April 19, 2005

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C./Clemson, S.C. - On a game that started on Tuesday, April 12, halted in the bottom of the fifth at Western and resumed Tuesday, April 19 at Clemson, the Tigers scored three runs in the top of the seventh to secure a 7-4 victory over Western Carolina.

The game was halted in the bottom of the fifth inning due rain which left WCU's Childress Field unplayable. Clemson was leading 4-2 and Western had Nate Hall on third, Brandon Zollman on first and WCU freshman Barrett Shaft has an 0-1 count on him.

When the game resumed on April 19 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, Clemson made a pitching change, bringing in Stephen Faris. Faris, who leads the nation in ERA, got three fielder's choice outs to escape the inning unscathed. He would pitch the final 5.0 innings, and was credited with the win to improve to 3-1.

In the top of the seventh, the Tigers got a two-out rally to take a 7-2 lead, scoring three runs on four hits. Jorge Andrade, Jr., singled to left to start the frame. After two outs, Brad Chalk had an infield hit and Travis Storrer followed with an RBI single to left. Tyler Colvin plated Chalk and Storrer with a double to left-center.

The Catamounts answered with two unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh to cut their deficit to three (7-4). Hall singled and Zollman reached thanks to an error to start the frame. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners up, Tim Hallam was hit by a pitch. Jared Greenwood nearly cleared the bases with a grand slam, but the wind kept the ball in the park, turning into an RBI sacrifice fly. Steven Strausbaugh followed with a single up the middle, plating Zollman.

Prior to stopping the game on the 12th, Clemson took an early 1-0 lead when Colvin hit a leadoff home run, his second of the season, to start the second. The Tigers used the long ball to take a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth. After a two-out walk to Kris Harvey, Andy D'Alessio hit a line drive, two-run home run that just cleared the fence down the right-field line. The blast was the sixth of the year for D'Alessio.

Western trimmed its deficit to two (3-1) and threatened to do more damage in the bottom of the fourth. After a double by Greenwood, Trey McDaniel got a hit in his 15th consecutive game with an RBI single to right. With two outs, Chris Davis followed with a single to left, but McDaniel was gunned down at home on strike from Tigers' left fielder Colvin.

The Tigers tallied their fourth run of the game to start the fifth. Stan Widmann walked and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. A wild pitch, which was the first of the year by WCU starter Bryan Tupper, moved Widmann to third, but, on the attempted play at third, a Catamount throwing error allowed Widmann to score. A walk to Chalk would chase Tupper. Despite a solid outing by the junior. Tupper did allow four runs, only three were earned and he only allowed three hits while striking our a career-high six. Tupper would get saddled with the loss, falling to 0-2 on the season.

In the bottom of the fifth and prior to the rain, Jonathan Greene reached on an error and Hall walked. Zollman laid down a sacrifice bunt, but a throwing error allowed Zollman to reach, move Hall to third and score Greene. Clemson starter David Kopp got off one pitch to Shaft, a strike, before the rain came.