CLEMSON BASEBALL

#17 Bulldogs Advance to Omaha With 8-5 Win Over #5 Clemson


by -

Starkville, MS -

Mississippi State scored four runs in the second inning thanks to a Tiger error and never trailed again to defeat #5 Clemson 8-5 on Saturday in front of 13,715 fans at Dudy Noble Field in the Starkville Super Regional. The #17 Bulldogs advanced to the College World Series with the win and improved to 38-20 on the season. The Tigers ended their season with a 41-23 record.

Starter Justin Pigott (7-6) earned the win, as he allowed nine hits, five runs (four earned), and one walk with three strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched. Mitch Moreland picked up his second save of the season by retiring the last two batters of the game.

Tiger starter David Kopp (6-3) suffered the loss. The junior righthander allowed five hits, five runs (two earned), and two walks in 1.2 innings pitched.

In the top of the first inning, the Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead. Jeffrey Rea led off with a walk on four pitches and Brandon Turner followed with a single through the right side. Edward Easley's flyball to deep left field moved Rea to third, then Moreland's groundout to first plated Rea.

Clemson came right back and took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the first. Wilson Boyd hit a one-out single through the right side and Marquez Smith followed with a single to left field. After Andy D'Alessio's walk loaded the bases, Taylor Harbin hit a deep flyball to left field, allowing Boyd to score on the sacrifice fly. Doug Hogan followed with a two-out single to center to score Smith. The hit extended Hogan's hitting streak to 15 games.

The Bulldogs responded with four runs in the top of the second inning thanks to a costly Tiger error. Joseph McCaskill led off with a single up the middle. Russ Sneed then hit a potential double-play grounder to short, but Harbin booted the ball. Wyn Diggs followed with a flyball to shallow left-center that fell for a single to load the bases with no outs. Jet Butler lined a double down the right-field line to plate McCaskill and Sneed, and Rea reloaded the bases with a walk. Turner then grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, but Diggs scored on the play. Edward Easley upped the Bulldogs' lead to 5-2 with a two-out, line-drive single to left to score Butler.


Mississippi State 8 (38-20)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB

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

Jeffrey Rea cf........... 2 1 0 0 3 0 3 0 0

Brandon Turner 2b........ 5 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 0

Edward Easley c.......... 4 0 1 1 1 0 8 1 0

Mitch Moreland rf/p...... 5 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 4

Brian LaNinfa 1b......... 5 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 1

Joseph McCaskill lf...... 3 2 2 0 1 0 2 0 0

Nick Hardy lf........... 1 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0

Russ Sneed 3b............ 4 1 2 2 1 1 1 0 1

Wyn Diggs dh............. 3 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0

Mark Goforth pr/dh...... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Andy Rice rf............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

Jet Butler ss............ 4 1 1 2 0 0 1 4 4

Justin Pigott p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

Ricky Bowen p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Aaron Weatherford p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals................... 37 8 11 7 6 3 27 8 10

Clemson 5 (41-23)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB

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

Brad Chalk cf............ 5 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0

Wilson Boyd dh........... 5 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 1

Marquez Smith 3b......... 4 1 3 0 1 0 0 1 0

Andy D'Alessio 1b........ 4 0 1 0 1 0 10 2 0

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

Doug Hogan c............. 4 1 3 2 0 1 3 1 2

D.J. Mitchell rf......... 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 2

Addison Johnson lf....... 3 2 2 0 0 0 4 0 0

J.D. Burgess 2b.......... 4 0 1 2 0 1 2 6 0

David Kopp p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Ryan Hinson p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

P.J. Zocchi p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

Alan Farina p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0

Totals................... 37 5 12 5 2 7 27 12 9

Score by Innings R H E

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

Mississippi State... 140 020 001 - 8 11 2

Clemson............. 200 201 000 - 5 12 1

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E - LaNINFA(1); BUTLER(10); HARBIN(16). DP - Miss. State 1;

Clemson 1. LOB - Miss. State 10; Clemson 9. 2B - MORELAND 2(25);

SNEED(1); BUTLER(3); BURGESS(3). 3B - HARDY(1); JOHNSON(5).

HR - HOGAN(13). HBP - DIGGS; JOHNSON.

SH - BUTLER(1). SF - HARBIN(6). SB - CHALK(9).

Mississippi State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF

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

Justin Pigott....... 6.0 9 5 4 1 3 25 28

Ricky Bowen......... 0.2 2 0 0 0 0 4 4

Aaron Weatherford... 1.2 1 0 0 1 3 6 7

Mitch Moreland...... 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 2 2

Clemson IP H R ER BB SO AB BF

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

David Kopp.......... 1.2 5 5 2 2 0 10 12

Ryan Hinson......... 2.2 2 2 2 2 1 10 12

P.J. Zocchi......... 2.0 2 0 0 0 0 8 8

Alan Farina......... 2.2 2 1 1 2 2 9 13

Win - PIGOTT (7-6). Loss - KOPP (6-3). Save - MORELAND (2).

HBP - by PIGOTT (JOHNSON); by FARINA (DIGGS).

Umpires - HP: Chuck Lyon 1B: Bill Speck 2B: Jim Garman

3B: Ken Eldridge

Start: 11:06 AM Time: 3:23 Attendance: 13715

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