loss of the season.

Clemson wasted no time in building a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. After singles by Casey Stone and Baker, Chad Coder homered to left field. Coder had his nine-game hitting steak halted in Saturday’s loss but finished Sunday’s game 2 for 5 with four RBI and a run scored.

The Tigers held their lead until the fourth inning. After Clemson starter Steve Reba walked the second and fourth batters of the inning, Gamecock catcher Landon Powell singled to right-center field to score Garris Gonce. Clemson answered with a run in the top of the fifth inning with back to back base hits by Baker and Coder to give the Tigers a 4-1 lead.

South Carolina came back with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to pull within 4-3, but Clemson again countered in the top of the sixth on Michael Johnson’s fifth home run of the year. The Gamecocks scored in the bottom of the sixth but could not respond to Clemson runs in the eighth and ninth innings.

Reba went just four innings for the Tigers, but allowed back-to-back singles in the South Carolina fifth. He was replaced by Nick Glaser, who pitched 2 2/3 innings allowing only two hits and one unearned run in getting his first win of the year against no losses. Gamecock starter Gary Bell fell to 4-1 on the year after allowing seven hits in five innings.

South Carolina – Game OneDoug Kingsmore Stadium, Clemson, SC * March 3, 2001 South Carolina used grand slams by Tim Whittaker in the first inning and Byron Jeffcoat in the second inning on its way to a 21-8 win over Clemson (6-4) on a rainy Saturday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Starter Kip Bouknight (4-0) pitched six innings for the undefeated Gamecocks (13-0) while Clemson’s Jarrod Schmidt (1-2) picked up the loss.

After the first three batters of the game walked, Whittaker sent a shot over the fence in right-center field. Tripp Kelly hit a solo home run two batters later that knocked Schmidt out of the game and gave South Carolina a 5-0 lead. Clemson responded in the bottom of the inning with a home run by leadoff batter Ryan Riley and an RBI single by Kyle Frank to make it 5-2.

South Carolina exploded for seven runs in the second inning after a three-run double by Whitaker and Jeffcoat’s grand slam four batters later. The offensive attack continued as the Gamecocks scored in each of the game’s first four innings. The biggest lead of the game came after a three-run home run by Jeffcoat in the seventh inning that made it 20-6. Jeffcoat’s third home run of the game in the ninth inning gave South Carolina 21 runs, the most allowed by Clemson at home since 1956 against Georgia Tech.

Third baseman Jeff Baker’s and first baseman Michael Johnson each went 2 for 4 with two-run home runs to lead the Tigers.

Jack Leggett vs. SEC In seven seasons under head coach Jack Leggett, Clemson has had tremendous success against the Southeastern Conference. Leggett’s record against the SEC as the Tigers’ skipper is 43-18 (.705), including 19 wins against top-25 teams. Leggett also has at least a .500 record against all eight SEC schools he has faced while at Clemson. The Tigers won nine straight games against SEC competition between 1997-99.

Leggett vs. the SEC as Clemson’s Head Coach

Baker and Schmidt Hit Homers in 8-2 Win Over Western Carolina Jeff Baker’s and Jarrod Schmidt each had a home run as Clemson defeated Western Carolina 8-2 Tuesday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Clemson improved to 29-15 overall while Western Carolina dropped to 21-22 on the season.

Baker, who missed the last two games after being hit on the wrist by a foul ball, hit a two-run blast to center field in the fifth inning to push his team-leading home run total to 14. Schmidt reclaimed a tie for the top spot when he hit a solo shot in the seventh inning for his 14th of the season.

The Tigers jumped out to an early lead after Baker’s infield single scored Casey Stone in the first inning. Baker later scored on Western Carolina catcher Matt Price’s throwing error, one of five Catamount miscues on the night. Western Carolina responded with a run in the third inning and tied the score at two when designated hitter Brian Sigmon scored on a fielder’s choice in the fourth inning.

Clemson scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 4-2 lead. Khalil Greene crossed home plate after a balk by Western Carolina starter Robbie Hoover and Steve Pyzik’s double scored Schmidt. The Tigers then put up runs in each of the next three innings to pull away and seal the win.

