Tigers Move Up in Baseball Polls |
CLEMSON BASEBALL WEEKLY WRAPUP
(Week of Mar. 27 - Apr. 2, 2006) Overall Season Record: 20-7 ACC Regular-Season Record: 6-3 Last Week: 4-1 Tue. L away vs. #19 Georgia, 12-11 (10 innings) Wed. W home vs. #19 Georgia, 10-7 Fri. W away vs. #11 Miami (FL), 8-6 Sat. W away vs. #11 Miami (FL), 6-2 Sun. W away vs. #11 Miami (FL), 14-1 Next Week Tue. Home vs. Western Carolina, 7:15 PM Wed. Away vs. South Carolina, 7:00 PM Fri. Home vs. Maryland, 7:15 PM Sat. Home vs. Maryland, 4:00 PM Sun. Home vs. Maryland, 1:00 PM Notes Clemson went 4-1 last week in five games against teams that were ranked in the top 20. Four of the five games were on the road as well. The Tigers split a midweek, home-and-home series with #19 Georgia, then swept #11 Miami in Coral Gables by a combined score of 28-9 in three games. On Tuesday, #19 Georgia rallied for a 12-11 win in 10 innings after the Tigers committed four costly errors that led to four unearned runs. Clemson hit four homers, including two by Andy D'Alessio, but fell short when Josh Morris lined a walkoff single in the 10th inning. The following night, Clemson outlasted the Bulldogs 10-7 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. D'Alessio went 2-for-4 with three RBIs to lead Clemson's 13-hit attack. At Miami on Friday, the Tiger bullpen came through with a stellar performance in Clemson's 8-6 win over the #11 Hurricanes. Three relievers combined to allow just two runs in 6.2 innings pitched. D'Alessio hit two doubles with three RBIs. In game two on Saturday, D'Alessio hit two homers with three RBIs in Clemson's 6-2 victory. Jason Berken pitched 6.2 innings and did not allow an earned run to record the victory. In game three on Sunday, Clemson exploded for eight runs in the first inning on its way to a 14-1 win. The Tigers had 15 hits and put the game away early thanks in part to Adrian Casanova's three-run homer in the first inning. Stephen Faris pitched 6.0 innings of three-hit ball to earn the win. Casanova, a native of Miami, FL, hit two homers with six RBIs in the Miami series after entering the series with just one long ball, while D'Alessio added three doubles, two home runs, and nine RBIs. The Tigers scored 10 combined runs in the first innings of the series, one more run than Miami scored in the entire series in 27 innings. Also, Tiger pitchers allowed just two total runs after the third inning all series. Clemson out-hit Miami .304 to .211 and had 14 extra-base hits to the Hurricanes' four. The Tiger pitching staff allowed just 20 hits and four earned runs in 27.0 innings pitched (1.33 ERA). Miami's starting weekend rotation entered the series with a combined record of 17-2, but all three suffered losses. Clemson upped its winning streak to seven games over the Hurricanes, including four wins in four games last year and three wins this season. The Tigers have outscored Miami 67-19 in those seven games since it joined the ACC in 2005. Also since joining the ACC, Miami has been swept just twice in 14 ACC series. Both of those sweeps have come at the hands of the Tigers. In five games during the week, D'Alessio was 11-for-21 (.524) with four doubles, four homers, and 16 RBIs against two nationally-ranked teams. The team hit .332, while the pitchers had a 3.74 ERA. Clemson ran its ACC winning streak to six games after sweeping Miami. The Tigers are 20-7 overall and 6-3 in conference play, and improved to 10-3 against top-25 ranked teams. In the last two weeks, Clemson was 9-1, including each of the last eight games coming against teams ranked in the top 25, while the other two wins came again a quality opponent in Elon. Overall in 2006, Clemson is hitting .291 with a .372 on-base percentage. Tyler Colvin leads the club with a .357 batting average, six homers, and 24 RBIs. D'Alessio has increased his average to .343 with 10 doubles, nine homers, and 37 RBIs thanks to totaling four doubles, seven homers, and 26 RBIs in the last 10 games. The pitching staff's season ERA stands at 2.89 with a .236 opponents' batting