Clemson Baseball Remains #1 in All Three Polls |
Clemson, SC - Clemson (34-5, 10-2 ACC) remains atop all three baseball polls this week after a 4-1 week, including a three-game sweep at Duke. It is the fifth straight week being ranked #1 by at least one poll and fourth straight week being ranked #1 by all three polls. It also marks the first time in history that the Tigers have been ranked #1 five times in a row by a certain poll, as Collegiate Baseball and ESPN/Baseball Weekly have now tabbed the Tigers #1 for five consecutive weeks. Clemson was ranked #1 by Collegiate Baseball for four straight weeks in 1994. Clemson will face #5 South Carolina Wednesday in Columbia and play host to #3 Wake Forest this weekend along with a Tuesday matchup with Furman.
Baseball America
Bradley, Price Awards to be Given
The Most Valuable Players of the Clemson vs. South Carolina four-game
baseball series will be presented awards in honor of two legendary
figures in each program's history. Clemson's Most Valuable
Player of the series will be presented the Bob Bradley Award, while
South Carolina's MVP will be presented the Tom Price Award.
The voting will be done by media covering the four-game series. The
awards will be presented immediately after the fourth game of the
series, which will be played in Columbia on Wednesday night.
This is the second year the awards have been given. Jeff
Baker won the Bob Bradley Award last year, while Drew Meyer won the
Tom Price Award in 2001.
Both Bradley and Price served their respective schools as
sports information director for over 30 years. For the past 10
years, Price has served as a consultant for the Gamecock athletics
department in the role of SID emeritus and department historian and
he provides commentary on some South Carolina baseball games. Bradley
passed away this past away on October 30, 2000, after a long bout
with cancer.
Bradley served the Clemson athletic department for 45 years,
34 as Sports Information Director and 11 in an emeritas capacity. He
was presented the Order of the Palmetto by Governor Jim Hodges two
days prior to his death for his service to the state of South
Carolina. The native of Randelman, NC was inducted into the Clemson
Hall of Fame in 1985 and was presented the Service of Sports Award by
the State of South Carolina Hall of Fame.
Bradley was the 1976 recipient of the Arch Ward Award by
CoSIDA, which is presented to the Sports Information Man of the Year.
He was also inducted into the organization's Hall of Fame. He was a
recipient of the Wilbur Snypp Award for excellence in promotion of
college baseball.
Tom Price has spent more than half of his life associated
with the University of South Carolina. A native of Augusta, Ga.,
Price served as USC's Sports Information Director for 31 years, from
1961 until retiring from his post in 1992. Following his
retirement from USC, he received the Service to Sports Award in 1993
from the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame.
Price was the recipient of CoSIDA's Arch Wade Award in 1994
and is also a member of that organization's Hall of Fame. Price also
has received the Wilbur Snypp award for excellence in the promotion
of college baseball and was chosen to serve as a baseball
statistician for the Games of the XXIII Olympiad in LosAngeles in
1984.
Furman and #5 South Carolina Next Up for Top-Ranked Tigers
Clemson will play host to the Paladins Tuesday at 7:15 PM and will play in Columbia Wednesday at 7:00 PM.
Clemson, SC - Top-ranked Clemson (34-5) will play host to Furman (18-22) Tuesday at 7:15 PM and will play at #5 South Carolina (31-9) Wednesday at 7:00 PM. The South Carolina game will be broadcast on the radio by Clemson Tiger Sports Properties. The radio broadcast can be heard live via the internet at www.clemsontigers.com. The game against the Gamecocks will also be broadcast live on television by Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast. Live stats will also be available for both mid-week games on Clemson's website.
Clemson leads the series with Furman 129-53-4 dating back to 1896. Only Georgia and South Carolina have faced Clemson more times in history. Furman was Clemson's first ever opponent in 1896, as the Paladins handed Clemson losses by scores of 20-13 and 14-11. Clemson has won 28 games in a row in the series, with the last Furman win coming in 1984 by a 9-7 score. Head Coach Jack Leggett is 9-0 against the Paladins as the Tiger skipper, including an 8-0 record at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Clemson holds a 151-103-2 advantage against South Carolina in the series dating back to 1899. Leggett is 16-12 against the Gamecocks as the Tiger skipper, including a 9-5 record at Sarge Frye Field. Leggett also sports a 49-22 (.690) record against SEC teams, including a 17-13 record on SEC opponents' home fields. In his ninth season at Clemson, Leggett has 99 wins over teams ranked in the top 25. Clemson has won two of the three games this season against South Carolina. Clemson won in Columbia on March 2 by a 9-7 score. Michael Johnson has four homers and seven RBIs against the Gamecocks this year, while Khalil Greene is 7-for-12 (.583) with two homers and four RBIs.
The Paladins will start senior righthander Brian Corcoran (1-2, 4.50 ERA) on the mound Tuesday. Corcoran has made 15 relief appearances in 2002, but has yet to make a start. The Tigers will counter with sophomore righthander Steven Jackson (4-1, 5.67 ERA). South Carolina will start junior lefty Steven Bondurant (5-1, 2.95 ERA), while Clemson will start junior righty Matt Henrie (8-1, 2.17 ERA).
Furman, who is 6-6 on the road this year, is coming off two wins in three games at Wofford this past weekend. Furman has actually won four of its last five games. The Paladins are hitting .321, led by Craig Caudill, who is hitting .409. Derek Norman leads the team in the power department, hitting seven homers with 32 RBIs. Furman has committed 80 errors in 40 games. It also has a 5.37 team ERA.
South Carolina, who is 22-4 at home this year, is coming off two wins in three games against Louisiana State. The Gamecocks have won seven of their last eight games. Yaron Peters leads South Carolina, who is hitting .324 as a team, with a .394 batting average, including 15 homers and 58 RBIs. Drew Meyer leads the team with 25 steals. The Gamecocks have committed just 37 errors in 40 games for an outstanding .976 fielding percentage. The Gamecocks also have a 3.75 ERA.
Clemson, who is coming off a three-game sweep of Duke, is hitting .334, led by Khalil Greene at .444. Greene set the all-time Tiger record for hits against Duke and has 340 in his career. The trio of Jeff Baker, Greene, and Michael Johnson have combined for 43 homers and 147 RBIs. Clemson sports a .973 fielding percentage and a 3.66 ERA as well.
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