Thursday 03/22/2001
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March 22, 2001
Clemson Baseball at Wake Forest March 23-25, 2001 Friday: 3:00 PM * Saturday: 1:30 PM * Sunday: 1:30 PM All Games Broadcast on the Clemson Tiger Network
Clemson: 15-6 Overall, 3-0 ACC * 14 BA, 10 CB, 11 BWWake Forest: 17-5 Overall, 5-1 ACC * 20 BA, 24 CB, 20 BW
Road Trip Concludes at Wake Forest Winston-Salem, NC is the last stop of the Tigers’ current eight-game, 10-day road trip that began Friday, March 16. Clemson actually departed Tigertown on Thursday, March 15 and will return following Sunday’s series finale at Wake Forest, making it 11 days since the Tigers were last in their own clubhouse. Clemson swept three games at Maryland and then split games at Old Dominion Tuesday and Wednesday in Norfolk, VA. Clemson claimed the first game 11-1, but dropped the second game 10-8. The Tigers arrived Thursday afternoon in Winston-Salem. The Tigers and Demon Deacons will play at 3:00 PM on Friday and at 1:30 PM on both Saturday and Sunday. All three games will be broadcast on the Clemson Tiger Network with Jim Phillips and Bob Mahony.
Clemson vs. Wake Forest Friday’s meeting with the Demon Deacons will be the 137th meeting between Clemson and Wake Forest, dating back to 1901. Clemson is 94-41 all-time against the Deacons. The Tigers won two of three games against Wake Forest last year, including both games of a Saturday doubleheader, the first game of which went 12 innings (6-5 and 5-4). Wake responded on Sunday with a 6-4 victory. The wins last year by Clemson snapped a six-game losing streak to Wake Forest. The Deacons swept the three regular season games of 1999, which was the first time that had happened since 1952, and then won both meetings in the ACC Tournament in Durham, NC, including a 9-5 win in the championship game. Under head coach Jack Leggett, Clemson is 15-9 vs. Wake Forest. He had won eight in a row against the Deacons to start his tenure at Clemson.
Probable Clemson Starters vs. Wake Forest Friday, March 23: Steve Reba (RHP, 4-0, 2.63 ERA) Saturday, March 24: Ryan Childs (RHP, 1-1, 6.08 ERA) Sunday, March 25: TBA Next Week for Clemson Tuesday, March 27: Wofford, Clemson, 7:15 PM Wednesday, March 28: at Georgia, Athens, GA, 6:30 PM Friday, March 30: New York Institute of Technology, Clemson, 7:15 PM Saturday, March 31: New York Institute of Technology, Clemson, 7:00 PM Sunday, April 1: New York Institute of Technology, Clemson, 1:00 PM
This Year’s Trip In Reverse Order from 1995 In 1995, Clemson took the same road trip as it did this year, except in reverse order. Clemson opened that trip with three wins at Wake Forest (10-7, 4-3 and 10-5), won both games at Old Dominion and then won three games at Maryland. Clemson won three games against the Terps last weekend to begin this year’s road trip and then split games at Old Dominion. This year’s trip concludes this weekend at Wake Forest.
Clemson vs. Old Dominion
Tuesday: Clemson 11, ODU 1 Clemson got 14 hits and quality pitching to beat Old Dominion 11-1 Tuesday in a driving rain and strong wind at the chilly Bud Metheny Baseball Complex. Tigers starting pitcher Jarrod Schmidt went 6.0 innings to get the win. He took a no-hitter through 3 2/3 innings and struck out a career-high nine batters to improve to 3-2 on the year. Clemson struck first in the top of the second inning. With two outs, second baseman Ryan Riley singled and then stole second. Designated hitter Russell Triplett got his first double of the year to score Riley and then catcher Steve Pyzik singled to plate Triplett. The inning ended when Pyzik attempted to score from first base on a Chad Coder double.
The Tigers added three runs in the third inning before Old Dominion scored once in the fifth inning. Clemson regained its five-run lead in the top of the sixth. After Riley grounded out, Triplett doubled for the second time in the game and was advanced to third on a base hit by Pyzik. Triplett scored on a ground out by Coder. The Tigers added a pair of runs in the eighth inning off former Clemson pitcher Justin Davis. Pyzik doubled to lead off the inning and Coder reached on a walk. Davis hit Greene to load the bases and then hit Jeff Baker to get the Tigers their seventh run of the game. Michael Johnson grounded out to the pitcher to score Coder to put Clemson up 8-1. The Tigers added three runs in the ninth.
Triplett, Greene and Pyzik each had three hits for the Tigers. All three of Triplett’s hits were doubles. He knocked in one run and scored three runs himself. Greene, Coder and Pyzik also had doubles, giving the Tigers six doubles for the game.
