Clemson Baseball Earns 18th Straight NCAA Tourney Bid |
Tigers Earn #2 Seed at Athens Regional
Clemson (36-24), ranked as high as #22, received a #2 seed at the Athens (GA) Regional to be played June 4-6 at Foley Field. The Tigers will play #3-seed and Birmingham-Southern (46-16) Friday at 7:00 PM EDT. Top-seed and host Georgia (38-20) will play Middle Tennessee (40-20) Friday at 3:00 PM. The two losers will play Saturday at 11:00 AM, while the two winners will play Saturday at 3:00 PM. The winner of the second game Saturday will play in the championship round Sunday at 2:00 PM, while the loser of the second game Saturday will play the winner of the first game Saturday at 7:00 PM. If the unbeaten team loses Sunday, there will be another game 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game Sunday to determine the regional champion. The winner of the Athens Regional will play the winner of the Atlanta (GA) Regional from June 11-13 at a site to be determined.
Comparison of Athens Regional Teams
Clemson's NCAA Tournament History
The 2004 season marks Clemson's 30th trip to an NCAA Regional dating back to the 1947 season. That year, Clemson actually advanced to the Final Eight of the NCAA Tournament, but it is not considered a College World Series season because only two teams went to the CWS in those days.
Clemson won the 1947 District III Tournament in Charlotte by coming through the losers bracket. The Tigers, coached by Randy Hinson, lost in the first round to Alabama 8-2, then came back with a win over Auburn and two wins over Alabama to advance. Clemson's season ended when a Yale team, led by future President George Bush, defeated the Tigers in New Haven, CT, 7-3. Bush was 1-for-3 as the starting first baseman.
Clemson made its first trip to the College World Series in 1958 when the Tigers again came through the losers bracket. After losing to Florida in the first round, Clemson came back to defeat George Washington, Florida State, and Florida twice to advance under first year coach Bill Wilhelm. Clemson defeated Florida 15-14 and 3-1 on June 9 to advance. Harold Stowe struck out 17 in that second game on June 9 and that is still a Clemson single-game record for strikeouts in an NCAA Tournament game.
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The Tigers advanced to the CWS in 1959, this time with three easy wins; one over Georgia Tech and two over Florida State. One of the wins over the Seminoles was a 24-2 victory in Gastonia, NC. That tally is still tied for the most runs scored by Clemson in an NCAA Tourney game.
The Tigers did not advance to Omaha again until 1976. In fact, Clemson made just one NCAA Tournament appearance between 1960 and 1974. That was in 1967 when Clemson reached the Regional Championship, but lost to Auburn 6-5.
Clemson made it to Omaha three out of five years between 1976-80. Clemson won a regional in Columbia, SC in 1976 with three straight wins, then came through the losers bracket in Miami (FL) in 1977 to advance to Omaha. The 1980 season was the first year Clemson played host to a regional, as Clemson swept three games by scoring 45 runs, including 17 in a 17-12 win over South Carolina.
Clemson has been to the NCAA Tournament every year since 1987, making College World Series trips in 1991, 1995, 1996, 2000, and 2002. Clemson's streak of 18 consecutive regionals is the third-longest active streak in the nation behind Miami (FL) (32) and Florida State (28). Clemson's streak is also tied for the fourth-longest in college baseball history.
Consecutive Years in Regionals to Date
Rk School App.
1. Miami (FL) 32
2. Florida State 27
3. Clemson 18
4. Louisiana State 17
5. Cal. State-Fullerton 14
6. Stanford 12
7. Rice 11
All-Time Consecutive Regional Appearances
Rk School App. Years
1. Miami (FL) 32 1973-04
2. Florida State 27 1978-04
3. Oklahoma State 19 1981-99
4. Texas 18 1979-96
5. Clemson 18 1987-04
6. Northern Colorado 15 1952-66
7. Georgia Tech 14 1985-98
Wichita State 14 1987-00
All-Time Regional Appearances
Rk School App.
1. Texas 48
2. Florida State 42
3. So California 35
4. Miami (FL) 33
Oklahoma State 33
6. Clemson 30
7. Saint John's 28
Overall, Clemson has been to a regional in 30 seasons (including 2004), sixth-best all-time. Clemson's all-time record in NCAA play is 81-62, a .566 winning percentage.
Clemson is 36-22 (.621) under Head Coach Jack Leggett in NCAA Tournament play, including a 24-5 record in home NCAA Tournament games. Leggett has taken Clemson to a Regional all 11 years he has been Clemson's head coach, and the Tigers have advanced to the College World Series four times. Leggett has taken Clemson to the Super Regional four of the five years that format has been in existence.
