Clemson Baseball sweeps through Opening Weekend

Rather than waste time writing stories for each game, I'll just give you a short review of each and then go over the weekend below.

Game 1 - Clemson defeats Miami (Ohio) 11-0 (with box score)

Will Lamb made the start at 1B instead of talented Frosh Richie Shaffer, who took a ball off the eye in fielding practice this week, and went 4-4 with 3 R and 3 RBI and his first HR of the season, while Parker went 2-5 with a 3 run shot, and Jeff Schaus went 1-3 with 3 RBI.

Tiger pitchers threw a 2-hitter in the shutout. Casey Harman went 5IP, 1H, 1BB, and 3Ks and got his first win of 2010.

Game 2 - Clemson pounds Michigan State 10-2 in Greenville (with box score).

Mike Freeman went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs and his first HR of the year, to go with HRs from Wilson Boyd (3-5, 2R 2 RBI) and John Hinson (1-3, 3 RBI) in the rout. Tiger starter Scott Weismann got the win despite pitching only 4.2 innings, due to an obscure college rule that says that if you plan to send 3 pitchers out there in a game at the beginning, the starter can get the win without going 5. He struck out 6, with one walk and 6 hits allowed, and was taken out with 2 on and 2 outs in the 5th. Will Lamb took care of the last out and the bullpen gave up only 2 hits.

Game 3 - Clemson beats Furman 8-5 (with box score).

Clemson jumped out to a 7-2 lead and the bullpen held on to get RS Freshman Kevin Brady his first win, despite going only 3.1 innings (3.1   3H   2R   1ER   0BB   1K). Freeman led the Tigers by going 2-3 with two 2B, three R, one RBI, two BB, and two SB. Schaus went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs, and Stolz added two hits, including one of Clemson's five doubles, and two RBIs.

Cumulative Stats updated after every game.

Just a perfect weather weekend for baseball. The bats didnt need warm weather to heat up unlike last year, though we didnt face the strongest competition. For the weekend, Clemson outscored them 29-7. 

Freshman Richie Shaffer hit .429/.571/.600 (BA/SLG/OBP) in 2 starts and a PH appearance Friday afternoon, scoring 4 runs. Very encouraging thus far for him, we might have another Mike Johnson in the making. He's batting well down the lineup so far. Will Lamb filled in for him Friday at 1B and went 4-4, his only batting action of the weekend, and then pitched 2 1/3 scoreless Saturday and regularly hit the mid 90s on the gun.

We could have a battle on our hands at Catcher, with Nester struggling at the plate, which was his strength last year. He went 1-for-6, while Phil Pohl went 2-for-4 with 2 runs scored. Nester also saw action at 1B.

The 2-3-4 spots in the lineup lit them up this weekend. 2B Mike Freeman went .417/.917/.500, with 3 doubles, 1 HR and 5 RBI, with 2 steals; 11 total bases for the weekend for Freeman. RF/DH Kyle Parker went .417/.667/.533, with 1 HR and 5 RBI, while LF Jeff Schaus went .273/.364/.400, and driving in 5 runs. Leadoff hitter Chris Epps only went 1-for-9 but scored 3 runs and worked 3 walks.

As far as pitching, it was clearly Leggett's preference to take the starters out early and throw as many guys out there as possible to get the initial jitters out. 6 earned runs in 27 innings makes for an even 2.00 ERA, but we didnt face any great offensive teams, so I'll reserve opinion on anyone for later. Justin Sarratt pitched fine in middle relief against Miami, but choked against Furman. I felt like Weismann should've been left out there against Michigan State when he ran into the rough patch in the bottom of the 5th, but he may have been on a strict pitch count. I wanted to see if he could work himself out of it with a 4-2 lead. I would've liked it if Kevin Brady had been able to go 5 as well.

Clemson is off until starting a 3-game set at home against Wright State Friday at 4pm.