Wednesday: Old Dominion 10, Clemson 8 Jeff Eure hit two two-run home runs to lift Old Dominion to a 10-8 victory over 10th-ranked Clemson Wednesday night at the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex. The win by the Monarchs ended the Tigers’ five-game win streak.
Clemson wasted no time in putting runs on the board, scoring three times in the top of the first inning. Jarrod Schmidt gounded out to third base to score Stone. Old Dominion starter Mark Michael balked in Greene and then three more walks scored Baker. The Tigers built a 3-0 lead on just one hit and five walks.
The Monarchs got on the board in the second inning when Jeff Eure hit his third home run of the season, scoring Michael, who was also the designated hitter, who was hit by Clemson starting pitcher Steven Jackson. The Tigers got back the two runs in the top of the third when catcher Seth Miller doubled to scored Schmidt and Ryan Riley.
Old Dominion exploded for six runs in the bottom of the third. After a wild pitch scored Ryan Robertson, Eure hit his second two-run home run of the night to tie the game and then a triple, two doubles and a single led to another three runs to give the Monarchs an 8-5 lead. Five the six ODU runs came with two outs.
Riley hit a solo home run over the left field fence in the top of the fourth inning and then Stone singled in Chad Coder in the top of the fifth to pull within 8-7. Jared Musolf singled to score Robertson in the bottom of the sixth to put ODU up 9-7. Clemson added another run in the eighth, but the Monarchs answered in the bottom of the inning to stay up by two runs.
Jonathan Tinkham got the win for Old Dominion to improve to 2-1 while Jackson picked up the loss for Clemson. It was his first loss of the season as the freshman fell to 2-1.
Tigers Sweep Maryland Clemson opened the 2001 ACC schedule with a three-game sweep at Maryland. The Tigers won Friday’s contest 8-6, despite allowing four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Jeff Baker was 3 for 5 with four RBIs and his fifth double of the season. Casey Stone was also 3 for 5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Steve Pyzik also had multiple hits for the Tigers.
Ryan Riley was 4 for 4 with and RBI and scored two runs in Clemson’s 9-6 win in the middle game. The game was halted in the top of the ninth on Saturday because of rain. The Tigers were in front 8-5 with no outs and the bases loaded, but Clemson scored one run before allowing one Maryland run to claim the 9-6 decision on Sunday.
Matt Henrie allowed just three hits in 6.0 innings in the series finale as Clemson went on to a 7-0 shutout victory of the Terrapins. Jarrod Schmidt was 2 for 3 with two RBI and Michael Johnson was 2 for4 with three RBI thanks to his sixth home run of the season. Schmidt and Coder also homered for Clemson.
Clemson’s Matt Henrie Named ACC Pitcher of the Week Honors Clemson sophomore right-handed pitcher Matt Henrie was named ACC Pitcher of the Week while Wake Forest’s Cory Sullivan and Virginia’s Hunter Wyant shared ACC Player of the Week honors.
Pitcher of the Week honors were claimed by Clemson right-hander Matt Henrie. The sophomore, who hails from Jupiter, Fla., threw 8.1 innings on the week in games against Maryland and Georgia Southern. Henrie picked up his first win as a Clemson Tiger on Sunday against the Terps, pitching six innings and allowing just three hits, no runs and striking out five of the 25 batters he faced.
Clemson Baseball Moves Up in Coaches Poll The Clemson baseball team moved up from 14th to 11th in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN coaches poll that was released Monday. The Tigers remained 10th in the Collegiate Baseball poll and 14th in the Baseball America poll.
Clemson split two games with Georgia Southern last week and then swept three games at Maryland over the weekend to open ACC play 3-0.
The Tigers close out the 10-day trip with three games at Wake Forest on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Neither Maryland nor Old Dominion was ranked in this week’s polls, but the Demon Deacons are ranked as high as 20th (by Baseball America and Baseball Weekly/ESPN). Wake Forest is also ranked 24th by Collegiate Baseball.
ACC Openers Under Leggett Since head coach Jack Leggett arrived in Clemson, the Tigers have opened the ACC schedule against Maryland five times. Every time Clemson has won the series with a sweep, including this season with 8-6, 9-6 and 7-0 wins. The only other teams the Tigers have opened the ACC season against under Leggett have been Wake Forest in 1994, Duke in 1995 and Virginia in 1997. In all eight years with Leggett as the skipper, Clemson has swept the opening series. The last time Clemson lost a game to open ACC play was in 1993, when Duke claimed a 7-6 decision on Feb.27. The Blue Devils won two of the three games at Clemson that season, which is also the last time Clemson lost a series to open the ACC slate.
