Baseball Falls to Winthrop 8-4

---

CLEMSON — Winthrop's Ben Thurmond gave his team the one thing Jack Leggett

still searches for at Clemson — quality starting pitching in the middle of

the week.

As a result, the Tigers found themselves on the short end of an 8-4 score

Wednesday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Thurmond (7-1) pitched 8 1/3 strong innings, striking out eight and allowing

just one. His only rough inning was the seventh, when he allowed Casey

Stone's three-run home run that at the time pulled Clemson within 5-4. But

Thurmond quickly regained his composure and continued his dominance of the

Tigers (21-9).

"Their kid did a good job on the mound," Leggett said. "He kept us off

balance and we had trouble hitting him. (Thurmond) pitched better than we

did."

Clemson starter and loser Patrick Hogan (0-1) didn't make it out of the third

inning. After allowing a two-run homer to Jason Colson in the first inning,

Bennett Stapf took Hogan deep with a man on in the third to give Winthrop

(27-5-1) a 4-1 lead.

Kevin Lynn relieved Hogan after Stapf's blast, allowed a single run in the

fourth inning, then proceeded to shut out Winthrop until the ninth.

Meanwhile, Clemson's offense sputtered until the seventh, when Ryan Riley

singled and Steve Pyzik reached on an error. Stone followed with a long home

run to right field, pulling Clemson within 5-4.

But Winthrop countered with three runs in the ninth inning off the Tigers'

bullpen, two coming on a bases loaded, check-swing single by Stas Swerdzewski.

"We're a little vulnerable in midweek right now because we're having a little

trouble finding that fourth and fifth starter who can keep us in the ball

game until late in the game," Leggett said. "I thought someone would have

stepped up by now."

Winthrop may be opening eyes around the NCAA Selection Committee offices. The

win over Clemson adds to a growing list of standout college programs it has

beaten this year.

Winthrop has two wins each over Kentucky and Florida, and also has triumphs

over Alabama, North Carolina and NC State. Tuesday night's win was Winthrop's

ninth in a row, and 15th in the 16 games played since March 10th.

Meanwhile, Clemson returns to action this weekend with a three-game, Atlantic

Coast Conference series at Florida State.

  Winthrop 8 (27-5-1)                           Clemson University 4 (21-9)


  Player                      AB  R  H BI       Player  AB  R  H BI


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


  URY lf.....................  4  2  2  0       Casey Stone lf............. 5  1  2  3


  LEATHERS rf................  4  2  1  1       Kyle Frank rf.............. 3  1  1  0


  COLSON 3b..................  5  1  2  3       Khalil Greene ss........... 4  0  1  0


  STAPF 1b...................  5  1  2  2       Jeff Baker 3b.............. 3  0  1  1


  SWERDZEWSKI c..............  5  0  2  2       Michael Johnson 1b......... 4  0  0  0


  FRIEDMAN 2b................  5  0  0  0       Jarrod Schmidt dh.......... 4  0  0  0


   TOMSICH p.................  0  0  0  0       Zane Green cf.............. 4  0  1  0


  THURMOND p/2b..............  3  0  0  0       Ryan Riley 2b.............. 3  1  2  0


  WEBB ss....................  4  1  2  0       Steve Pyzik c.............. 3  1  0  0


  DE LA RIONDA cf............  4  1  1  0        Russell Triplett ph/c..... 1  0  0  0


                                                Patrick Hogan p............ 0  0  0  0


                                                 Kevin Lynn p.............. 0  0  0  0


                                                 Thomas Boozer p........... 0  0  0  0


                                                 Josh Cram p............... 0  0  0  0


  Totals..................... 39  8 12  8       Totals.....................34  4  8  4


  Score by Innings                      R  H  E


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


  Winthrop............ 202 100 003 0 -  8 12  2


  Clemson University.. 100 000 300 X -  4  8  0


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


E - COLSON(11); FRIEDMAN(2). DP - Winthrop 2. LOB - Winthrop 7; Clemson


7. 2B -  URY(14); STAPF(11). HR - COLSON(7); STAPF(6); STONE(1). SH - RILEY(4).


SB- WEBB(5).


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


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


  THURMOND  W,7-1............   8.1  7  4  3  3  8   0  0  0  0   32 36   9  7


  TOMSICH ...................   0.2  1  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0    2  2   0  1


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


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


  Patrick Hogan  L,0-1.......   2.1  6  4  4  1  1   0  1  0  0   13 14   0  6


  Kevin Lynn ................   6.0  4  2  2  0  7   0  0  0  0   22 22   2  9


  Thomas Boozer .............   0.0  0  1  1  1  0   0  0  0  0    0  1   0  0


  Josh Cram .................   0.2  2  1  1  1  1   1  0  0  1    4  5   0  1


  WP - CRAM(2). BK - HOGAN(1). PB - SWERDZEWSKI(3).


  Strikeouts - STAPF 3; FRIEDMAN 2; THURMOND 2; DE LA RIONDA 2; GREENE 2;


BAKER 2; JOHNSON; SCHMIDT; GREEN 2. Walks - URY; LEATHERS; THURMOND; FRANK 2; BAKER.


  Umpires - Home:Tommy Ford  1st:Danny Everett  3rd:Eric Johansen


  Start: 7:17   Time: 3:02   Attendance: 2002


  BOOZER faced 1 batter in the 9th.

Dan Scott is the host of SportsTalk (10AM-Noon) on 104.9 FM in Upstate SC and

Managing Editor of Seneca Daily Journal/Clemson Daily Messenger

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