Baseball to Face UVA in ACC Tournament |
FORT MILL — To Jack Leggett's way of thinking, having the host sites for the
NCAA Regionals named the same week of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament was no distraction for his Clemson Tigers. On the contrary. It seemed to serve as a motivation. "We felt like we played well enough down the stretch that the announcement was more or less a formality," Leggett said. "What it does now is give us a chance to play our way into hosting a Super Regional, depending on how we do in the ACC tournament and if we're lucky enough to get through the Regional." Leggett isn't over-confident, by any stretch of the imagination. Instead, he appears to be cautiously optimistic about his team's chances in the ACC Tournament, which begins at 5 p.m. today when the second-seeded Tigers (37-18, 17-7) face No. 7 Virginia (24-29, 9-15) at Knights Stadium in Fort Mill. Clemson closed the regular season with a five-game winning streak, matching its longest of the season. The finish was a far cry from his team's play just over a month ago, when a three-game sweep at the hands of No. 1 seed Florida State punctuated a five-game losing streak. Leggett wondered about his team's makeup then. Now, those questions are fewer and far between. "In the middle of the year I didn't have much of a feel for this team," he said. "We're playing much better now, though. Our pitching is coming along and our defense is getting better. We have to continue to get better on the offensive side. We need to be more aggressive and we have to do well in the bunting game. It's been a satisfying year, though a little rough in some ways. We played without (injured centerfielder) Patrick Boyd all year, and have had some adversity along the way. But we've played pretty well down the stretch. We only lost one (ACC) series all year." Leggett will send Matt Henrie (5-2, 2.68 ERA) to the mound tonight against the Cavaliers, deciding against pitching staff ace Steve Reba on three days rest. The winner of the Clemson-Virginia game will play the Wake Forest-North Carolina winner at 8 p.m. Thursday. The two losers play at 1:30 that afternoon. NOTES: This is the fourth consecutive year Clemson has opened the ACC Tournament against the team it faced to close the regular season...Reba finished the regular season with a record of 10-3 and a 2.22 ERA...Georgia Tech gets a boost entering the tournament. All-American Mark Teixeira, who missed most of the season with an injury, is back in the Yellow Jackets lineup. Teixeira is hitting .513 in 10 games this season. Clemson at ACC Tournament May 16-20, 2001 Charlotte Knight's Stadium, Fort Mill, SC #13 Clemson (37-18, 17-7 ACC) vs. Virginia (24-29, 9-15 ACC) Wednesday, May 16, 5:00 PM Probable Starting Rotation Game 1: Matt Henrie (RHP; 5-2, 2.98 ERA) Game 2: Steve Reba (RHP; 10-3, 2.22 ERA) Game 3: Jarrod Schmidt (RHP; 6-3, 4.07 ERA) Clemson vs. Virginia The Tigers swept Virginia this past weekend at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson to extend their series lead to 93-25. Clemson has now won 33 of the last 34 games against the Cavaliers in Clemson and improved to 22-5 against Virginia under head coach Jack Leggett. The two teams met twice in the ACC Tournament a year ago, with Clemson taking both games. The Tigers won 9-7 in the first round game and then won 12-5 to advance to the championship game vs. Georgia Tech. Prior to last year's meetings in Fort Mill, the two teams had not faced one another in the ACC Tournament since the Cavaliers won 4-2 in Durham in 1996 on their way to the ACC Championship. The Tigers are 10-3 against the Cavaliers in the ACC Tournament. Clemson vs. UVA in ACC Tourney Year CU Result Site 1973 W, 3-1 Chapel Hill, NC 1974 L, 2-3 Raleigh, NC W, 9-6 Raleigh, NC 1982 L, 4-6 Chapel Hill, NC 1983 W, 12-5 Chapel Hill, NC 1984 W, 7-6 Durham, NC 1985 W, 10-8 Atlanta, GA 1990 W, 7-3 Greenville, SC 1991 W, 7-4 Greenville, SC 1992 W, 3-2 Greenville, SC 1996 L, 2-4 Durham, NC 2000 W, 9-5 Fort Mill, SC W, 12-5 Fort Mill, SC Deja Vu Clemson will open the ACC Tournament with the same opponent it closed out the regular season against for the fourth straight season. The Tigers swept Virginia in the three-game series this past weekend at Doug Kingsmore Stadium and will now play them in the first round of the tournament. The same scenario played out last year after the Tigers took two of three games vs. the Cavaliers in Charlottesville and then played them in the first round. Clemson lost two of three games at N.C. State in 1999 and then beat the Wolfpack 7-6 in the first round of the tournament. In 1998, Clemson won two of three games at North Carolina and then lost 4-1 to the Tar Heels in the