Clemson Tallies 17 Hits in 10-1 Win Over Western Carolina

by Dan Scott - Correspondent - Wed Apr 20 00:26:39 GMT-04:00 2005

CLEMSON - The full package may finally be coming together for Clemson.

The Tigers played 14 innings of baseball Tuesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, coming away with two victories and - in the process - perhaps answering some questions about their bullpen.

Clemson scored three runs in the seventh inning of the completion of a game suspended April 12 at Western Carolina en route to a 7-4 victory over the Catamounts. Then, in the regularly-scheduled game between the two, four Tiger pitchers limited WCU to just five hits in a 10-1 win.

Steven Faris (3-1) pitched the final five innings of the first game to gain the victory. He allowed just two unearned runs during the stretch, and his season ERA fell to 0.72.

The game resumed with runners on first and third and no outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, WCU having scored a run on an error by starting pitcher David Kopp to cut Clemson's lead at the time to 4-2. It's at that point a week ago that rain came and forced the game to be suspended.

When Faris took over Tuesday, he pitched out of the jam in the fifth and only allowed a pair of unearned runs in the seventh inning. By that time the Tigers (23-14) had bolted out in front 7-2 thanks in part to home runs from Tyler Colvin and Andy D'Alessio, Colvin's later two-run double, and an RBI single from Travis Storrer.

In the nightcap, P.J. Zocchi pitched two scoreless innings at game's beginning - his first appearance in over 14 months since having Tommy John surgery on his right elbow - to pick up the victory in the Tigers' 10-1 win.

In college baseball, when it's predetermined that three or more pitchers will work in a game, the pitcher on the mound when his team takes the lead for good is credited with the win. That's why Zocchi got credit for the victory without pitching the standard five innings.

But emotionally it didn't matter, because the redshirt freshman righthander cleared a huge obstacle with his two-inning stint. He allowed a hit and walked a batter in his two innings, but pitched out of a two-on, two-out jam in the second inning without allowing a run.

Freshman lefty Chris Fidrych followed with four scoreless innings for the Tigers, allowing just one hit and striking out four. Drew Fiorenza allowed two hits in his two scoreless innings, and Chris Howard pitched the ninth and gave up WCU's only run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Trey McDaniel.

Offensively, D'Alessio again homered, a two-run shot that was his seventh of the season. Taylor Harbin had three hits and drove in three runs, while Storrer also had a three-hit night and drove in a run.

Colvin, Kris Harvey, Gene Pierce and Tanner Leggett also had RBIs.

Steven Strausbaugh (0-1), the first of seven WCU pitchers, was the starter and loser for the Catamounts (21-16).

Clemson returns to action this evening, traveling to South Carolina.

Western Carolina 1 (21-16)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB

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Barrett Shaft cf......... 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0

Chris Davis 2b/lf........ 4 0 0 0 0 2 3 5 0

Steven Strausbaugh p/dh.. 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

Jared Greenwood c........ 4 1 2 0 0 1 3 0 2

Jonathan Greene lf....... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Chris Ahearn lf/ss...... 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0

Trey McDaniel 1b......... 3 0 0 1 0 0 9 1 0

Nate Hall 3b............. 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0

Brandon Zollman rf....... 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3

Tim Hallam ss............ 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 0

Jason Haynes ph/2b...... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0

Brandon McDowell p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Brian McCullen p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

Jeremy Ellenburg p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Brian Barnes p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Bryan Tupper p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Clint Ramsey p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals................... 31 1 5 1 1 6 24 11 6

Clemson 10 (23-14)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB

------------------------------------------------------

Herman Demmink 3b........ 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1

Jorge Andrade, Jr. 3b... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Brad Chalk cf............ 3 2 2 0 0 0 2 0 0

David Williams ph/cf.... 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0

Taylor Harbin 2b......... 4 0 3 3 0 0 1 4 0

Ben Hall ph/2b.......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Tyler Colvin lf.......... 4 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 0

Jesse Ferguson lf....... 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

Kris Harvey dh........... 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2

Gene Pierce ph/dh....... 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

Travis Storrer rf........ 5 1 3 1 0 0 4 0 4

Andy D'Alessio 1b........ 3 1 2 2 0 0 8 0 0

John Ingram ph/1b....... 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0

Stan Widmann ss.......... 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 3 2

Tanner Leggett ph/ss.... 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0

Adrian Casanova c........ 2 1 0 0 0 0 5 0 0

Doug Hogan ph/c......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2

P.J. Zocchi p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Chris Fidrych p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Drew Fiorenza p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Chris Howard p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals................... 38 10 17 10 3 3 27 9 11

Score by Innings R H E

-------------------------------------------

Western Carolina.... 000 000 001 - 1 5 1

Clemson............. 022 201 03X - 10 17 0

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E - ZOLLMAN(2). DP - W. Carolina 2. LOB - W. Carolina 6;

Clemson 11. 2B - SHAFT(10); HARBIN(18); COLVIN(14);

HARVEY(8). 3B - STORRER(1). HR - D'ALESSIO(7). HBP -

HALLAM; HARVEY; LEGGETT; CASANOVA. SH - DEMMINK(5). SF -

McDANIEL(3). SB - AHEARN(1); CHALK(4); COLVIN(6).

Western Carolina IP H R ER BB SO AB BF

-----------------------------------------------

Steven Strausbaugh.. 2.0 4 2 2 1 0 9 10

Brandon McDowell.... 0.2 4 2 2 0 0 6 6

Brian McCullen...... 1.1 2 2 2 0 1 5 8

Jeremy Ellenburg.... 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 3 3

Brian Barnes........ 1.0 3 1 1 0 1 6 6

Bryan Tupper........ 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4

Clint Ramsey........ 1.0 3 3 3 2 1 6 8

Clemson IP H R ER BB SO AB BF

-----------------------------------------------

P.J. Zocchi......... 2.0 1 0 0 1 1 7 8

Chris Fidrych....... 4.0 1 0 0 0 4 13 14

Drew Fiorenza....... 2.0 2 0 0 0 1 8 8

Chris Howard........ 1.0 1 1 1 0 0 3 4

Win - ZOCCHI (1-0). Loss - STRAUSBAUGH (0-1). Save - None.

WP - STRAUSBAUGH(1); ZOCCHI(1); HOWARD(1). HBP -

by McCULLEN (CASANOVA); by McCULLEN (HARVEY); by FIDRYCH

(HALLAM); by TUPPER (LEGGETT). BK - BARNES(1).

Umpires - HP: Danny Everett 1B: Tony Thompson

3B: Steve Manders

Start: 7:14 Time: 2:37 Attendance: 2986

Dan Scott covers Clemson University for the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Seneca Daily Journal/Clemson Messenger and TigerNet. He also hosts SportsTalk from 9 a.m.-Noon, Monday-Friday, on WCCP-Fm, 104.9. Click here for Dan Scott's SportsTalk discussion board.