Baker led the offense with three RBIs and a 2-5 performance from the plate. Four other Tigers posted two hits, including Schmidt, Stone, Ryan Riley. Kevin Lynn (2-1) earned the win for the Tigers and struck out six batters over six innings. Clemson received scoreless relief appearances from Ryan Childs, B.J. LaMura and Steven Jackson. Hoover (2-4) got the loss for Western Carolina despite a career-high six strikeouts.

Greene Sets HBP Records Who is the Ron Hunt of Clemson baseball? The answer is starting shortstop Khalil Greene who believes in getting on base anyway he can. Hunt set many records for being hit by a pitch in his major league career with the Mets and Expos. Greene is establishing records in that area at Clemson.

Greene was hit for the 18th time this season Tuesday night against Western Carolina to set the school season record. Greene had been tied for two weeks with Mike Hampton in 1994 and Gary Burnham in 1995. Greene had not been hit since the series at Florida State April 6-8. Greene has now been hit 44 times in his career, an all-time Clemson record. He is just in the middle of his junior year. Burnham owned the all-time record with 39 HBP recorded between 1994-97. Greene was hit five times in the New York Tech series, including a single game record three times in the first game of the series, a 24-3 win. That included being hit twice in one inning in that game, also a first in Clemson baseball history.

Greene has now been hit by a pitch 18 times and walked 18 times this season. He has a .417 on-base percentage for his 166 at bats. He has not been hit by a pitch since April 7 at Florida State.

Reba Pitches Complete Game Shutout vs. Georgia Tech Pitcher Steve Reba gave a masterful performance as Clemson grabbed a 3-0 win on Friday against Georgia Tech. Reba struck out seven in Clemson’s first complete game shutout in ACC play since 1996. Friday’s effort came against the seventh-ranked Yellow Jackets, who entered the game with a .352 team batting average, the best in the nation.

The right hander improved to 8-1 and kept the Tech hitters off-balanced and gave up only an infield single in the first five innings while the Tiger offense went to work. Clemson opened the scoring in the second inning when Khalil Greene doubled, advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on Ryan Riley ground out. The Tigers took a 2-0 advantage in the third inning after Michael Johnson’s single off of Tech starter Steve Kelly (6-3) scored Casey Stone. Stone singled home Riley in the fourth inning for a 3-0 lead. Reba continued to dominate and even helped himself when he snatched a sharply hit ball to end the sixth inning. He allowed only one runner to reach second base the entire game. Reba improved his league-best win total to eight and lowered his ERA to 1.88, tops in the ACC. Stone led the Tiger offense by going 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. Greene finished 2 for 4 with a run scored. Chad Coder stole two bases and is now perfect on 14 stolen base attempts this season.

Schmidt Takes Shutout to 9th in Complete Game Win Jarrod Schmidt produced his best outing of the season as Clemson defeated Georgia Tech 5-1 Saturday night. The right hander allowed five hits and one run while striking out four over nine innings.

Schmidt sat down the first five batters in order. The Clemson offense finally broke through with a two-out rally in the fifth inning. Ryan Riley hit a high fly ball that turned into a triple when Georgia Tech right fielder Jason Basil lost sight of the ball. Russell Triplett followed with a double to center field that gave Clemson a 1-0 lead.

Clemson pulled ahead in the bottom of the seventh inning thanks to singles by Chad Coder and Triplett put runners at the corners with one out. Catcher Steve Pyzik’s executed a squeeze bunt to perfection that allowed Coder to score.

Tech then sent in left handed reliever Aaron Walker, but Casey Stone singled to load the bases and Frank followed with an RBI single. Clemson pushed the lead to 4-0 when Tech reliever Jeff Watchko walked Khalil Greene with the bases loaded.

Schmidt (5-3) helped his own cause in the eighth inning with a blast over the left field fence for a 5-0 lead. His 13th home run now ties him for the team lead with Jeff Baker’s. Georgia Tech broke up Schmidt’s shutout bid and finally got on the board in the ninth inning when Bryan Prince homered.

Triplett led the Tiger offense with three hits, one RBI and a run scored. Clemson improved to 28-14 and 10-4 in the ACC. Parrott (7-3) got the loss for Georgia Tech, who falls to 30-12 and 9-8 in the conference.