first round of the ACC Tournament. Clemson in the ACC Tournament Clemson has 83 wins in its 124 ACC Tournament games and has appeared in the championship game a league best 19 times. That is more than double any other team. North Carolina and N.C. State are tied for the second most appearances in the final game, having advanced to the last game eight times each. Clemson has been in the championship game three of the last four years and eight of the last 10 years. The Tigers, which have won at least two games every year but 1998, have won the ACC Tournament title eight times, the most recent when Clemson won back-to-back titles in 1993 and 1994, the first season under head coach Jack Leggett. Both times the tournament was held in Greenville, SC. The Tigers also have 20 ACC regular-season championships, the last coming in 1995. Clemson's ACC Tournament Titles Year Result Location 1976 def. Maryland, 3-2 Clemson, SC 1978 def. Wake Forest, 22-9 Clemson, SC 1978 def. Wake Forest, 7-2 Clemson, SC 1980 def. N. Carolina, 12-3 Raleigh, NC 1981 def. N. Carolina, 7-5 Chapel Hill, NC 1989 def. N. Carolina, 12-4 Greenville, SC 1991 def. Georgia Tech, 24-8 Greenville, SC 1993 def. N.C. State, 11-7 Greenville, SC 1994 def. Florida State, 4-1 Greenville, SC Tigers Against the Field Clemson is 83-41 (.669) all-time in the ACC Tournament and boasts a .500 record or better against all eight teams. Clemson has met both North Carolina and N.C. State 22 times in the history of the tournament that started in 1973 in Chapel Hill, NC. The Tigers are 13-9 against both the Tar Heels and Wolfpack. The only team to keep Clemson from a winning record in the ACC tournament is Florida State. The two schools which are the this year's top two seeds are 7-7 in 14 previous meetings. Clemson vs. ACC in Tourney Duke 8-2 .800 Florida State 7-7 .500 Georgia Tech 10-7 .588 Maryland 12-0 1.000 North Carolina 13-9 .591 N.C. State 13-9 .591 Virginia 10-3 .769 Wake Forest 10-4 .714 TOTALS 83-41 (.669) Clemson to Serve as Regional Host for Second Straight Year Clemson has been selected to serve as host to one of 16 regional sites for the 2001 NCAA Baseball Championship on May 25-27 the NCAA announced Monday afternoon. The Tigers, 37-18 overall and 17-7 in the ACC, will host for the second consecutive year after hosting both the regional and Super Regional rounds last year. Clemson hosted Middle Tennessee, Illinois and Old Dominion in a four-team regional and advanced after defeating Illinois once and Middle Tennessee State twice. The Tigers hosted Mississippi State the following weekend in the Super Regional and earned a trip to the College World Series by defeating the Bulldogs 11-4 and 9-4 in the best-of-three series. Clemson has also played host to the NCAA Tournament in 1980, 1981, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998 and 2000 and has advanced to the College World Series four of those seven times. Monday's selection as a host assures that Clemson will make its 15th straight NCAA tournament appearance and its 27th appearance overall. However, seeding for the tournament will not be determined until May 21, when the entire field is announced live at 3:00 PM on ESPN. The Tigers are 19-6 in NCAA Tournament games played at Clemson. This is the third year of the 64-team format for the NCAA tournament and the winner will advance to the Super Regional at a site to be determined following the first-round games. The Tigers are 70-55 all-time in NCAA Tournament games and have made nine appearances in the College World Series. 2001 Regional Sites Host Location Record Cal State-Fullerton Fullerton, CA 39-14 CLEMSON Clemson, SC 37-18 East Carolina Wilson, NC 44-11 Florida State Tallahassee, FL 40-15 Georgia Athens, GA 40-16 Louisiana State Baton Rouge, LA 37-18-1 Miami (FL) Coral Gables, FL 41-12 Nebraska Lincoln, NE 41-14 Notre Dame South Bend, IN 45-9 Ohio State Columbus, OH 41-14 Rice Houston, TX 40-17 South Carolina Columbia, SC 41-15 Southern California Los Angeles, CA 35-16 Stanford Palo Alto, CA 39-14 Tennessee Knoxville, TN 41-15 Tulane New Orleans, LA 45-9 All-Session Tickets Now on Sale Reserved tickets for this year's tournament are available at the Clemson Athletic Ticket Office or by calling 1-800-CLEMSON. An all-session pass costs $50 and is good for all six or seven games that will be played at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The games will be played on Friday at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM; on Saturday at 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM; and on Sunday at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM (if necessary). Clemson Sweeps Virginia The Tigers needed to win two games to clinch the second seed at this