Tigers Rally Past Tech to Open CWS With A Win

Brad Chalk celebrates another run for the Tigers. Photo by Mark Crammer

by Dan Scott - Correspondent - Fri Jun 16 18:36:51 GMT-04:00 2006

OMAHA, Neb. - For seven inning Georgia Tech's Lee Hyde played Clemson's lineup like a finely-tuned violin.

But in the eighth the virtuoso broke a string, and the entire orchestra was banished from the concert hall.

Clemson scored eight runs off five different Yellow Jacket pitchers in the eighth inning Friday afternoon, rallying for an 8-4 victory in the opening round of the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The game was played before an announced crowd of 16,045 at Rosenblatt Stadium.

The Tigers (53-14) advance in the winner's bracket to Sunday's 7 p.m. game vs. North Carolina.

“It was a very tough ball game," said Clemson head coach Jack Leggett. "Give Georgia Tech credit, they are strong and keep coming at you. I thought our pitching was really good and we turned a couple big double plays. This team has confidence and showed their toughness.”

The explosion of offense in the eighth inning overshadowed Hyde's domination through the first seven innings. The Tech lefty had allowed just two hits heading into the eighth, and just three Clemson baserunners had made it into scoring position.

But Hyde walked Herman Demmink to lead off the eighth inning, then allowed an infield single to Brad Chalk. Hyde was then pulled from the game by Yellow Jacket head coach Danny Hall and replaced by Brad Rulon.

Rulon promptly gave up a two-run double to Marquez Smith to cut the lead to 4-2. Tyler Colvin followed with an infield single to put runners on first and third, and Smith subsequently scored on an errant pickoff throw by Tech's next pitcher, Ryan Turner. Turner had been trying to get Colvin at first, and on the play Colvin advanced all the way to third base.

Andy D'Alessio's homerun gave the Tigers a 6-4 lead. Photo by Mark Crammer

Turner (4-4) walked Taylor Harbin, then grooved a pitch to Andy D'Alessio that the Clemson first baseman deposited into the first row of seats in deep right-center field - into the teeth of a howling wind blowing out to left.

“It seems like we have been coming on strong late," said D'Alessio. "We were able to get to their bullpen and I was able to come up with a big hit.”

The three-run homer gave the Tigers a 6-4 lead. Later RBI singles from Adrian Casanova and Ben Hall made it 8-4.

The rally made a winner of freshman lefty Ryan Hinson (4-0), who pitched two scoreless innings of relief. Daniel Moskos closed out the game with a perfect ninth.

Lost in all the late-game heroics was another solid performance by Sean Clark.

Clark allowed four runs in six-plus innings, but kept the vaunted Tech offense at bay after a quick three-run outburst in the first inning. Jeff Kindel's two-run homer capped the uprising and gave the Yellow Jackets a 3-0 lead.

But Clark shut out Tech through the next five innings, getting stronger as he went along.

After allowing a walk and single to put runners at second and third in the top of the seventh inning, Clark was pulled in favor of Hinson. Hinson got Matt Wieters to ground into a double play that scored the run, but choked off any thoughts Georgia Tech had of a big inning.

"We were able to get something going late," said Leggett. "We have weapons, but they were quiet for a while. We were able to get men on and put some pressure on them. I think the most valuable lesson we have learned all year is that we are never out of a ball game until the final out.”

Tech (50-17) will play Cal St Fullerton at 2 p.m. Sunday. The loser of that game is eliminated from the College World Series.

Georgia Tech 4 (50-17)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB

------------------------------------------------------

Steven Blackwood cf...... 4 1 0 0 1 3 1 0 0

Wally Crancer rf......... 5 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0

Matt Wieters c........... 3 1 1 1 0 0 7 0 0

Jeff Kindel lf........... 4 1 2 2 0 0 4 0 3

Whit Robbins 3b.......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1

Luke Murton 1b........... 4 0 2 0 0 0 8 0 0

Wes Hodges dh............ 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1

Nick Scherer pr/dh...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Mike Trapani 2b.......... 3 0 0 0 1 0 3 4 1

Michael Fisher ss........ 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 1

Lee Hyde p............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0

Brad Rulon p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Ryan Turner p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Jared Hyatt p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Tim Ladd p.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals................... 33 4 8 3 3 5 24 10 7

Clemson 8 (53-14)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB

------------------------------------------------------

Herman Demmink dh........ 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

Ben Hall ph/dh.......... 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

Brad Chalk cf............ 4 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0

Marquez Smith 3b......... 3 1 1 2 2 1 0 1 0

Tyler Colvin lf.......... 5 1 2 0 0 1 3 0 3

Taylor Harbin 2b......... 3 1 0 0 1 2 1 4 2

Andy D'Alessio 1b........ 3 1 2 3 1 0 13 0 0

Stan Widmann ss.......... 3 0 0 0 1 0 3 3 0

D.J. Mitchell rf......... 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 1

Adrian Casanova c........ 4 1 1 1 0 2 5 0 2

Sean Clark p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

Ryan Hinson p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Daniel Moskos p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals................... 33 8 9 7 7 7 27 9 8

Score by Innings R H E

-------------------------------------------

Georgia Tech........ 300 000 100 - 4 8 1

Clemson............. 000 000 08X - 8 9 0

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E - TURNER(3). DP - Clemson 2. LOB - Georgia Tech 7; Clemson 8.