Clemson Drops Finale as Tech Wins 5-3 Georgia Tech used a solid pitching effort from Kyle Bakker and 11 hits by its offense to take a 5-3 victory over Clemson Sunday. Bakker scattered seven hits over eight innings and gave up three runs, none of which were earned. The freshman improved his record to 3-0 this season.

The Yellow Jackets opened the scoring in the second inning after three straight singles by Jason Basil, Derik Goffena and Matthew Boggs. Clemson responded in the third inning when Casey Stone infield single scored Kyle Frank. The Tigers took a 2-1 lead later in the inning when Chad Coder stole second and an errant throw allowed Seth Miller to advance from third base to home.

Georgia Tech put up two runs of its own in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the inning, Clemson’s Miller dropped a single into center field that scored Ryan Riley and knotted the score at three. Tech pulled ahead in the fifth inning. Goffena hit a shot to left field that scored Bryan Prince and Matt Murton for a 5-3 lead. Reliever Nick Glaser (4-2) got the loss for Clemson, who was led at the plate by Miller’s 2-3 performance.

Tigers Up Three Spots in Coaches Poll After taking two of the three games with Georgia Tech over the weekend, the Clemson baseball team ascended in two of the three coaches polls released Monday.

Clemson remained 12th in the Baseball America poll and moved up one spot, from 13th to 12th, in the Collegiate Baseball poll and vaulted three spots, from 18th to 15th, in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN coaches poll.

The Tigers started the week with a 10-4 win over Georgia before falling 9-3 at South Carolina. Clemson recouped to win the first two games against Georgia Tech, both by complete game pitching performances (3-0 and 5-1), before losing the series finale 5-3 to the Yellow Jackets.

Reba Grabs ACC Weekly Pitching Honors Clemson’s Steve Reba earned Atlantic Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week honors while Virginia’s Dan Street was selected the ACC Player of the Week honors, the conference office announced Monday.

Pitcher of the Week honors were claimed by Reba, a junior right-handed pitcher for the Tigers. The Fort Wayne, IN native threw a complete game shutout of seventh-ranked Georgia Tech to open the series with a 3-0 win over the Yellow Jackets. In nine innings, Reba faced 33 batters, striking out seven and allowing just three hits and one walk. He held the Jackets to a .097 batting average and was the first Clemson complete game shutout versus an ACC opponent since Ken Vining took home a 2-0 victory against Florida State in 1996.

The First Complete Game Shutout Since… Steve Reba struck out seven Friday night in Clemson’s first complete game shutout in ACC play since Ken Vining’s 2-0 win over Florida State on May 6, 1996. Friday’s effort came against the seventh-ranked Yellow Jackets, who entered the game with a .352 team batting average, the best in the nation. The complete game was the first in Reba’s career.

Back-to-Back Complete Games Steve Reba complete game shutout of the Yellow Jackets on Friday. The feat of back-to-back complete games was last accomplished in the NCAA Atlantic Regional at Clemson in 1996. Billy Koch pitched in a 5-1 victory over Old Dominion on May 24 and Ken Vining defeated West Virginia 6-3 a day later.

Clemson had just three complete games in all of 2000. Ryan Mottl pitched complete games in the 8-4 win over Florida State (5/18) in the ACC Tournament and then again in the 4-0 victory against Middle Tennessee (5/26) in the Clemson Regional. Mottl’s pair of complete games were in back-to-back starts. Schmidt had the first of his career at North Carolina (4/1) in a 10-2 victory.

Hit Streaks Short stop Khalil Greene went 0 for 2 and walked Tuesday night against Western Carolina. The performance ended his hit streak at 10 games. The longest streak on the team now belongs to left fielder Casey Stone, who has a hit in each of the last three games and 18 of his last 19 outings.

The longest hit streak of the year was by Jeff Baker’s, who went 15 straight games with a hit from March 24 until it ended April 15 vs. Duke. Stone’s streak ended at 14.

The Long Ball Clemson now has 58 home runs as a team this season. The Tigers hit only 37 home runs a year ago, paced by Jeff Baker’s 11. Fifteen of the 37 homers came at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, while this year Clemson has doubled the total having hit 31 out of Kingsmore Stadium.

Jarrod Schmidt hit the only home run of the Georgia Tech series on Saturday to pull even with teammate Jeff Baker’s. Both hit their 14th home run of the season Tuesday night against Western Carolina and are now tied for second in the ACC behind Virginia’s Jon Benick, who has 15. First baseman Michael Johnson is tied for fifth in the ACC with 11 home runs.