week's ACC Tournament, but instead they took all three games and claimed second place outright. Had Clemson won just two games it would have tied Wake Forest for second place in the standings, but by virtue of Clemson's 2-1 series win over the Demon Deacons in late March, the Tigers held the tie-breaker. Steve Reba allowed just one earned run in seven innings and Khalil Greene had four hits and four runs batted in, leading Clemson to an 8-1 college victory over Virginia in the first game of a Saturday afternoon doubleheader. Reba improved to 10-3 with the victory, becoming the first ACC pitcher to reach the 10-win mark this year. He allowed just six hits in seven innings, struck out seven and did not walk a batter. Greene had four hits, including hits ninth home run of the season as he boosted his batting average over .300 for the season. The Clemson shortstop also had three singles. Leadoff hitter Ryan Riley had three hits and an RBI, while number-nine hitter, Kyle Frank, had two hits and drove in a run. In the second game Saturday, Michael Johnson belted out five hits, including two home runs to lead Clemson to a 17-1 victory over Virginia. Greene knocked in five runs in the contest, giving him nine RBIs for the day. Greene had four hits and four RBIs in the first game. He had just one hit in the second game, but he had a three-run homer, a sacrifice fly and an RBI ground out. Clemson needed ninth-inning heroics on Sunday to avoid the second extra inning contest of the week. Zane Green's two-out, pinch hit single in the bottom of the ninth inning capped a frantic finish as Clemson defeated Virginia 5-4. Clemson led 4-0 heading into the top of the ninth when Virginia came roaring back. The Cavaliers scored a run and loaded the bases with four straight singles off reliever Josh Cram to start the inning. David Stone then struck out but another run scored when Cram hit Chris Sweet with a pitch. After a flyout by Hunter Wyant, Jon Benick hit a two-run single to left field that tied the game at four. The inning ended one batter later when Mark Rueffert popped up to second base. Michael Johnson led off the bottom of the inning with a walk and moved to second base on Jarrod Schmidt's sacrifice bunt. Catcher Jon Smith followed with a strikeout to set up the dramatic ending. Green hit a two-strike, two-out line drive single to center field that scored Johnson from second base and allowed the Tigers to walk off with a victory. Despite giving up the four runs in the ninth inning on Sunday, Cram got the win and moved to 4-1 on the year. Schmidt led the Tiger offense with two hits, an RBI and a run scored. Stone went 1-3 with two runs scored. Virginia reliever Chris Marinak (2-1) got the loss for Virginia. Tigers Riding Hot Streak Since April 11, when Clemson snapped a five-game losing streak by scoring five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and adding a run in the 11th to beat Coastal Carolina, the Tigers have won 16 of their last 21 games (.762). The five-game losing streak tied the longest for the Tigers under head coach Jack Leggett and dropped the Tigers record to 21-13. Clemson had climbed to a No. 8 ranking, but the streak dropped the Tigers to No. 17. Clemson is currently enjoying a five-game win streak, equaling the longest streak of the season. Clemson also won five consecutive games on two other occasions. Before Clemson's comeback against Coastal Carolina, the Tiger pitching staff had a team ERA of 4.60. Since that pivotal game the Clemson staff has a 2.95 ERA and has lowered the season ERA to 3.96. Six pitchers on the postseason roster have less than a 3.00 ERA since that time whereas only two had an ERA of less than 3.00 before April 11. Clemson's offense has actually cooled off somewhat since the turning point. Clemson had a .314 team batting average through the five-game losing streak, but during the last 21 games, it is .289. On the year, the Tigers sport a .305 team batting average which is third best in the ACC behind Georgia Tech (.349) and Wake Forest (.331). Clemson Wins Seven of Eight Conference Series The Tigers three-game sweep of Virginia was the third sweep in ACC play this season. Clemson also won all three games at Maryland and swept Duke in three meetings at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The series win over the Cavaliers was the Tigers' seventh ACC series victory this year. Florida State swept the Clemson series in Tallahassee for the only series loss for the Tigers this year. The last time the Tigers won seven of the eight ACC series was in 1995. Clemson was swept by Florida State that season. Baker Belts No. 21 Sophomore Jeff Baker hit his 21st home run of the 2001 season Sunday in the 5-4 victory