Baseball Notebook: Tigers Remain No .1 in Polls

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Clemson, SC - Top-ranked Clemson (27-2) will travel to Athens, GA Tuesday at 6:30 PM to take on Georgia (17-10). Georgia will make the return trip to Clemson Wednesday at 7:15 PM. Tuesday's game will be Clemson's first outside the state of South Carolina. Both games will be broadcast on the radio on Clemson Tiger Sports Properties. The broadcasts can be heard live via the internet at www.clemsontigers.com. Live stats will also be available on Clemson's website.

Georgia holds a 107-88-2 advantage in the series dating back to 1900. The 197 meetings are the second most to South Carolina's 255 meetings. Georgia and Clemson split last year's series, as the Bulldogs won in Athens 8-4 and Clemson won at home 9-3. Head Coach Jack Leggett is 11-5 against Georgia as the Tiger skipper, including 4-5 in Athens.

The Bulldogs are coming off a three-game series at Mississippi State, where Georgia avoided the sweep with a 9-2 win on Sunday. First-year Head Coach David Perno is 10-5 at home. His team is hitting .325 with 38 homers and 61 steals in 74 attempts, led by Chaz Lytle's 20 steals in 24 attempts. Lytle is also hitting .403 in 124 at-bats. Eight different Bulldogs have hit at least three homers as well.

Georgia, whose team ERA is 5.24, will send out freshman lefty Jason Fellows (1-0, 4.37 ERA) to the mound Tuesday. The Lilburn, GA native has only allowed two extra-base hits in 22.2 innings pitched this year. Clemson will counter with sophomore righty Steven Jackson (3-1, 4.30 ERA). The Summerville, SC native has struck out 37 and walked 16 in 37.2 innings pitched in 2002. He also sports a .253 opponents' batting average.

The Tigers are coming off a win Sunday against N.C. State after two, 13-game winning streaks to start the season. Tuesday's contest will be Clemson's first on the road since the South Carolina game on March 2. Clemson went 22-2 on its 24-game homestand from March 3 to April 7.

Senior shortstop Khalil Greene continues to pace the Tiger-hitting attack with a .479 batting average. He has shown why he is a leading candidate for All-America honors, as he continues to make the spectacular plays. His .962 fielding percentage is an outstanding mark for shortstops. Clemson is hitting .345 as a team while holding its opponents to a staggering .227 average. Clemson's team ERA is at 3.26 as well.

Second-baseman David Slevin, who has missed the last five games with a sprained wrist, is expected to be ready for action Tuesday.

Baker Named One of Five National Players-of-the-Week by Collegiate Baseball

Clemson, SC - Jeff Baker was named one of five Louisville Slugger National

Players-of-the-Week by Collegiate Baseball Monday after hitting five

homers in five games last week. The Woodbridge, VA native went

8-for-18 with nine RBIs, as he was the only batter cited by

Collegiate Baseball. Three of his five homers came against Winthrop

on April 3, including the game-winning walk-off homer in the ninth

inning. Baker is hitting .315 with 12 homers and 42 RBIs in 29 games

this season.

Tigers Remain No. 1 in Polls

Clemson — For the third straight week, Clemson (27-2) has been ranked No. 1 in Collegiate Baseball newspaper's NCAA Division I baseball poll.

The Tigers are also No. 1 in the Baseball America and ESPN/Baseball Weekly polls. It is the third straight week being ranked #1 by at least one poll and second straight week being ranked #1 by all three polls.

The Tigers have won 14 of their last 15 games and have outscored opponents by nearly a 3:1 ratio (284 runs to 109). Clemson is hitting .345 as a team with 56 homers in 29 games. The team has also swiped 45 bases and is averaging 9.7 runs per game.

As far as pitching, the Tigers have a 3.26 team ERA and a better than 2:1 strikeout to walk ratio (230 strikeouts, 87 walks). Clemson is also one of the top defensive teams in the nation with a .973 fielding percentage.

Collegiate Baseball 

Rank School (Record) Points Previous 


1. Clemson (27-2) 496 1 


2. Stanford (22-6) 493 2 


3. Alabama (28-5) 489 5 


4. Rice (28-7) 485 3 


5. Georgia Tech. (27-4) 483 6 


6. Wake Forest (25-6) 480 8 


7. South Carolina (24-8) 478 4 


8. Wichita St. (20-7) 474 10 


9. Mississippi (25-7) 470 11 


10. Nebraska (21-10) 464 13 


11. Houston (23-10) 461 9 


12. Florida (24-10) 457 7 


13. North Carolina (22-11) 452 12 


14. Florida St. (30-11) 451 14 


15. Texas (28-9) 450 15 


16. Texas A&M (26-11) 448 16 


17. Oklahoma St. (22-8) 445 21 


18. Baylor (22-12) 444 18 


19. Cal. St. Fullerton (21-10) 442 19 


20. Florida Atlantic (29-6) 439 22 


21. Long Beach St. (20-9) 437 23 


22. Arizona St. (22-12) 435 20 


23. Richmond (28-3) 430 24 


24. Oklahoma (19-12) 426 17 


25. Ohio St. (18-6-1) 424 25 


26. Stetson (27-5) 421 30 


27. S.W. Missouri St. (20-5) 418 — 


28. Southern Miss. (21-11) 414 — 


29. East Carolina (23-7-1) 412 — 


30. James Madison (26-7) 409 — 


Baseball America


Team Record Last Week Previous 


1. Clemson 27-2 4-1 1 


2. Stanford 22-6 3-0 2 


3. Rice 28-7 2-2 3 


4. Alabama 28-5 5-0 11 


5. Wake Forest 25-6 3-1 7 


6. Georgia Tech 27-4 5-0 9 


7. Houston 23-10 2-2 5 


8. South Carolina 24-8 1-2 4 


9. Wichita State 20-7 4-1 8 


10. Florida State 30-11 2-1 10 


11. Florida 24-10 0-4 6 


12. Nebraska 21-10 4-1 12 


13. Cal State Fullerton 21-10 3-0 13 


14. Long Beach State 20-9 2-0 14 


15. Mississippi 25-7 4-0 15 


16. Texas 28-9 3-1 16 


17. Baylor 22-12 2-1 17 


18. Texas A&M 26-11 3-1 18 


19. Florida Atlantic 29-6 3-0 24 


20. East Carolina 23-7 4-1 NR 


21. North Carolina 22-11 3-2 21 


22. Richmond 28-3 4-1 22 


23. Arizona State 22-12 2-2 19 


24. Oklahoma State 22-8 2-1 NR 


25. James Madison 26-7 6-0 NR 

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