The Tigers have three players with double-digit totals in home runs this season. Only Jeff Baker’s had a double-figure total in 2000 with his 11 round-trippers. Clemson had three players in the 1999 season with 10 or more home runs. Patrick Boyd led the Tigers that year with 17 home runs, followed by Kurt Bultmann’s 12 and Jason Harris’ 10. Clemson hit 72 homers that season.

With 14 dingers this season, Baker and Schmidt are still two home runs away from cracking the top-10 list for home runs in a season by a Tiger. Four Tigers, Chuck Baldwin (1986), Ray Williams (1986), Jerry Brooks (1988) and Kurt Bultmann (1997), are tied with 16. The Clemson season record is 24 by Eric Macrina (1991) and Matthew LeCroy (1997).

Seeing Double Clemson has had the same player hit two home runs in the same game eight times this season paced by Jeff Baker’s four (Richmond, Ohio, Florida State and Coastal Carolina). Michael Johnson has hit two home runs in the same game twice (New York Tech and Duke) and Jarrod Schmidt hit two home runs April 6 at Florida State and again April 14 vs. Duke.

Back-to-Back First baseman Khalil Greene hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning of last Tuesday’s 10-4 win over Georgia. It marked the third time this season that Clemson has launched consecutive home runs. The Tigers did it in the very first game of the year when Jeff Baker’s and Jarrod Schmidt hit homers in the bottom of the first against Richmond. The Tigers did it again in the series finale at Wake Forest as Ryan Riley and Schmidt belted blasts in the third inning en route to a 9-1 victory and series win.

Pitching Paces Tigers Clemson entered the week ranked third in the ACC in pitching with a 4.30 team ERA. Florida State owns the best team ERA with 3.30, while Georgia Tech is second with a 4.28 ERA.

Right handed pitcher Steve Reba owns the best ERA in the ACC. The junior from Fort Wayne, IN sports a 1.88 ERA and also leads the league with an 8-1 record and opponents batting average. The ACC Pitcher of the Week this week is holding opposing batters to a measly .170. Reba is second in the league in strike outs with 66, just four behind Florida State’s Blair Varnes.

Reba pitched his first complete game in his last outing, a 3-0 shut out of Georgia Tech last Friday. Against Duke on April 14, Steve Reba struck out a career-high 12 batters to lead Clemson to a 10-1 victory over the Blue Devils. Reba went six innings, allowed just two hits and one run. He struck out 12 and walked just three. His strikeout total was the high mark by a Clemson pitcher since Ryan Mottl had 12 in a loss to Virginia on April 4, 1998.

Schmidt followed Reba’s performance from Friday with a complete game of his own on Saturday against the Yellow Jackets. In his second complete game of his career, the sophomore showed his form from a year ago when he amassed a perfect 9-0 record. On Saturday against Georgia Tech, he did not allow Tech to score a run until the ninth inning. The previous Sunday vs. Duke, he 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. Schmidt had an even bigger bat in the five games last week. The sophomore hit .455 (10 for 22) with four home runs and 11 RBIs.

Clemson Comeback Clips Coastal After five consecutive defeats, Clemson got back in the win column on April 11 against Coastal Carolina. But it wasn’t just any old win Clemson needed a five-run ninth inning and then extra innings to put an end to the longest losing skid for the Tigers under head coach Jack Leggett. Clemson scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game and send it to extra innings, where a Khalil Greene single in the bottom of the 11th gave the Tigers an 8-7 victory against Coastal Carolina.

Trailing 7-2 going into the bottom of the ninth inning, Khalil Greene got things started for the Tigers which had mustered just one hit in the first six innings of the game. He singled to right-center field and then scored on Jarrod Schmidt ninth home run of the season to make the score 7-4.

Chad Coder then doubled to left field and then Steve Pyzik’s walked. Casey Stone singled to left field and the Chanticleers intentionally walked Jeff Baker’s to pull Clemson within 7-5. Michael Johnson hit a two RBI single to even the score at 7-7 and send the game to extra innings.