Leading Clemson on the Road Trip Catcher Steve Pyzik is an amazing 8 for 14 (.571) through the first five games of the current eight-game road trip. He was batting just .154 (4 for 26) when the Tigers left Clemson March 15. So far on the trip he has one double, a team-best six RBIs and has scored two runs.
Two other Tigers are batting better than .400 on the road trip. Designated hitter Russell Triplett was 4 for 8 at Old Dominion, but he is 4 for 9 for all five games so far. In the 11-1 win Tuesday night at Old Dominion he was 3 for 5 with one RBI and three runs scored. All three of his hits were doubles. Reserve catcher Seth Miller is batting .429, though he has had only seven at bats, he has three hits with a double and two RBIs.
Khalil Greene also had a good pair of games at Old Dominion. He was 4 for 8 with a double and a home run with two RBIs.
Clemson has hit 17 doubles, three triples and four home runs on the current road trip. The Tigers had six doubles Tuesday night at Old Dominion.
Casey Stone Top Tiger in Batting Average, Steals Left fielder Casey Stone is batting .409 for the year with 38 hits in 93 at bats. He has 19 RBI with six doubles. He has started all 21 games in left for Clemson this year. He is also the top Tiger on the base paths. In 15 attempts, he has stolen 13 bases. He also has a pair of sacrifice hits and sacrifice flies.
Four other Clemson players are batting better than .350. Jeff Baker is batting .384 with a team best seven home runs and 30 RBI. He has a .709 slugging percentage. Seth Miller is batting .359, Russell Triplett is batting .353 and Michael Johnson is batting .350. Johnson has a drawn a team-best 22 walks and is second on the team with six home runs.
Steve Reba has Emerged as Top Pitcher Right-handed pitcher Steve Reba has emerged as the top Tiger hurler this season. In 27.1 innings, he has a 2.63 ERA, allowing just eight runs and 13 total hits. He has a team-high 28 strike outs with just 10 walks. Opposing batters are hitting just .144 against the junior. In five starts, he is 4-0.
Both Reba and sophomore Jarrod Schmidt have struck out a game-best nine batters. Reba fanned nine batters in his season debut against Richmond while Schmidt threw past nine batters Tuesday night at Old Dominion. Schmidt has a 3-2 record in his five starts with a 5.91 ERA. He has 24 strikeouts this season with just nine walks.
Junior transfer Josh Cram leads the Tigers in saves with three. Through 11.0 innings, he has struck out 11. He has allowed six runs, though only two were earned. Opposing batters are batting just .116 against Cram.
Boyd Returns, then Returns to Bench Patirck 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. The short-term prognosis is not good for Boyd, who has already started the 5-6 week rehabilitation process and will miss as many weeks with the team.
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.
Against Ranked Teams The Tigers are 1-1 against ranked teams this season. Clemson lost 21-7 at home to a fourth-ranked South Carolina team on March 3, but the Tigers regrouped on March 4 in Columbia to hand the Gamecocks a 7-4 setback, their first loss of the year against 13 wins.
This weekend’s opponent, Wake Forest, is ranked in all three of the college baseball polls. The Demon Deacons are ranked 20th in the Baseball America and Baseball Weekly/ESPN and are ranked 24th in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
Tigers Claim 7-4 Win at South Carolina Jeff Baker went 5 for 5 with a solo home run in the ninth inning as Clemson cruised to a 7-4 victory over South Carolina March 4 in front of a record crowd of 6,727 at Sarge Frye Field in Columbia. With the win the Tigers got revenge for a 21-7 loss to the Gamecocks the day before 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 streak halted in Saturday’s loss, but finished Sunday’s game 2 for 5 with four BRIs 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 homer 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 allowing seven hits in five innings.
Clemson, South Carolina to Play Two More Times After splitting the first two games with the visiting team getting the victory, Clemson and South Carolina will meet two more times this season. The Tigers and Gamecocks will not meet again until a midweek game on April 18 in Columbia and a week later on April 25 in Clemson.
The last the teams played four times in one season was in 1996. Clemson swept the four games that season by a combined 30-7. Clemson and South Carolina regularly played four-game series from 1993- 1997.
Bradley Award This year the Clemson most valuable player of the Clemson vs. South Carolina series will win the Bob Bradley Award. The award will be given to the top player from Clemson over the four game series between the two teams each year. South Carolina’s top player will be presented the Tom Price Award. Both Bradley and Price had a tremendous positive influence on the baseball programs at Clemson and South Carolina as the school’s sports information directors. Bradley passed away this past Oct. 30. He had served as Clemson’s baseball SID for 45 years and still served as Clemson’s official scorer for most of the 2000 season. Price continues to serve the South Carolina baseball program in an emeritus capacity.
