Tigers Win Opener At Maryland |
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - A ninth-inning comeback attempt by the University of Maryland fell just short and Clemson held on for a 2-1 victory over the Terrapins in an Atlantic Coast Conference baseball game played Friday before 368 at Shipley Field.
The victory in the first of a three-game weekend series improved Clemson's record to 17-7 overall and 5-5 in the league, as the Tigers won their fifth straight and their eighth in the last nine games. Maryland fell to 13-12 overall and 2-8 in the ACC.
Clemson starter D.J. Mitchell scattered four hits over eight innings and went into the bottom of the ninth with a 2-0 lead. Chad Durakis opened with a walk and A.J. Casario came on to pinch run. Gerry Spessard then singled to right field, chasing Casario to second.
Nick Jowers then laid down a sacrifice bunt that Mitchell bobbled for an error. The Tiger pitcher then threw the ball past first base and Maryland's runners all cruised around the bases. The ball lodged in the right-field fence, however, and the play became dead with only one Maryland run scoring on the play.
Casey Harman came on to pitch with runners on second and third, and forced Will Greenberg to ground out and struck out Joe Palumbo. Tiger closer Matt Vaughn then came on and got Steve Braun, who had two of Maryland's five hits, to ground out to first to end the game. Vaughn's save was his ACC-high eighth of the season.
Mitchell finished as the winning pitcher, improving to 3-2 by allowing five hits, three walks and no earned runs while striking out six.
Maryland starter Scott Swinson (3-3), who had won his last two ACC series-openers, pitched well again for the Terps. The sophomore transfer gave up only six hits and one earned run in six innings of work.
Clemson sophomore Mike Freeman finished with three of the Tigers' eight hits.
The Tigers scored in the first inning when Ben Paulsen singled in Freeman with two out. The Tigers made it 2-0 in the sixth when an RBI single by Kyle Parker drove in Doug Hogan, who had reached on an outfield error.
Maryland and Clemson play again on Saturday at 4 p.m., with the series finale set for Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Automated ScoreBook
Clemson at Maryland Terrapins
Mar 28, 2008 at College Park, Md. (Shipley Field)
Clemson 2 (17-7,5-5 ACC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Stan Widmann ss.......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 1
Mike Freeman 2b.......... 4 1 3 0 0 1 2 3 0
Doug Hogan c............. 4 1 1 0 0 0 7 1 0
Ben Paulsen 1b........... 4 0 1 1 0 1 12 1 1
Jeff Schaus lf........... 3 0 1 0 1 1 2 0 0
Kyle Parker dh........... 3 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 2
Wilson Boyd cf........... 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
John Hinson 3b........... 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0
Chris Epps rf............ 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2
Alex Lee rf............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
D.J. Mitchell p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0
Casey Harman p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Matt Vaughn p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals................... 33 2 8 2 3 6 27 14 7
Maryland Terrapins 1 (13-12,2-8 ACC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Steve Braun 2b........... 5 0 2 0 0 1 1 1 2
Bill Rice rf............. 3 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 1
Jensen Pupa 1b........... 3 0 1 0 1 0 6 0 0
Mike Rozak pr........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dan Benick 1b........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Mike Murphy 3b........... 3 0 0 0 1 1 3 2 3
Chad Durakis c........... 3 0 1 0 1 0 6 2 0
AJ Casario pr........... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gerry Spessard lf........ 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0
Nick Jowers cf........... 3 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 2
Will Greenberg dh........ 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Joe Palumbo ss........... 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0
Scott Swinson p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Brett Tidball p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brett Jones p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 31 1 5 0 3 7 27 8 9
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Clemson............. 100 001 000 - 2 8 3
Maryland Terrapins.. 000 000 001 - 1 5 1
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E - HOGAN; MITCHELL 2; Rice, B.. DP - Tigers 1. LOB - Tigers 7; Terps 9. 2B
- HOGAN. HBP - Rice, B.. SH - Jowers, N.. CS - FREEMAN. Reached on CI -
Spessard, G..
Clemson IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
D.J. Mitchell....... 8.0 5 1 0 3 6 28 34
Casey Harman........ 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 2 2
Matt Vaughn......... 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Maryland Terrapins IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Scott Swinson....... 6.0 6 2 1 2 3 22 24
Brett Tidball....... 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 3 3
Brett Jones......... 2.0 2 0 0 1 2 8 9
Win - MITCHELL (3-2). Loss - Swinson, S. (3-3). Save - VAUGHN (8).
HBP - by MITCHELL (Rice, B.). CI - HOGAN.
Umpires - HP: Harry Greer 1B: Scott Graham 3B: Tim O'Toole
Start: 6:57 pm Time: 2:28 Attendance: 368
Game: MAR28
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