Tigers Complete Sweep of Maryland

The whole weekend was pretty encouraging offensively. We got the hits with RISP that we needed and the overall hitting that has disappeared for the last month. We did leave 15 men on base Saturday but still scored 12 runs. Will Lamb was certainly better than Chris Epps at leadoff, getting a hit in all 3 games and going 7-for-16 with 4 RBI and 6 runs scored. In fact the top of the lineup really ate up Maryland pitchers, and the entire top 5 batters all hit in each of the 3 games. Parker went 7-for-12 with 5 runs scored and 5 RBIs and hit his 17th homer on Sunday.

Unfortunately Weismann and Leone were both weak in their starts, but the bullpen was pretty good overall. Other than Kevin Brady's outing Friday it was OK. Tomas Cruz sealed the win Sunday by himself in a 4+ inning 1-hit performance and Frederick got the win Saturday with 5 innings of relief. 

The defense went back to the toilet too. I can stand bad defense if the hitters remember how to hit a baseball however. Clemson has Furman this week, and Wake Forest in Winston-Salem next weekend. We're now 14-10 in ACC play.

Recaps after the jump.

Mike Freeman graduated and flew to Maryland Friday afternoon to go 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs to lead Clemson to an 18-6 win over the Terps in game 1. Casey Harman (W, 6-1) won the battle of Harmans on Friday. In 6.0 innings pitched, he allowed six hits and two runs to earn the victory.

Again, when Casey pitches really well, his strikeout total is down. He only struck out 1 Maryland batter. Kevin Brady, who I kinda built up in the preview, came in for the 7th and gave up 3 runs, and Graduate Josh Thrailkill finished the game off.

Clemson jumped on Brett Harman (L, 4-8) early, putting up 2 in the 1st and another in the 2nd, before piling on 3 in the 4th to chase him. We put 3 again in the 5th, and a 7-spot in the 7th inning with 2 outs.

Freeman led off the 7th with a single to right field and went to third on Hinson's single to right. After Parker walked to load the bases, Freeman was erased at home on Addison Johnson's fielder's choice. After Jason Stolz struck out for out #2, Phil Pohl doubled off the centerfield fence to score Hinson, Parker, and Johnson. Chris Epps followed with an infield single and Shaffer walked to load the bases. Lamb laced a double to left field to score Pohl and Epps, then Freeman grounded a single up the middle to score Shaffer and Lamb.   

The pitiful Maryland bullpen had no chance.

Clemson outhit the Terrapins 18-12 and totaled seven doubles, including two two-baggers apiece by Lamb and Parker, along with Schaus' home run. Lamb went 3-for-6 with two RBIs and three runs, while Parker went 3-for-4 with an RBI, three runs, and two walks. Freeman tied his career-high with four hits as well. We only left 6 men on base. 

Miller went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and John Hinson went 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs as Clemson totaled 17 hits in its 12-8 victory Saturday afternoon. The back-and-forth game saw the Tigers score two runs in the top of the first, only to see Maryland score four runs in the bottom of the first off Weismann. Clemson scored two runs in the top of the second, but the Terrapins regained the lead with a run in the bottom of the second. But the Tigers scored eight combined runs in the final four innings and Alex Frederick pitched 5.0 solid innings in relief to seal the victory.

Frederick (W, 4-1) earned the win, as he allowed six hits, two runs, and one walk with one strikeout. Jonathan Meyer, the second of three Tiger hurlers, pitched 2.0 scoreless innings as well.

Brad Miller left his defense at home though, 2 errors. One of those helped the big 1st inning by Maryland on a botched DP ball. 5 errors by CU in the game, but 3 double-plays turned.

Maryland didnt help themselves either defensively, committing 3 errors.

Miller tallied a career-high four hits along with a walk, while Parker went 3-for-5 with a double, RBI, run, and walk. Schaus went 2-for-4 with a homer (10th), two RBIs, four runs, and two walks, while Hinson went 2-for-5 with a home run (10th), three RBIs, two runs, and a walk. Lamb and Freeman added two hits apiece, meaning each of the top six batters in the lineup had at least two hits apiece. Clemson still left 15 men on base though.

Clemson finished the sweep thanks to a 3-run Homer (17th) by Kyle Parker in the 6th to give us the lead that we never relinquished.Clemson finished off the Turtles 7-5.

The Tigers jumped out to a 2-1 lead after two innings, then Maryland tied the score 3-3 in the fourth inning. After the Terrapins scored two runs in the fifth inning to take a 5-3 lead, the Tigers scored four two-out runs in the sixth inning to close out the scoring.

Tomas Cruz (W, 3-2) pitched 4.2 masterful innings in relief to earn the win. He allowed just one hit, no runs, and no walks with four strikeouts. It was also a career-long outing for the senior righthander. Dominic Leone started as I predicted, but didnt do too well: 4.1IP, 7H, 5R, 4ER, 1BB, 1K. The unearned run was because of a failed pickoff attempt by Leone, so it really was his own fault.

Miller made his 23rd error later in the game, but it wasnt important to the outcome.

Mike Freeman continued his hitting streak, now at 16 games, with an infield single. Lamb had a team-high two hits for the Tigers, who had seven hits, seven walks, and one hit-by-pitch in the game. Parker added three RBIs on his home run, while Hinson scored two runs. Miller's 10-game hitting streak came to an end.