Tigers Drop ACC Tournament Opener |
SALEM, VA - Two Clemson errors cost the Tigers seven runs in a 10-2 North Carolina win over #17 Clemson (38-19) in the first round of the ACC Tournament at Salem Memorial Stadium Thursday. The game was scheduled for Wednesday, but the threat of inclement weather suspended all four games.
Tar Heel lefty starter Daniel Moore (7-2) earned his second win of the season over the Tigers, pitching 8.0 innings, allowing two runs on seven hit while striking out six. Tiger starter Steven Jackson (7-3) suffered the loss. Tar Heel pitchers held Clemson to just one hit in 12 at bats with runners on base, while Tar Heel hitters were 9-for-20 in that situation. Clemson took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Brad McCann hit a base hit up the middle to plate Garrick Evans. Evans singled down the right-field line to start the inning. McCann's single extended his hitting streak to 16 games. Freshman Blair Waggett, the #9 hitter in the order, tied the score 1-1 when he hit the first pitch of the third inning over the left-field fence. It was Waggett's first home run. Two batters later, Chad Prosser reached on an infield single and Jeremy Cleveland was save on a fielding error by second-baseman David Slevin on a potential inning-ending double play grounder. Sean Farrell then brought home Prosser on a single through the left side. Sammy Hewitt then gave the Tar Heels (38-19) a 4-1 lead when he tripled to right-center, plating Cleveland and Farrell. Ryan Blake added another run when Ryan Blake singled to right-center, scoring Hewitt. North Carolina tacked on three more runs in the fifth inning. With runners on first and second, Waggett hit a slow-roller to McCann at third. His throw to first to first was errant, allowing two runners to score. Greg Mangum followed with an RBI bunt single, give the Tar Heels an 8-1 lead. Evans, a native of Burke, VA, cut into the Tar Heel lead when he led off the bottom of the fifth with a long home run down the left-field line, his second of the season. Hewitt added an insurance run for the Tar Heels when he hit an opposite-field homer to right field, his 10th of the season, in the seventh inning. Farrell gave North Carolina a double-digit run total when he singled up the middle, scoring Jeremy Cleveland. Cleveland hit a one-out double off the wall in left field. Slevin extended his hitting streak 19 games with a fourth-inning single. Clemson will play the Duke-Florida State loser Friday at 10:00 AM at Salem Memorial Stadium. Quotes North Carolina Head Coach Mike Fox: We beat a good Clemson team today, a team that had been hot coming in and won a lot of league games. We had been struggling a little bit but that is the great thing about tournaments. We told our team that this morning - things can turn around very quickly. We played exceptionally well in all three phases of the game, starting on the mound with Daniel (Moore), we swung the bat well and played good defense in the conditions on the wet field. We did a lot of nice things today. We took advantage of the error in the third inning, it should have been a double play ball. We were able to score some runs and get a good lead. But it all starts on the mound and Daniel gave up a run, but as he had showed in the past he gets stronger as the game goes on and he shut down a very good Clemson team. I am very proud of our team. North Carolina Pitcher Daniel Moore (On playing Clemson today and last week) In that game we scored runs early as well. When you can do that, it takes a lot of pressure off the pitcher. Clemson is a good hitting ball club but if you can get a 6 or 7 run lead and you can throw strikes, and then you can win a game. That is what I tried to do today after we had that big third inning. (On getting up early in preparation for games) It’s tough, but at the same time, the other team is going through the same thing. You can’t really feel bad for yourself because the other team is doing the same thing. We have had rain delays almost every time I have pitched this season and it is just something that you have to get used to. You have to be able to get ready in a hurry. Having the experience of going through that a few times this season really helped us out today. North Carolina third baseman Sammy Hewitt (On his game) Blair (Waggett) started it off with that homerun, once that broke the ice and picked everyone up. Once we hit the ball around the ballpark it got everyone’s emotions up and we started putting things together. Down the stretch we have been missing the big hits when we have really needed them late in the game. We just showed that we could do that today. Clemson Head Coach Jack Leggett: I thought we were ready to play. We started the game the way we wanted to and scratched a run in the first inning, but after that, their big inning in the third came back to bite us. North Carolina is not a good team to play from behind, because they bunt so well and hit the ball and get it in play with two strikes. They put pressure on us and we didn’t play great defense. We had some opportunities, but we didn’t come up with the big hits. On whether the delay of today’s game played a factor in the outcome: It was the same for both teams, so that is not an excuse. You just don’t know what to expect when you are sitting around, but I thought we were ready to go and the players were ready to play. I thought Steven (Jackson) had good velocity on his fast ball. He had a little trouble locating his other two pitches and that caused a problem. Clemson 2B David Slevin on fumbled plays and the game: We can’t blame it on the field conditions. I should have made the play. It was a routine ground ball that came up on me. I just lost concentration. I think we need to play more solid in all aspects of the game tomorrow. Especially against lefties, we need to stay back and hit the ball to the right side of the field and play better defense.
