Clemson - Coastal Carolina Postgame Notes

by Press Release - Mon Jun 04 19:44:30 GMT-04:00 2007

*Clemson first baseman Andy D'Alessio hit a home run in his first time at bat in today's game, his second home run of the Myrtle Beach Regional. It was his 16th home run of the year and the 58th of his Clemson career. D'Alessio is now tied for second on the Clemson career home run list with Michael Johnson, who played at Clemson from 2000-03. D'Alessio actually replaced Johnson at first base in the Clemson lineup (2004-07). The career record holder is Jeff Baker (currently with the Colorado Rockies) who had 59 between 2000-02.

*D'Alessio now has seven career home runs in NCAA Tournament play, at least one in each of the last four years. The Clemson career record for home runs in NCAA Tournament play is nine, by Johnson between 2000-03.

*D'Alessio was named the MVP of the Myrtle Beach Regional. He was 6-12 at the plate with two home runs and three doubles to go with a single. He had three hits in each of the last two games, helping Clemson score 26 runs in the two games combined.

*Marquez Smith, Andy D'Alessio and Taylor Harbin all hit home runs in today's game. They are Clemson's three-through-five hitters in the order. It marked the first time this year and the first time since May 14, 2006 that all three hit a home run in the same game. They last accomplished the feat on that May 14 date against Florida State at Clemson in an 11-2 Tiger victory.

*D'Alessio has now hit 13 home runs since April 18, a 27-game period. He hit three home runs in the first 35 games.

*D'Alessio is now 26-71 in his career in 22 NCAA Tournament games, all as a starter. That is a .366 batting average.

*Clemson's 20 hits today were the most by the Clemson team since they had 21 hits in a win over Gardner-Webb on March 27. It was just the third time all year Clemson collected 20 hits or more in a game. It was just four hits shy of the Clemson hit record for a single NCAA Tournament game.

*Clemson has now won six in a row over Top 25 teams, including the two wins over top 25 Coastal Carolina in the NCAA Regional.

*Clemson enters the Super Regional having scored in double figures in consecutive games, 11-8 and 15-3 wins over Coastal Carolina in the NCAA Regional. It marks just the fourth time this year Clemson has scored in double figures in runs in consecutive games.

*D.J. Mitchell now has a 5-0 record with four of the wins coming in his last five outings. He now has wins over South Carolina, Florida State and Coastal Carolina this year, three NCAA Tournament teams ranked in the top 15 in he nation at the time of the victory?and currently for that matter.

*With today's win over Coastal Carolina, Clemson advances to the NCAA Super Regional to face Mississippi State. This is the seventh time in the nine years of the Super Regional format that Clemson has advanced to the Super Regional. Only Miami (FL) with eight has more. Florida State has seven, even with its failure to advance this year. Cal-Fullerton and Rice joined Clemson with seventh Super Regional appearances in the last nine years this year. South Carolina could earn a seventh in 2007, but the outcome of their game with Charlotte was not known as of this writing.

*Today marked Clemson's 10th NCAA Regional or Super Regional title under Jack Leggett, but just the second that was claimed away from home. It marked the first time Clemson had won a regional somewhere other than Clemson since 1999 when Clemson won a regional at Arkansas.

*Clemson has now won nine consecutive NCAA Regional games dating to a 7-6 loss in 10 innings at Georgia in 2004.

*Clemson defeated host school Coastal Carolina twice in winning the Myrtle Beach Regional. It marked the first time since 1977 that Clemson defeated the host school twice in the same regional to win a regional title. Clemson last did it at Miami (FL) in 1977.

*Today's 15-3 victory was Clemson's largest margin of victory in an NCAA Tournament game since a 21-1 win over East Carolina at Clemson in 2002. The 12-run victory margin was the largest by the Tigers in an NCAA Tournament game against the host school in history. The previous best was an eight-run margin in a win 13-5 win at Maine in 1991 and a 12-4 at Arkansas in 1999.

*This will be the second straight year and the third time since 2000 that Clemson will meet Mississippi State in the NCAA Tournament. Clemson won last year's meeting at Clemson, 8-6 to clinch the Clemson regional. Clemson also won a Super Regional at Clemson over the Bulldogs in 2000. Clemson won a 10-9 contest over Mississippi State in 1991 at Orono, ME. Clemson is 4-0 against Mississippi State in NCAA Tournament play and 8-3 overall. Clemson did play at Mississippi State in the 1992 NCAA Regional, but never met the Bulldogs.

*This is the fourth different Clemson sport to reach the "Sweet 16" of an NCAA Tournament this year. The Tiger baseball team joins the men's soccer, women's soccer and women's tennis teams with that distinction.