Baseball Advances in ACC Tourney With 7-6 Win Over UNC

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FORT MILL, SC - Clemson held off a charge in the late innings to defeat

North Carolina 7-6 in the second round of the ACC Tournament in Fort Mill,

SC on Thursday. The Tigers improved to 38-19 and eliminated North Carolina,

which dropped to 31-26.

Clemson held a 7-1 lead after 4 1/2 innings when North Carolina started a

comeback. Doubles by Adam Greenberg and Sean Farrell generated a run for

the Tar Heels in the fifth inning and they scored again in the seventh.

Greenberg singled with one out and Russ Adams reached on Ryan Riley's

error. After Farrell walked to load the bases, Ralph Roberts singled to

right field to score a run. Another run scored on a fielder's choice and

Ryan Blake hit an RBI single as North Carolina climbed to within 7-5.

The Tar Heels trimmed the Clemson lead to 7-6 in the ninth inning on Chad

Prosser's RBI single. North Carolina was in position to tie the game with

runners at first and third and two outs when Jeff Baker snagged Brandon

Russell's ground ball down the third base line and threw him out at first

to end the game.

The Tigers jumped out to a lead early in the game. Casey Stone singled,

stole second base and slid past the tag of the catcher after Baker singled

to left field. The Tigers extended the lead in the second inning when

singles by Riley and Stone were followed two batters later by Khalil

Greene's three-run homer to left field. Greene's 11th home run of the year

put Clemson ahead 4-0.

North Carolina answered in the bottom of the second inning when Sean

Farrell hit a blooper that landed along the right field line just short of

a diving Kyle Frank. Jeremy Cleveland scored from second base to trim the

Clemson lead to 4-1.

Chad Coder doubled to start the fifth inning and the bases were loaded

after Riley was hit by a pitch and Stone reached on a bunt. Baker hit an

RBI single, Greene drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Stone scored on

Jarrod Schmidt's ground out to push the margin to 7-1.

Steve Reba (11-3) picked up the win for the Tigers. He scattered 11 hits

and struck out five batters over 6.2 innings while allowing two earned

runs. Cram earned his team-leading sixth save with 1.1 innings of work.

Greene drove in four runs while Riley, Stone, Baker and Coder each had two

hits to lead the offense. North Carolina's Scott Manshack (3-5) took the loss.

Clemson will take on Florida State Friday at 12:00 Noon. The game can be heard on the Clemson Tiger Network.

Box Score

Clemson University 7 (38-19)


Player             	AB	R	H	BI


Ryan Riley 2b      	3	2	2	0


Casey Stone lf     	4	3	2	0


Jeff Baker 3b     	4	0	2	2


Khalil Greene ss	4	1	1	4


Jarrod Schmidt dh	4	0	0	1


Michael Johnson 1b	3	0	0	0


Seth Miller c      	4	0	0	0


Kyle Frank rf      	4	0	0	0


Chad Coder cf     	4	1	2	0


Steve Reba p    	0	0	0	0


 Paul Harrelson p	0	0	0	0


 Josh Cram p     	0	0	0	0


Totals......     	34	7	9	7


North Carolina 6 (31-26)


Player              	AB	R	H	BI


Adam Greenberg cf	5	2	2	0


Russ Adams 2b    	3	1	1	0


Sean Farrell lf  	4	1	2	2


Ralph Roberts dh	5	1	2	1


Jason Howell 1b 	5	0	2	1


Ryan Blake c     	4	0	2	1


Chad Prosser ss   	5	0	2	1


Jeremy Cleveland 3b	5	1	1	0


Brandon Russell rf	5	0	1	0


Scott Manshack p	0	0	0	0


 Dennis Robinson p	0	0	0	0


 Kevin Brower p	0	0	0	0


 Whitley Benson p	0	0	0	0


Totals......     	41	6	15	6


Score by Innings                    R  H  E


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Clemson University.. 103 030 000 -  7  9  2


North Carolina...... 001 010 301 -  6 15  1


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E - RILEY(17); MILLER(2); Adams, R.(16). DP - Clemson 2. LOB - Clemson 6; N.


Carolina 12. 2B - RILEY(10); CODER(11); Greenberg, A(13); Farrell, S. 2(17);


Russell, B.(3). HR - GREENE(11). HBP - RILEY. SH - RILEY(8); STONE(6). SF -


GREENE(7). SB - STONE(23). 


Clemson University  	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	WP	BK	HP	IBB	AB	BF	FO	GO


Steve Reba  W,11-3	6.2	11	5	2	3	5	0	0	0	0	30	33	4	9


Paul Harrelson 	1.0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	5	2	1


Josh Cram  S,6	1.1	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	7	7	0	3


North Carolina      	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	WP	BK	HP	IBB	AB	BF	FO	GO


Scott Manshack  L,3-5	3.0	5	4	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	14	14	6	2


Dennis Robinson 	1.2	2	3	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	6	9	3	2


Kevin Brower        	1.1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	6	3	1


Whitley Benson   	3.0	1	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	9	11	4	3


HB - Robinson, D.. 


Strikeouts - SCHMIDT 2; MILLER; Greenberg, A; Roberts, R.; Howell, J. 2;


Blake, R.;Russell, B.. Walks - BAKER; JOHNSON; Adams, R. 2; Farrell, S.; Blake, R.. 


Umpires - Home:Ron Sebastian  1st:Randy Dulin  2nd:Scott Graham  3rd:Steve


Manders  Start: 1:29 PM   Time: 2:43   Attendance: 1643

Coaches Quotes

Clemson head coach Jack Leggett

"Even though it was very tight, it was a better game for us today.

Steve Reba did a great job getting us into the seventh inning. Josh

Cram came in and did a great job at the end. He really pitched well for

us in relief. Offensively we got some big hits along the way. We didn't

play great defense. We hurt ourselves a little bit there and made it

interesting. The bottom line is we ended up winning the ball game."

On North Carolina closing the margin to 7-6 after leading 7-1

"I guess it just goes to show our team that every single run counts.

Every opportunity you take advantage of helps you and every one you

don't take advantage of hurts you. It was mostly defense that hurt us

today, but Steve (Reba) was throwing strikes."

North Carolina head coach Mike Fox

"We are certainly disappointed we did not win the game. I'm very proud

of my players today for how hard they played. It is always a concern

for a coach after a late night loss and having to rebound so quickly. I

asked them to come out and play with a lot of passion and I think we did

that. We just could not get it done against a good Clemson team."

"When you out-hit a team 15-9 you are probably supposed to win, but it

didn't happen. I think we are a better team than we were three or four

weeks ago. I take some comfort in that. Our younger guys, and some of

our returning players started playing with confidence. They are

beginning to understand what it takes to play at this level. That will

be a positive for us as we go into next fall and get ready for next

season."

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