over Virginia. The two-run shot in the sixth inning moved the sophomore from Woodbridge, VA into a third place tie with Jim McCollom who hit 21 in 1985. Baker is not just three home runs away from the school record (24) shared by Eric Macrina (1991) and Matthew LeCroy (1997). Baker is leading the ACC by four home runs. Virginia's Jon Benick and Florida State's John-Ford Griffin each have 17. Top Five Home Run Seasons Player Year GP HR Eric Macrina 1991 69 24 Matthew LeCroy 1997 64 24 Jim McCollom 1985 64 21 Jeff Baker 2001 55 21 Keith Williams 1993 65 19 Baker Sets Two-Year Home Run Standard Third baseman Jeff Baker hit two home runs in the N.C. State series to record the most home runs ever hit by a Tiger in his freshman and sophomore seasons. The sophomore has added two since then and now has 32 career home runs - 21 this season to go with 11 last season. That is three more than Matthew LeCroy who is tied for the most career home runs. LeCroy hit 29 home runs by the end of his sophomore season in Clemson (1996). Most Home Runs in First Two Seasons Player Fr./So. Career Years Jeff Baker 32 32 2000-01 Matthew LeCroy 29 53 1995-97 Patrick Boyd 25 28 1998-01 Kurt Bultmann 21 43 1996-99 Joe DeBerry 20 35 1989-91 Shane Monahan 20 32 1993-95 Jim McCollom 20 52 1982-85 Jarrod Schmidt 20 20 2000-01 Mike Couture 19 32 1987-90 Keith Williams 16 35 1991-93 Michael Johnson 16 16 2000-01 Ray Williams 14 34 1984-87 Jim Crowley 12 43 1988-91 The Long Ball Clemson hit six home runs in the Virginia series and now has 73 home runs as a team this season. The Tigers need to hit only one more home runs this season to double last year's output as they hit only 37 home runs a year ago. Jeff Baker led Clemson last year with 11. Fifteen of the 37 homers in 2000 came at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, while this year Clemson has more than tripled the total having hit 47 out of Kingsmore Stadium. Baker's total of 21 ranks sixth in the nation entering the week, just five behind John Vanbenschoten of Kent State, who has 26 homers to lead Division I. Jarrod Schmidt has hit 15 home runs to rank fourth behind Baker, Benick and Griffin in the ACC, while Michael Johnson is tied for fifth with 13. Khalil Greene had two home runs in the Saturday doubleheader with Virginia for his ninth and 10th homers of the season. He joins Baker, Schmidt and Johnson with 10 home runs or more this season, the quartet has combined for 59 home runs (80.8 percent of the home runs hit by the Tigers this year). Only Baker had a double-figure total in 2000 with his 11 round-trippers. Clemson last had four players with 10 or more home runs in 1997 when five players had double digit totals. Matthew LeCroy led the Tigers with a school best 24, followed by Kurt Bultmann (16), Gary Burnham (15), Jason Embler (14) and Matt Padgett (13). Those five players accounted for 82 of Clemson's 95 (86.3 percent) homers that season. Multiple Home Run Games The two home runs hit by Michael Johnson in Saturday's 17-1 win over Virginia marked the 10th time this season that a Tigerhit two home runs in the same game. Jeff Baker hit in the North Carolina game on April 28 marked the fifth time this season and the seventh time of his career that he hit two homers in the same game. He leads Clemson in that category. Jarrod Schmidt is the only other Tiger with multiple home runs in more than one game. He hit two home runs April 6 at Florida State and again April 14 vs. Duke. The 10 multi-home run games this season is the most in school history. Multi HR Games This Season Player Multi HR Games Jeff Baker 5 Michael Johnson 3 Jarrod Schmidt 2 Multi HR Games in a Season by Individual Player Multi HR Games Year Jeff Baker 5 2001 Matthew LeCroy 4 1997 Eric Macrina 3 1991 Michael Johnson 3 2001 19 tied at 2 including current Tigers: Jarrod Schmidt 2 2001 Jeff Baker 2 2000 Multi HR Games in a Season by Team Year Multi HR Games 2001 10 1986 8 1979 7 1981 7 1991 7 1997 7 1999 5 Back-to-Back First baseman Michael Johnson and short stop Khalil Greene hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning the April 17 10-4 win over Georgia. It marked the third time this season that Clemson has launched consecutive home runs. The Tigers did it in the very first game of the year when Jeff Baker and Jarrod Schmidt hit homers in the bottom of the first inning against Richmond. The Tigers did it again in the series finale at Wake Forest as Ryan Riley and Schmidt belted blasts in the third inning en route to a 9-1 victory and series win. Greene Sets HBP Records Who is the Ron Hunt of Clemson baseball? The answer is starting shortstop Khalil Greene who believes in getting on base anyway he can. Hunt set many records for being hit by