No. 14 Clemson Holds Off Maryland, 8-6

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COLLEGE PARK, Md.- The Maryland baseball team scored four times in the

ninth inning but it was not quite enough as No. 14 Clemson defeated the

Terps, 8-6, Friday afternoon at Shipley Field.

The Tigers improved to 12-5 overall and 1-0 in the ACC while Maryland

dropped to 5-10 on the year and 0-1 in the conference.

In the first ACC game of the season for both schools, it was Clemson

that got on the scoreboard first with one run in the top of the first

inning. Jeff Baker drove in Casey Stone to put the Tigers ahead 1-0 with

a RBI single to center field.

The Tigers added three more runs in the second. Clemson had three hits

in the inning, including a RBI single off the bat of Chad Coder. Baker

had the other big blow in the second with a two-out, two-run, single to

center, to give Clemson a 4-0 advantage.

Another run in the fourth made it 5-0 Clemson before the Terrapins

started to fight back. Kevin McDonald (Rockaway, N.J.) blasted a homerun

to center, to lead off the Maryland fourth, to close the Tiger lead to

5-1. The homer was the fifth this season for McDonald, which leads the

team.

McDonald kept his hot bat going in the sixth as he led off the inning

with a double down the left field line. Later in the inning, Sean Lomas

(Brewster, N.Y.) singled to center, scoring McDonald, to close the gap

to 5-2.

The Tigers scored three more times in the seventh to break the game

open. A pitch to start the seventh hit Khalil Greene and Baker brought

him home with a double down the left field line to score Clemson’s first

run of the inning. Baker had a fine day at the plate, finishing 3-for-5

with four RBIs. Steve Pyzik singled to right field later in the inning,

scoring two, to put the Tigers ahead 8-2.

The Terrapins would not go down without a fight, scoring four times in

the ninth inning. Clemson reliever B.J. LaMura walked the first two

batters in the inning and then gave up a towering double off the bat of

Chuck Easter (Baltimore, Md.), to cut the deficit to 8-3. McDonald then

came to the plate and knocked in his second run of the game, scoring

Brian Patenaude (Marietta, Ga.) on a RBI groundout, to make the score

8-4. John McCurdy (Crofton, Md.) reached on a throwing error by LaMura

later in the ninth, to score Easter, and bring the Terps to within

three, 8-5. Daryl Whitmer (Waldorf, Md.) followed with a RBI single to

center, scoring McCurdy, to close the lead to 8-6. With the tying run at

the plate, Ray Gemmill (Silver Spring, Md.) flied out to deep center, to

end the Maryland rally.

McDonald finished the afternoon 2-for-5 with two runs, two RBIs and he

extended his career-high hitting streak to 11 games. Easter also

finished with two hits, going 2-for-4 with a run and a RBI for the

Terrapins.

Clemson starter Steve Reba (4-0) was strong, pitching 5.1 innings and

allowing just two runs on five hits to pick up his fourth win of the

season. Maryland starting pitcher, Jared Stuart (Corning, N.Y.), worked

6.2 innings, yielding eight runs on nine hits to fall to 1-2.

The two teams will play the second game of the three-game set tomorrow

at 1:00 p.m. at Shipley Field.

Clemson University 8 (12-5,1-0 ACC)


Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A


Chad Coder cf.............  5  2  2  1    0  1  3  0


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


Khalil Greene ss..........  4  1  1  0    0  0  0  2


Jeff Baker 3b.............  5  0  3  4    0  0  0  5


Kyle Frank rf.............  4  0  0  0    0  2  2  0


Jarrod Schmidt dh.........  4  1  0  0    0  1  0  0


Michael Johnson 1b........  4  1  1  0    1  0 12  0


Ryan Riley 2b.............  3  1  1  0    2  0  5  2


Steve Pyzik c.............  5  1  2  2    0  0  2  0


 Seth Miller c............. 0  0  0  0    0  0  1  0


Steve Reba p..............  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0


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


 B.J. LaMura p............. 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0


Totals.................... 39  8 13  8    3  4 27  9


Maryland 6 (5-10,0-1 ACC)


Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A


Matt Swope cf.............  3  1  1  0    2  1  0  0


Brian Patenaude lf........  2  1  1  0    1  0  3  0


Chuck Easter rf/1b........  4  1  2  1    1  0  6  1


Kevin McDonald c..........  5  2  2  1    0  0  5  0


Steve Oursler 3b..........  5  0  0  0    0  2  0  3


Sean Lomas ss.............  4  0  1  1    0  0  3  4


 John McCurdy ss........... 1  1  0  0    0  0  1  0


Anthony Buffone 1b........  2  0  0  0    0  0  6  0


 Daryl Whitmer ph/rf....... 2  0  1  1    1  0  0  0


Ray Gemmill dh............  5  0  1  0    0  0  0  0


Jeremy Suarez 2b..........  4  0  1  0    0  0  2  1


Jared Stuart p............  0  0  0  0    0  0  1  2


 Matt Basinger p........... 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0


Totals.................... 37  6 10  4    5  3 27 11


Score by innings:                      R  H  E


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Clemson University    130 100 300   -  8 13  1


Maryland              000 101 004   -  6 10  1


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E - LAMURA(2), Lomas(4).


DP - Clemson 1, Maryland 1. LOB - Clemson 10, Maryland 11.


2B - STONE(5), BAKER(5), JOHNSON(2), Easter(6), McDonald(2), 


Suarez(1). 3B - CODER(1).


HR - McDonald(5).


SB - Patenaude(4).


SH - FRANK(1).


Clemson University     IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB BF


Steve Reba..........  5.1   5   2   2   1   2  21 24


Thomas Boozer.......  2.2   3   0   0   2   0  10 12


B.J. LaMura.........  1.0   2   4   2   2   1   6  8


Maryland               IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB BF


Jared Stuart........  6.2   9   8   6   2   2  29 34


Matt Basinger.......  2.1   4   0   0   1   2  10 11


Win - REBA 4-0.  Loss - Stuart 1-2.  Save - None.


HBP - by Stuart (SCHMIDT), by REBA (Patenaude), by REBA (Patenaude), by Stuart (GREENE).


Umpires - Home:Bryant Woodall  1st:Henry Stancil  3rd:Reid Churchill


Start: 3:02 PM   Time: 2:59   Attendance: 159

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