Baseball Takes 3 Games from VA, Clinches Second Outright |
CLEMSON -- 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 in front of 2,597 fans at Doug Kingsmore Stadium Sunday. With the win the Tigers moved to 37-18 overall and 17-7 in the ACC on the year and clinched second place in the conference outright. Virginia fell to 24-29 overall and 9-15 in the ACC. 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. Clemson coach Jack Leggett continued preparation for the ACC Tournament by using six pitchers and got shutout performances from Kevin Lynn, Chris Childs, Thomas Boozer, Steven Jackson and Nick Glaser. Leggett used eight pitchers in a 9-6 victory against Furman on Wednesday. Despite giving up the four runs in the ninth inning on Sunday, Cram got the win and moved to 4-1 on the year. The Tigers opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning on a double steal by Casey Stone and Khalil Greene. Stone swiped third base but Greene slipped before he could get to second. Greene was able to advance safely by ducking under the tag of shortstop Wyant while Stone moved from third to home on the play. The Cavaliers had a chance to score in the fifth inning when singles by Robert Word and Jeff Kamrath put runners at the corners with one out. Pitcher Thomas Boozer, who entered the game in the fifth, recorded two straight putouts to get out of the jam. Clemson extended its lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning when Jeff Baker took Cavalier pitcher Joseph Koshansky's 3-2 offering deep over the fence in left. The home run, his 21st of the season, is the most in the ACC and puts him in a third-place tie with Jim McCollom for most home runs in a season at Clemson. The Tigers added another run in the seventh inning when Jarrod Schmidt smashed a solo home run that made the score 4-0. 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. The Tigers now head to the ACC Tournament as the two seed and will play Wednesday at 5:00 PM against Virginia. This will be the fourth year in a row that Clemson will face the same team in the first round of the ACC Tournament that it closed out the regular season against.
Virginia 4 (24-29,9-15 ACC)
GAME 2:
Clemson, SC--Michael Johnson belted out five hits, including two home
runs to lead Clemson to a 17-1 college baseball victory over Virginia
in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon. The Tigers
improved to 36-18 overall and 16-7 in the ACC. Virginia fell to
24-28 overall 9-14 in the ACC.
Clemson won the first game of the doubleheader by an 8-1
count behind the pitching of Steve Reba.
With the victory, Clemson clinched the number-two seed in
next week's ACC tournament in Fort Mill, SC. The Tigers will open
play in the tournament Wednesday at 5:00 PM against the number-seven
seed. That opponent will not be known until Sunday evening.
Clemson and Virginia will play in the final regular season
game on Sunday at 2:00 PM. It will be Mother's Day, so all mothers
will be admitted free of charge. It will also be the final regular
season home game for Clemson's seniors and they will be honored prior
to the first pitch.
Khalil Greene knocked in five runs in the contest, giving him
nine RBIs for the day and 46 for the season. 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.
Johnson, Clemson's starting first baseman, became just the
second Tiger to record a five-hit game. Jeff Baker had a five-hit
game at South Carolina on March 4th. Johnson also had three extra
base hits, the fifth time a Clemson player has done that this year.
Ryan Riley, Clemson's leadoff man in the lineup, had three
hits in the first game, then scored four runs in the second game
within the first four innings of the contest. He reached safely on
an error, a single, a fielder's choice and was hit by a pitch.
Jeff Baker, the top home run hitter in the ACC, did not hit a home
run, but reached safely five times, two via hits and three on walks.
Kyle Frank had a pair of doubles in the second game, giving him three
for the day.
Catcher Jon Smith, playing for the injured Seth Miller, who
left the game in the second inning with a concussion, had a single,
double and a walk. He is now 7-14 for the season, an even .500.
Clemson also had outstanding pitching. Jarrod Schmidt was
the starter and winner, improving his to 6-3, including 3-0 vs. ACC
teams. The sophomore allowed just three hits and one earned run. He
struck out four in his five innings of work. Patrick Hogan and Matt
Henrie each pitched two perfect innings of relief.
Clemson scored five runs in the first inning. Jeff Baker had
a key double and Johnson powered his first home run of the game, a
shot to right field that was his 12th home run of the season.
Clemson added one in the second, one in the third and seven in the
fourth.