a pitch in his major league career with the Mets and Expos. Greene is establishing records in that area at Clemson. Greene was hit for the 19th time this season May 9 at Furman to extend his season record. It was the 45th time in his career, an all-time Clemson record. He is just a junior. Burnham owned the all-time record with 39 HBP recorded between 1994-97. Greene was hit five times in the New York Tech series, including a single game record three times in the first game of the series, a 24-3 win. That included being hit twice in one inning in that game, also a first in Clemson baseball history. Greene has now been hit by a pitch 19 times and walked 21 times this season. He has a .413 on-base percentage for his 209 at bats. Pyzik Lays Down the Bunt The sacrifice bunt by Steve Pyzik in the 10th inning at Furman on May 9 was his 11th sac bunt of the season, which ranks second in school history. Casey Stone owns the school record for sacrifice bunts in a season. He had 14 last year. The pair are the only two in history to post double digit sacrifice bunt totals in a season. Top Five Single Season Bunt Totals Player Year GP Sac Casey Stone 2000 69 14 Steve Pyzik 2001 52 11 Doug Livingston 1995 68 9 Joe Taylor 1992 54 8 Kurt Bultmann 1996 63 8 Stone on Fire Senior Casey Stone was 8 for 16 in the four games last week against Furman and Virginia with six RBI thanks to two doubles. He also scored five runs for Clemson in the four games. His 4 for 5 performance with three RBIs at Furman May 9 are largely responsible for his .500 week. He is now batting .376 for the season, which is second behind Jeff Baker (.381) and is seventh best in the ACC. In Stone's last 21 games, which was the come-from-behind win over Coastal Carolina, the left fielder from Abbeville, SC is 36 for 88 or .409 from the plate. Pitching Paces Tigers Clemson ranks second in the ACC in pitching with a 3.96 team ERA. Florida State owns the best team ERA with 3.27, while Georgia Tech is third with a 4.41 ERA. In ACC games only, Clemson leads the league with a 3.01 ERA and has given up only nine home runs in conference action. The next closest staff in home runs allowed is Florida State, which has watched opponents tee off on 17 home runs. The Seminoles have a 3.13 ERA in ACC games to rank second. Right handed pitcher Steve Reba owns the best ERA in the ACC. The junior from Fort Wayne, IN sports a 2.22 ERA and also leads the league with an 10-3 record and opponents batting average. The former ACC Pitcher of the Week (April 23) is holding opposing batters to a measly .194. Reba is tops the league in strike outs with 86. Reba had sprinted out to an 8-1 record before losing two consecutive starts: April 25 vs. South Carolina and April 29 vs. North Carolina. He rebounded for his ninth win of the season, a 7-6 victory at N.C. State on May 5. He pitched the first complete game of his career on April 20, a 3-0 shut out of Georgia Tech. Against Duke on April 14, Steve Reba struck out a career-high 12 batters to lead Clemson to a 10-1 victory over the Blue Devils. Reba went six innings, allowed just two hits and one run. His strike out total was the high mark by a Clemson pitcher since Ryan Mottl had 12 in a loss to Virginia on April 4, 1998. After Reba's complete game shutout against Georgia Tech on April 20, Schmidt followed with a complete game of his own on Saturday against the Yellow Jackets. In his second complete game of his career, the sophomore showed his form from a year ago when he amassed a perfect 9-0 record. Against Georgia Tech, he did not allow Tech to score a run until the ninth inning. On April 15 vs. Duke, he got the win in 5 1/3 innings allowing just four runs (three earned) off eight hits. Schmidt is now 6-3 this season and is holding batters to a .241 average, fifth best in the ACC. Sophomore Matt Henrie is the most improved pitcher on the Clemson staff in 2001. The sophomore from Jupiter, FL and Cardinal Newman High School appeared in just five games in 1999 and had an ERA of 13.50. He pitched just 3.1 innings for the season. He red-shirted the 2000 season. So far this year, Henrie has a 5-2 record and a 2.98 ERA, which ranks third in the ACC behind Reba and Virginia's Dan Street, who the Tigers did not face over the weekend. He is holding opposing batters to a .220 average, second best in the conference, again behind Reba. Henrie was named ACC Pitcher of the Week (May 7) for pitching seven shutout innings at N.C. State. He is a two-time honoree after grabbing kudos earlier this year when he shutout Maryland 7-0 on March 18. He pitched six innings and allowed just three hits, no runs and struck out five of the 25 batters he faced.
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