average. Both lefty Daniel Moskos and righty Steve Richard have four saves. Faris is 3-0 with a 1.79 ERA and 38 strikeouts against only seven walks in 45.1 innings pitched. Jason Berken (2.00) and Josh Cribb (2.25) also sport solid ERAs. That weekend rotation has combined for a 12-2 record, 1.99 ERA, and 104 strikeouts against just 33 walks and two homers allowed in 113.3 innings pitched this season. Clemson will play host to Western Carolina on Tuesday night before traveling to Columbia, SC to play at red-hot South Carolina on Wednesday night. The Tigers will then welcome Maryland to Doug Kingsmore Stadium for a three-game series starting Friday. SOUTH CAROLINA NO. 1 IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL NEWSPAPER (www.baseballnews.com) POLL TUCSON, Ariz. — South Carolina (26-3) has been ranked No. 1 for the first time this season in Collegiate Baseball newspaper’s poll of NCAA Division I baseball. The Gamecocks, which swept a 3-game series over the past weekend at Louisiana St., have won nine straight games and lead the Southeastern Conference with an 8-1 record. South Carolina has been consistent defensively with 17 errorless games this season, including eight games without an error during the 9-game winning streak. Florida St., ranked No. 1 for the previous three weeks, lost two of three games at North Carolina and fell to fourth this week. The top four teams from a week ago (Florida St., Mississippi St., Nebraska and Georgia Tech.) each lost two games during the past week. This was another reason South Carolina was able to jump from fifth to No. 1 this week. Poll Notes: Eleven teams in last week's poll struggled with three or more losses. A huge shift in the poll took place as a record seven teams fell out of the top 30 this week, including Wichita St. (1-4 last week), Georgia (1-4), Baylor (3-2), James Madison (0-5), Washington St. (1-3), Missouri (1-3), and Tulane (1-3). However, there were still some lengthy win streaks. Old Dominion swept a 3-game series against James Madison and has now won 18 straight, Cal. St. Fullerton seven in a row, Rice 6 consecutive, College of Charleston 11 of its last 13, Fresno St. 17 of its last 18 and Ohio St. 13 of its last 15. The Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1957 college baseball season. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's NCAA Div. I Poll (As of April 3, 2006)
Rank School (Record) Points Previous
"LOUISVILLE SLUGGER'S" NATIONAL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
RHP Mickey Storey, Florida Atlantic: Storey threw Florida Atlantic's first no-hitter since 1994 in a 2-0 win over Campbell. He faced only two over the minimum with a walk and a hit batter. Storey was one strikeout shy of his career-high 11 strikeouts.
RHP Tim Lincecum, Washington: Lincecum struck out a career-high 18 batters in a nine-inning complete game victory over UCLA, 5-0. He struck out the first seven batters in order to open the game and only allowed two hits with one walk. He was so dominant that only two balls even left the infield.
RHP Daniel Fournier, Franklin Pierce: Fournier tossed the fourth no-hitter in school history during an 8-1 victory over Southern Connecticut and struck out a career-high 18 batters.
1B Allan Dykstra, Wake Forest: Dykstra had one of the greatest offensive weeks in Wake Forest history as he belted 5 home runs with 11 RBI as he went 11-for-14 at the plate in four games. He also added three doubles, scored 8 runs and drew five walks.
1B Andy D’Alessio, Clemson: D’Alessio also had a huge week with 4 homers and 16 RBI over five games. He went 11-for-21 with four doubles and a 1.286 slugging percentage. Four of the five games were on the road and all five were against teams ranked in the top 20 (two against Georgia and three against Miami).
Baseball America Top 25
DURHAM, N.C. -- Baseball America's weekly college baseball rankings experienced a major shakeup with seven new teams entering the Top 25 and Cal State Fullerton taking over at No. 1. The Titans have 15 of their last 16 games.