North Carolina 10 (38-19)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Mangum, Greg 2b.......... 5 0 1 1 1 1 4 3 2
Prosser, Chad ss......... 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 0
Cleveland, Jeremy rf..... 5 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
Farrell, Sean lf......... 5 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 1
Hewitt, Sammy 3b......... 5 2 3 3 0 0 2 3 0
Blake, Ryan 1b........... 4 1 3 1 1 0 8 1 0
Iannetta, Chris c........ 5 0 2 0 0 1 8 1 2
Moyer, Wes dh............ 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 2
Waggett, Blair cf........ 5 2 2 1 0 2 3 0 2
Moore, Daniel p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brower, Kevin p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 40 10 15 8 4 5 27 10 9
Clemson 2 (38-19)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Evans, Garrick dh........ 4 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
Demmink, Herman ph...... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Triplett, Russell ss..... 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 0
Johnson, Michael 1b...... 3 0 1 0 0 1 10 0 0
McCann, Brad 3b.......... 4 0 1 1 0 1 1 3 1
Frank, Kyle cf........... 4 0 1 0 0 1 6 0 2
Slevin, David 2b......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 0
Hourigan, Jeff lf........ 3 0 1 0 1 2 2 0 1
Hub, Ryan rf............. 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
Green, Zane ph.......... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Pyzik, Steve c........... 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 4
Mahoney, Collin ph...... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jackson, Steven p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Berken, Jason p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cribb, Josh p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Harvey, Kris p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 31 2 7 2 3 8 27 11 8
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
North Carolina...... 005 030 110 - 10 15 0
Clemson............. 100 010 000 - 2 7 2
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E - McCANN(15); SLEVIN(6). DP - N. Carolina 1.
LOB - N. Carolina 9; Clemson 8. 2B - CLEVELAND(18).
3B - HEWITT(3). HR - HEWITT(10); WAGGETT(1);
EVANS(2). HBP - JOHNSON. SH - PROSSER(5); MOYER(1);
TRIPLETT(3); HUB(3). CS - MANGUM(5).
North Carolina IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Moore, Daniel....... 8.0 7 2 2 3 6 28 34
Brower, Kevin....... 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 3 3
Clemson IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Jackson, Steven..... 4.2 8 7 5 3 2 22 26
Berken, Jason....... 1.1 2 1 0 0 0 5 5
Cribb, Josh......... 2.0 5 2 2 1 2 10 12
Harvey, Kris........ 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 3 3
Win - MOORE (6-2). Loss - JACKSON (7-3). Save - None.
WP - JACKSON(2). HBP - by MOORE (JOHNSON).
BK - JACKSON(5); CRIBB(1).
Umpires - HP: Scott Graham 1B: Henry Stancil
2B: David Savage 3B: A.J.
Lostaglio Start: 10:00 AM Time: 2:37 Attendance:
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