Clemson and Coastal Carolina went scoreless in the 10th and the Chanticleers failed to score in the top of the 11th. Clemson appeared it would not score in the inning when it began with two straight foul outs. Baker drew a walk to begin the threat and then Johnson singled to second base, where Jeff Baker’s was safe. Greene then sent a shot into shallow left field and it fell to bring home the winning run and give Clemson an 8-7 victory.

Steve Reba, who came on after two outs in the top of the tenth inning, earned the win for the Tigers, upping his record to 6-1 this season. Justin Sturge got the loss for the Chanticleers and fell to 1-3 on the season.

Tigers in the ACC Rankings Jeff Baker’s each entered the week with 13 home runs to rank second in the ACC, just two behind Virginia’s Jon Benick. Both had home runs Tuesday night vs. Western Carolina to up their totals to 14. Schmidt’s eight home runs in ACC games is best in the league. First baseman Michael Johnson ranks fifth in the home run race with 11.

Jeff Baker’s is tied for the ACC lead in RBIs. He entered the week with 51 and added three on Tuesday night vs. the Catamounts. Baker’s 1.27 RBIs per game average is best in the conference. Coming into this week’s action, Baker was second in slugging percentage (.729), third in total bases (113) and fourth in on-base percentage (.476). Baker is third in the individual batting race with a .387 average and Casey Stone is sixth with a .377 average.

Casey Stone is fourth in the ACC in stolen bases. He is averaging .47 stolen bases per game and is 20 of 24 (.833) on the base paths this season. Chad Coder is seventh in the stolen base department and is perfect on the season in all 15 stolen base attempts.

Johnson is sixth in walks. He has boarded base 29 times this season by bases on balls. The figure helps him to one of the top 10 (eighth) on-base percentages in the ACC (.453). Johnson also ranks fifth in slugging percentage (.641).

In the pitching department, Steve Reba is tops in wins (eight), ERA (1.88) and opponents’ batting average (.170). He is second in strike outs with 66.

Joining Reba to rank among the leads best against batters, Matt Henrie is second versus opposing batters who have a .219 average against Henrie. Schmidt is hold batters to an average of .253, good enough for sixth in the league.

Henrie’s ERA of 3.20 is third best in the league behind Reba and Virginia’s Dan Street (2.32).

As a team, Clemson leads the ACC in fielding with a .966 fielding percentage. The Tigers are third in batting with a .310 average, behind Georgia Tech (.342) and Wake Forest (.327) and are third in pitching with a 4.30 ERA behind Florida State (3.30) and Georgia Tech (4.28).

Henrie Most Improved Pitcher The “Where did he come from?” award for Clemson baseball for this year goes to Matt Henrie. The sophomore from Jupiter, FL and Cardinal Newman High School appeared in just five games in 1999 and had an ERA of 13.50. He pitched just 3.1 innings for the season. He red-shirted the 2000 season.

So far this year, Henrie has a 4-2 record and a 3.20 ERA after getting the loss Wednesday night at South Carolina. Prior to Wednesday’s loss, he had won four of his last five starts, victories over Maryland, Wake Forest, New York Tech and Duke. During those wins he allowed just one earned run in 26 1/3 innings, had 23 strikeouts and just seven walks. He gave up three earned runs in 3 1/3 in the 9-3 loss to the Gamecocks.

Henrie was named ACC Pitcher of the Week earlier this year when he shutout Maryland 7-0. He pitched six innings and allowed just three hits, no runs and struck out five of the 25 batters he faced.

Boyd Returns, then Returns to Bench Patrick Boyd played his first game of the season March 11 in the 17-4 win over Ohio University. The senior preseason All-American sat out all of preseason practice and missed the team’s first 13 games of the season with a stress fracture in his back.

Boyd was 1 for 3 with a double and scored two runs against Ohio, but the pain continued and forced him to miss the two games with Georgia Southern. On March 14, he flew with team doctor Byron Harder to Tampa, FL to be checked out by a back specialist, who works primarily with major and minor league baseball players. Boyd could return this weekend against North Carolina.

Boyd was a 1999 All-American and is a 2001 preseason second-team All-American by Baseball America. He is a career .341 hitter with a .442 on-base percentage and 49 stolen bases in three seasons. The senior from Palm Harbor, FL ranks in the school’s career top-10 lists in five different categories, including walks, doubles, runs scored, hits and RBIs.