Greene's three-run homer in that frame was the key blow for
Jack Leggett's team. It was his 10th home run of the season, giving
Clemson four different players with double figures in home runs this
year. It is the first time since 1997 that Clemson has had four
different players with at least 10 home runs. Five Tigers, led by
Matt LeCroy's 24, had double figures that season.
Virginia 1 (24-28,9-14 ACC) Player AB R H BI David Stone lf 3 1 2 0 Will Davis lf 0 0 0 0 Jon Benick 3b 4 0 0 0 Hunter Wyant ss 3 0 0 1 Robert Newton ss 1 0 0 0 Dan Street 2b 3 0 1 0 Mark Rueffert dh 2 0 0 0 Paul Gillespie ph 1 0 0 0 Robert Word 1b 4 0 0 0 Chris Sweet rf 1 0 0 0 Kallen McCoy rf 1 0 0 0 Shawn McCleary cf 3 0 0 0 Andrew Riesenfeld c 3 0 0 0 Canon Hickman p 0 0 0 0 Will Parker p 0 0 0 0 Mark Hurrie p 0 0 0 0 Jeff Kamrath p 0 0 0 0 Greg Hansard p 0 0 0 0 Chris Marinak p 0 0 0 0 Totals...... 29 1 3 1 Clemson University 17 (36-18,16-7 ACC) Player AB R H BI Ryan Riley 2b 3 4 1 1 Ryan Klosterman ph/2b 3 0 0 1 Casey Stone cf 4 1 2 3 Chad Coder ph/cf 2 0 0 0 Jeff Baker 3b 3 2 2 1 Khalil Greene ss 3 1 1 5 Russell Triplett ph/ss 2 0 0 0 Michael Johnson 1b 5 3 5 3 Kyle Frank rf 6 2 2 0 Jon Smith dh/c 5 2 2 1 Zane Green lf 4 1 2 1 Seth Miller c 1 0 0 0 Patrick Hogan p 1 0 0 0 Matt Henrie p 1 0 0 0 Jarrod Schmidt p 2 1 0 1 Totals...... 45 17 17 17 Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Virginia............ 100 000 000 - 1 3 6 Clemson University.. 512 711 00X - 17 17 0 ------------------------------------------- E - Benick 3(9); Wyant(19); McCleary 2(8). DP - Virginia 1; Clemson 1. LOB - Virginia 5; Clemson 14. 2B - STONE(14); BAKER(12); JOHNSON(11); FRANK 2(14); SMITH(3). HR - GREENE(10); JOHNSON 2(13). HBP - D. Street; RILEY. SF - GREENE(5). SB- Stone 2(20); D. Street(5); BAKER(5). Virginia IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO Canon Hickman L,3-6 3.0 8 8 3 3 1 1 0 1 0 17 22 3 4 Will Parker 0.2 3 6 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 8 0 2 Mark Hurrie 1.1 3 2 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 8 10 0 2 Jeff Kamrath 1.0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 6 7 2 0 Greg Hansard 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 2 1 Chris Marinak 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 1 Clemson University IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO Jarrod Schmidt W,6-3 5.0 3 1 1 3 4 0 0 1 0 17 21 5 5 Patrick Hogan 2.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 6 2 3 Matt Henrie 2.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 6 6 0 4 WP - Hickman(3). HB - Hickman; SCHMIDT. Strikeouts - Benick; Wyant; Newton; Gillespie; McCleary 2; Riesenfeld; KLOSTERMAN; CODER; FRANK; GREEN 2; HOGAN. Walks - Stone; Rueffert; Sweet; BAKER 3; JOHNSON; SMITH; GREEN 2; SCHMIDT. Umpires - Home:Bryant Woodall 1st:Junior Creech 3rd:Ron Sebastian Start: 3:54 PM Time: 2:26 Attendance: 2621
GAME 1:
Clemson, SC--Steve Reba allowed just one earned run in seven innings
and Khalil Greene had four hits and four runs batted in, leading 13th
ranked Clemson to an 8-1 college baseball victory over Virginia at
Kingsmore Stadium in the first game of a Saturday afternoon
doubleheader.
Clemson improved to 35-18 overall and 15-7 in the ACC with
the win, while Virginia fell to 24-27 overall, 9-13 in the ACC.
Clemson has now won 30 of the last 31 games against the Cavaliers in
contests played at Kingsmore Stadium. Clemson improved to 20-7 under
Jack Leggett against the Cavaliers.
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.