Mississippi State fell from No. 1 to No. 3 after losing its first series of the year. Alabama knocked the Bulldogs out of the top spot and enters the Top 25 for the first time this year at No. 14.
Old Dominion is 29-3 and has won 18 straight games, tying Mississippi State for the longest winning streak of the season. The Monarchs make their first appearance in the Top 25 since May 1996 at No. 15.
Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and Creighton round out a group of five teams making
their 2006 debut in the rankings. No. 16 Vanderbilt hasnít been ranked since April 2005, No. 20 Wake Forest hasn't been ranked since April 2003, and No. 21 Creighton hasn't been ranked since March 2000.
No. 17 North Carolina State and No. 24 Kansas both returned to the Top 25 after previous rankings this season.
The staff of Baseball America determines the Top 25 rankings. Records indicated are through games of April 2 and do not include ties.
Team W-L 1. Cal State Fullerton 24-7 2. South Carolina 26-3 3. Mississippi State 22-3 4. Rice 24-8 5. North Carolina 23-6 6. Florida State 27-4 7. Clemson 20-7 8. Nebraska 20-5 9. Texas 21-11 10. Georgia Tech 22-6 11. Oregon State 19-8 12. Arkansas 23-6 13. Arizona State 23-9 14. Alabama 22-9 15. Old Dominion 29-3 16. Vanderbilt 19-9 17. North Carolina State 25-8 18. Tulane 18-12 19. Oklahoma 21-9 20. Wake Forest 23-7 21. Creighton 18-6 22. Pepperdine 20-13 23. Kentucky 22-7 24. Kansas 18-11 25. Winthrop 23-7
Dropped Out: Florida (15), Louisiana State (16), Wichita State (17), Tennessee (21), Georgia (22), Virginia (23), Miami (25).
USA TODAY/ESPN TOP 25 COACHES’ POLL — 4/3/2006
The Sports Weekly/ESPN Top 25 College Coaches’ Poll as selected by 36 Division I coaches representing the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Last 1st place
Rank School (record) Points rank votes
1. Cal State Fullerton (24-7) 849 4 16
2. South Carolina (26-3) 845 6 14
3. Florida State (27-4) 770 1 2
4. Rice (24-8) 762 8 2
5. Mississippi State (22-3) 741 2 0
6. North Carolina (23-6) 701 7 1
7. Clemson (20-7) 690 9 1
8. Nebraska (20-5) 677 5 0
9. Georgia Tech (22-6) 636 3 0
10. Texas (21-11) 549 11 0
11. Arkansas (23-6) 519 12 0
12. Arizona State (23-9) 513 10 0
13. North Carolina State (25-8) 448 17 0
14. Oregon State (19-8) 442 15 0
15. Alabama (22-9) 370 23 0
16. Oklahoma (21-9) 277 14 0
17. Miami (Fla.) (23-10) 227 13 0
18. Virginia (24-8) 169 18 0
19. Florida (19-13) 146 20 0
20. Old Dominion (29-3) 113 nr 0
21. Louisiana State (20-10) 102 16 0
22. Baylor (19-10) 101 25 0
23. Vanderbilt (19-9) 95 nr 0
23. College of Charleston (23-6) 94 nr 0
25. Wake Forest (23-7) 92 nr 0
Dropped out:
No. 19 Wichita State, No. 21 Georgia, No. 22 Tennessee, No. 24 Tulane.
Others receiving votes:
Wichita State 79; Fresno State 77; Tulane 62; Hawaii 60; Southern California 57; Tennessee 53;
Mississippi 48; Georgia 44; Texas Tech 35; Kentucky 34; Kansas 33; Notre Dame 30; Creighton 28;
Oklahoma State 23; Pepperdine 22; San Diego 14; Washington 13; Kansas State 12; St. John‘s 6; UC-Irvine 6; West Virginia 6; Gonzaga 5; Purdue 5; Winthrop 5; Jacksonville 4; Missouri 3; Florida
International 2; Houston 2; Ohio State 2; Dallas Baptist 1; Southern Mississippi
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