Clemson baseball finishes weekend 3-0

Jason Stolz (.222, 0 HR, 2 RBI) went 2-4 with 2 RBI and Jonathan Meyer (0-0, 0.00, 1 SV) finished off Furman with two scoreless innings to gain his first save as the Tigers (3-0) defeated the Paladins (0-3) 8-5 on Sunday.

Mike Freeman, Jeff Schaus and Kyle Parker also had two hits apeice for Clemson.

Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	SO	BB	Game Score
Brady	3.1	3	2	1	1	0	49

Dan Pepicelli named pitching coach

This is a few days old and it’s football season (isn’t it?) but I thought this may be worth a sentence or two.  Kyle Bunn took a patchwork staff without a superstar and turned them into a staff with the number 5 ERA in the country last year.  From all accounts Pepicelli is a good coach and a great guy, but he has his work cut out for him in replacing Bunn.

Tiger baseball loses Mounce

Man, the Tigers are taking hit after hit. Mounce didn’t do a whole lot last year, but you have to figure he was in the plans for 2010 considering the losses the Tigers have already had this offseason.

Pitching coach Kyle Bunn headed to Bama

This is a few days old, but it’s a huge loss.  In my opinion, Bunn had a ton to do with the Tigers having a top 5 ERA last year and will be sorely missed.

Add this to the loss of Dwyer, Stoneburner, and signee Madison Younginer and the Tigers have taken serious hits to their staff.

Tigers lose Dwyer and Younginer to pros

Chris Dwyer

It happens to most good college teams this time of year or earlier.  One or more of their top players sign with a big league club.  But, it doesn’t typically happen to a pitcher who just finished his freshman year.  Such is the case for Chris Dwyer and the Clemson Tigers. 

Dwyer had an up and down year for the Tigers, but there was never any question about his talent and that was proven true this week as he broke the record for a signing bonus for a 4th round pick.

Clemson signee Madison Younginer signed with the Boston Red Sox for $1 million after being selected in the 7th round and obviously won’t be playing for the Tigers.

Though I was looking forward to both of these guys playing for Clemson next year, when you sign good players these things are going to happen.  They happen all the time at the top schools across the country.  It’s painful in some respects, but a good sign in others.

Tigers go down with a whimper

An 8-2 loss at Arizona State ended Clemson’s (44-22) season on Sunday.  For the second straight game the Tigers took a lead only to see the Sun Devils rally in the next half inning and put the game away with timely hitting and smart play.

Clemson managed only four hits and struck out 10 times in Sunday’s game.  Chris Dwyer (5-6) took the loss for Clemson.  Jeff Schaus hit a home run in the 4th inning that gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead, but Arizona State answered with 5 runs in the top of the 5th and the game was never in doubt after that burst.

Tigers fall in game 1

A beautiful catch by centerfielder Jason Kipnis saved at least two runs and Arizona State added a couple more on the way to a 7-4 victory.

Backs against the wall, the Tigers (44-21) need to win tonight and tomorrow to advance to Omaha.

Box Score

Tigers climb off deck to advance

On the monkey bars of college baseball Clemson (44-20) had slipped off the top rung and busted their chin on the way down, falling behind 5-1 to Oklahoma State in the winner take all game at the Clemson Regional.

But for once the Tigers picked themselves up, rubbed their chin and got on with climbing back up. With two outs and no one on in the bottom of the 7th Matt Sanders reach on an error by Cowboy 3rd baseman Tyrone Hambly. Chris Epps followed by homering to left-center pulling the Tigers to within 5-3 and the Tigers scored once more before the inning was over to close the 7th at 5-4.

Kyle Parker’s two out two run single in the bottom of the 8th put the Tigers ahead for the first time and Matt Vaughn (4-1) made it hold up as the Tigers won 6-5.

It wasn’t a thing of beauty as the Tigers only tallied 6 hits, made 3 errors and starter Ryan Hinson only lasted 1+ innings.  Yet, some how, some way this team managed to pull it out and move on.

Tigers blast Oklahoma State to force final game

Clemson blasted Oklahoma State 15-1 on Sunday night to force a final game Monday evening in Clemson.

The Tigers pounded out 14 hits, including 4 each by Mike Freeman and Wilson Boyd, and Chris Dwyer (5-5) struck out 13 in 8.2 innings to earn the victory.

Box Score

Tigers still alive with 10-0 victory over Tenn Tech

Scott Weismann pitched 8 shut out innings and the Tiger bats came alive in a 10-0 victory over Tennessee Tech.

The Tigers tallied 14 hits, led by three by Chris Epps.  Epps and Ben Paulsen homered for the Tigers.  Paulsen led the Tigers with 3 RBI.

Next up, a rematch with Oklahoma State in an hour or so.