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Virginia Baseball Drops Doubleheader Against Clemson
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May 12, 2001
CLEMSON, S.C. – The University of Virginia baseball team dropped an ACCdoubleheader to the Clemson Tigers this afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.UVa fell by the score of 8-1 in the first game before being routed by thecount of 17-1 in the second contest. The Cavaliers were close in bothcontests for a short while after closing to 2-1 through three and a halfinnings of play in game on, and UVa held a brief 1-0 lead in game two beforethe Tigers took complete control.
In the first game of the doubleheader, Clemson jumped out to an early 1-0lead in the bottom of the second inning when Ryan Riley hit a bases loadedsingle on a RBI-bunt that scored Michael Johnson. The Tigers extended theirlead to 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning when Khalil Greene hit a solohome run to left field.
Virginia cut Clemson’s lead to 2-1 in the top of the fourth inning whenHunter Wyant (2-4, run) singled and then scored a run in UVa’s next at-batwhen Jon Benick (1-4, RBI) doubled down the right field line. However, theTigers responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half of theinning after Greene hit a two-run single to left field that scored SethMiller and Riley before Chad Coder scored Jeff Baker with an infield singleto make it a 5-1 contest.
Clemson added two more runs to its lead and pulled out to a 7-1 advantage inthe bottom of the sixth inning when Coder scored a run on an RBI-single byMiller before Kyle Frank hit an RBI-double to center field to score Johnson.The Tigers took an 8-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning when Greenedoubled to center field to score Baker, which seal the game for a Clemsonvictory.
UVa’s Brandon Creswell (7-3) took the loss after going 5.0 innings andallowing five runs on 10 hits with two strikeouts. Clemson’s Steve Rebaimproved to 10-3 on the season after going 7.0 innings and allowing only onerun on six hits with a game-high seven strikeouts.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Virginia jumped out to a 1-0 lead inthe top of the first inning when David Stone (2-3, run) singled to left,stole second and third bases, and then scored a run on an RBI-groundout byWyant. But UVa’s lead was short-lived, as Clemson erupted for five firstinning runs to pull out to a 5-1 advantage, keyed by a two-run home run toright field by Johnson.
Clemson added another run in the bottom of the second inning when Greenescored Riley with an RBI-sacrifice fly to center field to make it a 6-1 lead. The Tigers extended their lead to 8-1 in the bottom of the third inning whenCasey Stone hit a two-run, RBI-double down the right field line to scoreJarrod Schmidt and Riley.
As was the case in the first inning, Clemson erupted for another big inning,this time a seven-run scoring output in the bottom of the fourth inninghighlighted by a three-run, home run by Green to put the Tigers ahead by thescore of 15-1 through just four innings of play. Clemson tacked on anotherrun in the bottom of the fifth inning when Jon Smith scored a run on anRBI-fielders choice by Ryan Klosterman to make it a 16-1 ball game.
The Tigers kept the scoring coming in the bottom of the sixth inning whenJohnson led off the inning with a solo home run to left field, pushingClemson’s lead to 17-1. Johnson’s home run was his second of the game andmarked the sixth consecutive inning of the game that the Tigers scored a run.
UVa’s starting pitcher Canon Hickman (3-6) took the loss after lasting just3.o innings. He surrendered eight runs (three earned) on eight hits with astrikeout. Clemson’s Jarrod Schmidt (6-3) earned the win after pitching 5.0innings and allowing just one run after scattering three hits with agame-high four strikeouts.
With the two losses, Virginia’s record falls to 24-28 overall, 9-14 in theACC. The two victories improve Clemson’s record to 36-18 overall, 16-7 inthe conference.
The Cavaliers and Tigers will return to action on Sunday, May 13th at 2:00p.m. to play the final game of the three-game series. The contest will beplayed at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.