2B - CRANCER 2(11); M. SMITH(19); MITCHELL(3). HR - KINDEL(14);

D'ALESSIO(23). HBP - WIETERS; FISHER. SB - HALL(1); M. SMITH(5).

Georgia Tech IP H R ER BB SO AB BF

-----------------------------------------------

Lee Hyde............ 7.0 3 2 2 5 6 24 29

Brad Rulon.......... 0.0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1

Ryan Turner......... 0.0 2 3 3 1 0 2 3

Jared Hyatt......... 0.1 2 2 2 0 0 3 3

Tim Ladd............ 0.2 1 0 0 1 1 3 4

Clemson IP H R ER BB SO AB BF

-----------------------------------------------

Sean Clark.......... 6.0 7 4 4 2 3 25 29

Ryan Hinson......... 2.0 1 0 0 1 1 5 6

Daniel Moskos....... 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 3 3

Win - HINSON (4-0). Loss - TURNER (4-4). Save - None.

WP - LADD(2). HBP - by CLARK (FISHER); by CLARK (WIETERS).

PB - WIETERS(2).

Umpires - HP: Randy Bruns 1B: John Kleis 2B: Paul Guillie

3B: Tony Maners

Start: 1:08 Time: 2:44 Attendance: 16045

CLARK faced 2 batters in the 7th.

HYDE faced 2 batters in the 8th.

RULON faced 1 batter in the 8th.

TURNER faced 3 batters in the 8th.

NOTES

60th Men’s College World Series

Rosenblatt Stadium

Omaha, Nebraska

Game 1: #1 Clemson vs. #8 Georgia Tech

Friday, June 16, 2006

Two home runs in Friday’s first game makes 263 home runs in the 2006 NCAA Tournament in the 120th game of the tournament (an average of 2.18 HR/game)

Georgia Tech starter Lee Hyde became the first pitcher to shut out Clemson through the first six innings this season.

Clemson leftfielder Tyler Colvin’s first inning single extended his hitting streak to 26 games.

Clemson became the first team since Arizona in 1986 to come back to win after trailing by four or more runs through the first seven innings. (Arizona trailed Maine 7-1 through seven innings in game two of the 1986 MCWS).

Clemson’s eight-run eighth inning was the second straight game against Georgia Tech in which the Tigers had an inning with eight or more runs scored. Clemson also scored 10 runs in the ninth inning of in a 16-11 ACC Tournament semifinal win.

QUOTES

Georgia Tech Head Coach Danny Hall

(opening statement): “It was a good game for seven innings. (Starting pitcher) Lee Hyde pitched magnificently. It was good for us to step out early. I think the critical inning was (the 7th inning) when we had runners and first and third with no out and hit into a double play. That was good damage control by them. The big blow in the eighth was (Andy) D’Alessio’s home run, and we were very close to getting him struck out on a check swing. It was a tough inning for us. A disappointing loss.

(about the first blown save of the year): “The bullpen has been great all year. One of the reasons we’re here is our bullpen. We just didn’t execute the pitches we needed to in the 8th inning. We have tremendous confidence in our bullpen.”

Georgia Tech Starting Pitcher Lee Hyde

(about whether he was tired out there): “It was hot out there. I didn’t feel hot, but I think I was pitching on adrenaline from pitching in the College World Series.”

Clemson Head Coach Jack Leggett

(opening statement): “It was a very tough ball game. Give Georgia Tech credit, they are strong and keep coming at you. I thought our pitching was really good and we turned a couple big double plays. This team has confidence and showed their toughness.”

(about facing Georgia Tech): “We were able to get something going late. We have weapons, but they were quiet for a while. We were able to get men on and put some pressure on them. I think the most valuable lesson we have learned all year is that we are never out of a ball game until the final out.”

(about starting pitcher Sean Clark): “Once he got through the first inning, I thought he would settle in. They hit a couple good pitches in the first, but then he really calmed down.”

Clemson First Baseman Andy D’Alessio

(about overcoming a deficit): “It seems like we have been coming on strong late. We were able to get to their bullpen and I was able to come up with a big it.”

Clemson Designated Hitter Herman Demmink

(about getting to Georgia Tech’s bullpen): “We had faced Hyde a couple times this season. It seemed like all day he was throwing strikes. Even when he made mistakes, they were stills strikes. I felt I hit the ball well twice and Trapani made good plays. Anytime you can get a lefty out of the lineup, its always a plus.”