Omaha Bound! |
CLEMSON, SC -- If Clemson coach Jack Leggett is a superstitious man, he'll visit
the mound during the second inning of every game in the College World Series. For the second straight night against Mississippi State, Leggett took out his starting pitcher in the second inning - this time it was Scott Berney - and both times it worked like a charm. After trailing early to the Bulldogs, Clemson's pitching settled down and the Tigers defeated Mississippi State 9-4 Saturday night to earn a trip to the College World Series. "We told them and promised them before the season started that we would get them to the college world series and that's a tremendous burden," said Leggett, who is taking his third Clemson team to the College World Series. "The key was when we were behind early, we didn't panic." Clemson swept the super regional against the Bulldogs in front of 6,392 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium and will play in its ninth CWS starting next Friday. Clemson's Steve Reba relieved Berney with one out in the second and gave up two runs over the next 4 2/3 innings. Nick Glaser didn't give up a run over the final three innings and made a defensive play that kept MSU from getting back in the game. He threw his glove up to stop a line drive by Ryan McGrath for the third out in the seventh with the bases loaded and two out. "It was a huge factor in the game," said MSU coach Pat McMahon. "It could have been 8-6 if the ball gets through." MSU took a 2-0 lead in the first. Berney gave up a double to Shane Kelley and a single to Phillip Willingham to start the game. Travis Chapman drove in Kelly with a single and Willingham scored on a groundout. Clemson tied the game in the second. Khalil Greene walked with the bases loaded to bring Bradley LeCroy home. The next batter, Jeff Baker, hit a ball that shortstop Matthew Maniscalco misplayed. The error allowed Casey Stone to score and tie the game 2-2. Clemson scored three in the third and two in the fourth to take a 7-2 lead against MSU starter Mark Freed. Singles by Brian Ellis and Patrick Boyd drove in two runs while an error by MSU first baseman Jon Knott accounted for another. In the firth, LeCroy's double drove in Mike Calitri and another single by Ellis drove in Calitri. MSU added a run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Tigers added another run in the seventh when Calitri was hit by a pitch and then driven in on a single by LeCroy to give Clemson an 8-3 lead. "Offensively, I was very pleased with the way we hung in there against a pretty tough lefthander (MSU's Mark Freed)," said Leggett. We made some good adjustments and put the ball in play. I thought we put pressure on them all weekend long with the way we hustled and the way we ran the bases." The Bulldogs' most serious threat came in the bottom of the seventh. MSU scored one run and then loaded the bases against Nick Glaser, who came in for Reba after he gave up a single to Willingham to lead off the inning. With the bases full, Glaser threw three balls to Ryan McGrath before he ran the count full. McGrath fouled off two pitches and then sent the line drive straight back at Glaser's head. Glaser threw his glove up to catch the ball for the third out. Clemson added a run in the ninth and Glaser shut down MSU the rest of the way. MULTIMEDIA + Tigers celebrate going to Omaha (Unedited, MPEG 600K) + Leggett on the line drive caught with bases loaded (MPEG 900K) + Steve Reba on coming in the game early (MPEG 400K) BOXSCORE
Clemson at Mississippi State
Jun 03, 2000 at Clemson, SC (Kingsmore Stadium)
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