Tigers Tally Seven Extra-Base Hits in 9-2 Win Over Eagles Friday

April 15, 2011

Chestnut Hill, MA –

Behind five doubles and two home runs, Clemson defeated Boston College 9-2 in front of 477 fans at Commander Shea Field on Friday afternoon. The Tigers, who took a 1-0 series lead, improved to 20-13 overall and 7-9 in the ACC. The Eagles dropped to 13-18 overall and 6-9 in ACC play.

Solo homers by John Hinson and Will Lamb in the first inning and second inning, respectively, put the Tigers ahead 2-0. The Eagles battled back to tie the score 2-2 with a run in the fifth. But a key two-out, two-run double by Spencer Kieboom in the sixth inning gave the Tigers the lead for good. Clemson added five more runs for the seven-run victory.

Starter Dominic Leone (1-1) pitched a season-high 6.0 innings to earn the win. The Norwich, CT native allowed five hits, two runs, and four walks with five strikeouts. Jonathan Meyer pitched a perfect seventh inning, then Kevin Pohle did not allow a run in the final 2.0 innings pitched to close out the game.

Nate Bayuk (3-4), the third of seven Eagle pitchers, suffered the loss. He yielded two runs on one hit and one walk in 1.2 innings pitched.

Hinson led off the game with a solo home run off the scoreboard in right field in the first inning, his fifth long ball of the year.

In the second inning, Lamb belted a solo home run to right field, his first long ball of the season, to give Clemson a 2-0 lead.

In the third inning, Matt McGovern led off with a single to right-center and Garret Smith followed with a single to right field. After Anthony Melchionda walked to load the bases with no outs, Andrew Lawrence reached on a hard-hit fielder’s choice to first as McGovern scored and Melchionda was retired at second. But the Tigers escaped further damage when Mike Sudol grounded into an inning-ending 3-6-1 double play.

The Eagles tied the score in the fifth inning. McGovern flared a one-out single to right-center, stole second, and scored on Melchionda’s two-out double down the right-field line.

The Tigers regained the lead in the sixth inning thanks to clutch two-out hitting. Brad Miller walked. Both runners moved up a base on Lamb’s sacrifice bunt, then Kieboom laced a two-out double down the left-field line to score Shaffer and Miller. Chris Epps followed with a single to left-center to plate Kieboom, giving the Tigers a 5-2 lead.

In the seventh inning, Hinson drew a one-out walk and scored on Phil Pohl’s double down the left-field line.

Clemson added to its lead in the eighth inning. Lamb led off with a walk and went to third on Kieboom’s double over the third-base bag. After Epps was intentionally walked to load the bases and Jason Stolz fouled out, Hinson grounded out to second to bring home Lamb. Pohl followed with a two-out double to left-center to score Kieboom and Epps.

Pohl and Kieboom had two doubles apiece to lead Clemson’s 11-hit attack. Pohl added a game-high three RBIs, while Kieboom totaled two runs and two RBIs.

McGovern went 2-for-5 with two runs to pace the Eagles, who had seven hits in the contest.

Clemson and Boston College will conclude the series with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 12:00 PM.