Riley Named ACC Player of the Week Clemson’s Ryan Riley earned ACC Player of the Week honors on Feb. 26 after the Tigers went 3-2 in five games in Las Vegas, NV against UNLV and Oregon State.
Riley, a senior second baseman, earned ACC Player of the Week honors after leading Clemson in a three-game series vs. Oregon State and a two-game series at UNLV. For the week, the Seattle, WA, native notched 11 hits, nine RBIs and a .524 batting average. He finished the five-game stretch with 21 at bats as well as contributing seven runs, three doubles and two home runs. Riley had at least one hit in all five contests and went 3 for 4 on two occasions and missed hitting for the cycle in the finale vs. Oregon State by a triple. He had a single, a double and an inside-the-park home run.
At Doug Kingsmore Stadium Clemson was 37-5 at home last year and is off to a 7-3 start this season after taking four of the five games in the previous homestand.
Clemson has been outstanding at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in terms of its record, as the Tigers have accumulated a 216-37 (.854) record overall and 68-14 (.829) record against the ACC in the friendly confines the last seven seasons. That success can be attributed in part to the tremendous fan support the Tiger faithful has shown. Clemson has finished each of the last seven seasons ranked in the top 20 in the nation in attendance.
Clemson drew an average of 2,833 fans for its 39 home dates in 2000. That average was good for 11th best in the country. The 2000 season marked the fifth straight season ticket sales surpassed the 1,000 mark. The loyal fan support has also helped Clemson host a regional five of the last seven seasons.
The Tiger regular season single-game record for attendance came against North Carolina on Saturday, April 1, 1995 when 6,223 fans saw the Tigers pummel the Tar Heels 20-1. The overall attendance record was set at the 2000 super regional against Mississippi State. That June 3 night the attendance stood at 6,392.
Clemson’s next home action is Tuesday, March 27 against the College of Charleston. First pitch is at 7:15 PM.
Outfield Fences Moved In In the off-season Clemson moved the outfield fences at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in by 10 feet. This decision was the result of NCAA changes in bat construction.
Clemson hit just 17 home runs at Kingsmore Stadium last year in 42 games. The team hit just three after April 18 and they were by the same player (Jeff Baker). The new dimensions are 320 down the left field line, 330 down the right field line, 370 to left-center, 375 to right-center and 400 to center field. The old fences are still in place just in front of the large hedge.
Through four home games so far this season, Clemson has six home runs. Of those six homers, five have cleared both sets of fences while just one home run cleared the new wall.
Advance Tickets On Sale Advance reserved tickets for the remaining baseball games against South Carolina and the three-game series versus Georgia Tech are now on sale. Each reserved ticket is $7 and orders are being taken on a first-come-first-served basis at the Clemson Athletic Ticket Office. The ticket office is located at the northwest corner of Memorial Stadium and is open from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Fans may also call during those hours at 1-800-CLEMSON or (864) 656-2118.
Reserved Advanced Ticket Sales April 20 7:15 PM Georgia Tech April 21 7:00 PM Georgia Tech April 22 2:00 PM Georgia Tech April 25 7:15 PM South Carolina
This Week’s Baseball Polls
Baseball America (March 19, 2001) Rk Team 1. Stanford 2. Rice 3. Georgia Tech 4. Nebraska 5. Arizona State 6. Miami (FL) 7. South Carolina 8. Louisiana State 9. Southern California 10. Notre Dame 11. Central Florida 12. South Alabama 13. Pepperdine14. CLEMSON 15. Florida State 16. Tennessee 17. Oklahoma State 18. Tulane 19. Baylor 20. Wake Forest 21. Mississippi 22. Georgia 23. East Carolina 24. Cal State-Fullerton 25. Stetson
Collegiate Baseball (March 19, 2001) Rk Team 1. Rice 2. Stanford 3. Arizona State 4. Georgia Tech 5. Nebraska 6. Miami (FL) 7. South Carolina 8. Notre Dame 9. Louisiana State10. CLEMSON 11. Tennessee 12. Southern California 13. South Alabama 14. Stetson 15. Central Florida 16. Florida State 17. Oklahoma State 18. Pepperdine 19. Mississippi 20. East Carolina 21. The Citadel 22. Mid. Tennessee St. 24. Wake Forest 25. Texas
Baseball Weekly/ESPN (March 19, 2001) Rk Team 1. Rice 2. Stanford 3. Arizona State 4. Georgia Tech 5. South Carolina 6. Louisiana State 7. Miami (FL) 8. Nebraska 9. Notre Dame 10. Southern California11. CLEMSON 12. Tennessee 13. South Alabama 14. Oklahoma State 15. Central Florida 16. Baylor 17. Florida State 18. Pepperdine 19. Stetson 20. Wake Forest 21. Auburn 22. East Carolina 23. Tulane 24. Mississippi 25. Florida International
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