Clemson's College World Series Seasons Year Site Record Clinch Win vs. CWS 1958 Gastonia, NC 4-1 Florida, 3-1 1-2 1959 Gastonia, NC 3-0 Florida State, 5-0 1-2 1976 Columbia, SC 3-0 Furman, 6-2 1-2 1977 Miami, FL 3-1 Miami (FL), 10-9 1-2 1980 Clemson, SC 3-0 S Carolina, 17-12 0-2 1991 Orono, ME 4-0 Maine, 13-5 0-2 1995 Clemson, SC 4-0 Alabama, 7-4 0-2 1996 Clemson, SC 4-0 Tennessee, 12-5 2-2 2000 Clemson, SC 5-0 Miss St, 9-4 1-2 2002 Clemson, SC 5-1 Arkansas, 7-4 2-2
Tiger NCAA Marks Held by Current Tigers
Two Tigers hold school records in the NCAA Tournament. In 2002, Zane Green hit six homers in 10 NCAA Tournament games, setting a new Tiger mark. Ironically, those are the only six homers of his career in 194 career games. Righthander Patrick Hogan also made five relief appearances in the 2002 tourney, tying the Clemson mark.
Clemson #17 in Unofficial RPI
The only rating system the NCAA uses to determine selections and seedings is the RPI, or the Ratings Percentage Index. Although the NCAA does not release its official RPI, Boyd Nation has come up with an RPI index that is all but the same as the official RPI. He uses numbers from previous seasons to verify his formulas.
In the May 31 release (listed at BoydsWorld.com), his RPI index has Clemson #17. The Tigers play one of the toughest schedules in the nation during the 2004 season. Clemson can thank a tough non-conference schedule for its high RPI ranking. Of the Tigers' 60 games, 36 have been against teams ranked in the top 35 of the RPI. The Tigers also have 18 wins against teams in the top 50 of the RPI. The RPI only counts games against Division I teams and is for games through May 30.
Boyd Nation's Unofficial RPI By Team Rk Team W-L Rating 1. Miami (FL) 44-11 .660 2. Texas 50-13 .645 3. Arizona State 40-16 .631 4. South Carolina 45-15 .628 5. Florida 40-20 .618 6. Florida State 42-20 .617 7. Louisiana State 41-17 .617 8. Mississippi 39-19 .614 9. Stanford 44-12 .614 10. Georgia Tech 41-19 .609 11. Georgia 38-20 .609 12. Arkansas 39-21 .608 13. Vanderbilt 42-17 .607 14. Rice 43-12 .606 15. East Carolina 48-11 .605 16. Virginia 42-13 .605 17. Clemson 36-24 .603 18. Texas A&M 39-19 .600 19. Notre Dame 46-10 .600 20. Cal. State-Ful 36-20 .597
Boyd Nation's Unofficial RPI By Conference
Rk Conference W-L Rating 1. Southeastern 426-239 .596 2. Big 12 339-218 .574 3. Pacific 10 273-193 .572 4. Atlantic Coast 285-199 .566 5. Big West 244-192 .543 Ranking Clemson's Opponents By RPI Rk Team *GP *W-L ^W-L Rating 4. South Carolina 4 2-2 45-15 .628 6. Florida State 3 1-2 42-20 .617 10. Georgia Tech 4 0-4 41-19 .609 11. Georgia 2 2-0 38-20 .609 15. East Carolina 2 0-2 48-11 .605 16. Virginia 3 0-3 42-13 .605 21. N.C. State 4 4-0 35-22 .596 30. Texas Tech 3 1-2 35-19 .581 33. North Carolina 5 3-2 41-19 .580 34. Auburn 3 1-2 32-24 .579 35. Central Florida 3 1-2 44-16 .579 39. Coastal Car 1 1-0 40-21 .572 46. College of Char 2 2-0 45-14 .559 67. Winthrop 1 1-0 37-23 .538 82. The Citadel 1 1-0 38-26 .523 85. Elon 2 1-1 31-28 .522 99. Georgia So 2 2-0 34-25 .517 124. Gardner-Webb 1 1-0 31-25 .505 131. Duke 3 2-1 25-31 .502 142. Charleston So 1 1-0 20-33 .495 148. Western Car 1 1-0 28-31 .492 168. Charlotte 1 0-1 20-32 .482 170. Wake Forest 3 3-0 17-33 .480 176. Furman 1 1-0 21-33 .477 186. Maryland 3 3-0 22-34 .473 201. Wofford 1 1-0 17-30 .461
* - head-to-head and through May 30;
^ - overall (against Division I teams only);
Note: There are 287 schools that play Division I baseball;
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