CLEMSON BASEBALL

Baseball Takes Two Games from VT on Saturday


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Blacksburg, VA -

Junior righthander David Kopp pitched 7.0 solid innings to lead #16 Clemson to an 8-5 victory at Virginia Tech in front of 180 fans at a chilly English Field on Saturday afternoon. Clemson, who earlier in the day completed the series-opening win, took a 2-0 lead in the series. The Tigers also improved to 22-9 overall and 7-4 in ACC play. The Hokies dropped to 16-16 overall, 4-10 in the ACC.

Kopp (4-2) matched his career-long outing by pitching 7.0 innings, allowing five hits, two runs, and one walk with six strikeouts. Hokie starter Andrew Wells (2-3) suffered the loss, as he allowed five runs (three earned) on five hits in 6.1 innings pitched.

Taylor Harbin gave the Tigers an early lead when he blasted a solo homer over the fence in left field in the first inning. It was his third long ball of the season.

In the second inning, Clemson upped its lead to 4-0. Doug Hogan led off with a walk after being down 0-2 in the count. Alex Burg followed with a double to right field to move Hogan to third. D.J. Mitchell then lifted a fly ball to shallow right field that fell for a single to plate Hogan. J.D. Burgess slapped a grounder to Sean O'Brien at first. Burg broke for home and would have easily been retired with a good throw, but O'Brien booted the ball, allowing Burg to score and Burgess to reach safely. Addison Johnson moved the runners up a base on a sacrifice bunt and Brad Chalk grounded out to second to score Mitchell.

Virginia Tech cut Clemson's lead in half in the fourth inning after the first two batters of the inning struck out. Warren Schaeffer singled through the left side to start the rally then Matt Hacker reached on an infield single to third base. Steve Bumbry plated both baserunners with a double off the wall in right-center, the Hokies' first extra-base hit of the series.

The Tigers came right back and added a run in the fifth inning. Chalk laced a one-out double to left and scored on Harbin's single to right field.

Clemson tacked on three insurance runs in the eighth inning. Ben Paulsen started things off with a leadoff single to left field. Two batters later, Burg walked and Burgess loaded the bases with an infield single. Wilson Boyd, who entered the game in the fifth inning, then slapped a two-run single through the left side to score Burg and Mitchell.

The Hokies scored three runs in the ninth inning. Pinch-hitter Luke Padgett reached on an error and came around to score on a two-out double down the left-field line by Matt Foley. Nate Parks followed with a bloop double to left to score Foley. Sean O'Brien then laced a single through the right side to plate Parks and Bryan Thomas singled through the left side to bring the potential tying run to the plate. But Anthony Sosnoskie grounded out to end the game.

Harbin led the Tiger bats with two hits and two RBIs. Mitchell also added two hits and two runs scored, as Clemson had 10 hits in all. Thomas, Schaeffer, and Foley each had two hits apiece to pace the Hokies' 10-hit attack.

Clemson and Virginia Tech will play game-three of the three-game series on Sunday at 1:00 PM.

#16 Tigers Take Game-One 6-3 Over Hokies

Blacksburg, VA -

Marquez Smith's two-run homer highlighted #16 Clemson's 6-3 win at Virginia Tech in a game that started on Friday and finished on Saturday in front of 205 fans at Engligh Field. The Tigers improved to 21-9 overall and 6-4 in the ACC with the series-opening win, while the Hokies fell to 16-15 overall and 4-9 in ACC play.

Matt Vaughn (3-0) picked up the victory, as he pitched 5.0 innings. The sophomore righthander allowed seven hits and two runs in the longest relief appearance of his career. Lefthander Daniel Moskos made his first career start after starting his career with 71 relief appearances as a Tiger. He allowed six hits, one run, and no walks with four strikeouts in 4.0 innings pitched.

Hokie starter Greg Fryman (2-5) suffered the loss, as he allowed eight hits and five runs (four earned) in 5.0 innings pitched.

After Clemson had runners at first and third with one out and could not score in the top of the first inning, the Hokies had the same situation in the bottom of the first after Bryan Thomas' potential routine, double-play grounder to shortstop with one out took a bad hop and enabled Sean O'Brien to reach third base on the single. With flurries starting to fall, Adam Redd followed with a "seeing-eye" single through the right side that scored O'Brien, and Jose Cueto loaded the bases with a sharp single through the left side. Moskos avoided further damage by striking out Warren Schaeffer and getting Anthony Sosnoskie to fly out to right field.

With thick, wind-blown snow falling, the Tigers tied the score in the third inning. Brad Chalk led off with a walk and moved to second when Taylor Harbin was hit by a pitch. Smith moved the runners up a base on a sacrifice bunt and Ben Paulsen followed with a sacrifice fly to left to plate Chalk.

In the fourth inning, Wilson Boyd led off with a line-drive single to right field. D.J. Mitchell then lofted a fly ball to left-center. Centerfielder Nate Parks lost the ball in the clouds and snow, allowing the ball to fall safely for a double, as Boyd advanced to third. J.D. Burgess reached on a fielding error by second-baseman Matt Hacker, as Boyd scored to give Clemson the lead. Addison Johnson then grounded into a double play, but Mitchell scored on the play.

The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning. Harbin led off with an infield single and Marquez Smith blasted a two-run homer that disappeared into the snowy night over the left-field fence. It was Smith's fifth homer of the season.

Play was suspended in the middle of the fifth inning due to snow accumulation on the field. The game was resumed on April 7.

When play got underway again, Hacker led off the bottom of the fifth with a single to right field and went to second on Parks' bunt single. O'Brien moved the runners up on a sacrifice bunt, but Vaughn got out of the jam by retiring the next two Hokies.

In the sixth, the Tigers capitalized on an error to add to their lead. Johnson reached with one out on a strikeout that got by the catcher. Chalk advanced Johnson to second on a sacrifice bunt and Harbin followed with a grounder to short. Schaeffer's throw to first was low and got by the first-baseman, allowing Johnson to come all the way around to score, giving Clemson a 6-1 lead.

After the first two Hokies were retired in the seventh inning, they put together a two-out rally to cut into Clemson's lead. Three straight singles by O'Brien, Thomas, and Redd loaded the bases, then Cueto walked to plate O'Brien. Vaughn escaped further damaging by getting Schaeffer to ground out.

In the ninth inning, Virginia Tech rallied to score a run, but it was not enough. Parks led off with an infield and single and O'Brien followed with a walk. The two runners moved up on a balk and Thomas struck out for out #1. Redd's groundout to second scored Parks, but Cueto's groundout ended the game.

The Tigers, who had 11 hits, were led at the plate by Mitchell, who had three hits, including two doubles. Smith was 2-for-2 as well. The Tigers totaled five sacrifice bunts, but stranded 12 runners on base.

Virginia Tech, who totaled 13 singles, was led by O'Brien's 3-for-3 performance. The Hokies left 11 runners on base as well.

Clemson and Virginia Tech will play game-two of the three-game series on Saturday at approximately 2:50 PM.

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