He entered the game leading all ACC pitchers in opponent batting
average with a .190 figure. That figure improved with his
performance on Saturday and he dropped his ERA to 2.22 for the season.
"I didn't walk anyone, that is the statistic that stands out
to me," said Reba, a junior right hander from Fort Wayne, IN. "My
fastball was sharp and I got my breaking ball over the plate. That
led to short counts and a lot of ground ball outs. We had good
balance between pitching and hitting all day. Khalil Greene was
outstanding at the plate and gave me an early lead."
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 shortstorp 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.
Virginia was led at the plate by David Stone and Hunter
Wyant, who had two hits apiece. Brandon Creswell was the Virginia
starter and loser, as he fell to 7-3 for the season. the Virginia
ace allowed five earned runs and 10 hits in his five innings of work.
Clemson took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. With one
out, Michael Johnson and Steve Pyzik recorded consecutive singles to
right field. Kyle Frank then singled to center to load the bases.
Riley attempted a squeeze bunt, but it was perfectly placed and he
reached first base with an RBI single.
Clemson added a second run in the third on a home run by
Greene over the left field fence. Virginia made the count 2-1 with a
run in the top of the fourth, the Cavs only score of the game. With
two out, Wyant reached on an infield single. Jon Benick then
followed with an RBI double.
Clemson put the game out of reach with three runs in the
bottom of the fourth. Greene had a two-run single to highlight the
inning. Clemson added two more in the sixth on three hits, including
an RBI single by Seth Miller and an RBI double by Frank.
Virginia 1 (24-27,9-13 ACC) Player AB R H BI David Stone lf 4 0 2 0 Chris Sweet rf 4 0 1 0 Hunter Wyant ss 4 1 2 0 Jon Benick 1b 4 0 1 1 Mark Rueffert c 4 0 1 0 Dan Street 2b 4 0 0 0 Robert Word dh 4 0 1 0 Jeff Kamrath 3b 3 0 0 0 Doug Vroman cf 3 0 0 0 Brandon Creswell p 0 0 0 0 Alan Zimmerer p 0 0 0 0 Christopher Gale p 0 0 0 0 Totals...... 34 1 8 1 Clemson University 8 (35-18,15-7 ACC) Player AB R H BI Ryan Riley 2b 4 1 3 1 Ryan Klosterman 2b 0 0 0 0 Casey Stone lf/cf 4 0 1 0 Jeff Baker 3b 3 2 1 0 Khalil Greene ss 5 1 4 4 Jarrod Schmidt dh 3 0 0 0 Jon Smith ph/c 1 0 0 0 Chad Coder cf 4 1 1 1 Zane Green ph/lf 0 0 0 0 Michael Johnson 1b 4 2 1 0 Steve Pyzik c 1 0 1 0 Seth Miller c 2 1 1 1 Russell Triplett ph 1 0 0 0 B.J. LaMura p 0 0 0 0 Kyle Frank rf 3 0 2 1 Steve Reba p 0 0 0 0 Paul Harrelson p 0 0 0 0 Totals...... 35 8 15 8 Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Virginia............ 000 100 000 - 1 8 2 Clemson University.. 011 302 10X - 8 15 0 ------------------------------------------- E - Rueffert(10); Kamrath(2). DP - Virginia 1; Clemson 1. LOB - Virginia 6; Clemson 12. 2B - Benick(12); BAKER(11); FRANK(12). HR - GREENE(9). SH - STONE(4); FRANK(5). SB - SCHMIDT(3); CODER(16). Virginia IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO Brandon Creswell L,7-3 5.0 10 5 5 5 2 0 0 0 1 23 30 7 5 Alan Zimmerer 1.0 3 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 6 1 1 Christopher Gale 2.0 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 8 3 2 Clemson University IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO Steve Reba W,10-3 7.0 6 1 1 0 7 0 0 0 0 26 26 4 9 Paul Harrelson 1.0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 5 1 1 B.J. LaMura 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 3 1 0 PB - Rueffert(8). Strikeouts - Stone; Sweet; Wyant; Benick; D. Street 2; Word 2; Kamrath; Vroman; SCHMIDT; CODER. Walks - RILEY; BAKER 2; SCHMIDT; GREEN; JOHNSON; MILLER. Umpires - Home:Ron Sebastian 1st:Bryant Woodall 3rd:Junior Creech Start: 1:06 PM Time: 2:09 Attendance: 2621
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