Clemson no-hits USC-Upstate

lemson 14, USC-Upstate 0

CLEMSON — Justin Sarratt, Scott Weismann, Kyle Deese, Tomas Cruz, and Matt Vaughn combined to pitch a no-hitter in Clemson’s 14-0 victory over USC Upstate at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Wednesday. It was the Tigers’ 14th no-hitter in school history and first since the second game of a doubleheader on March 6, 1984, when Scott Parrish no-hit The Citadel in a seven-inning game. It was also just the second no-hitter involving multiple pitchers in Tiger history.

Only two Spartans reached base in the game. The first was in the first inning when a routine flyball was dropped in the outfield. The other came in the eighth inning on a walk. In between, Tiger hurlers retired 19 Spartans in a row. The Tigers turned a double play in the eighth inning, meaning the five Tiger pitchers combined to face just one batter over the minimum.

The Tigers, who won their seventh game in a row, improved to 13-4, while the Spartans fell to 6-11. It was the first-ever meeting between the Tigers and USC Upstate on the diamond. The Spartans had beaten Charlotte 4-3 on Tuesday night to snap the 49ers’ 10-game winning streak.

Sarratt (3-0) earned the win, as he did not allow a walk and had two strikeouts in 5.0 innings pitched in a starting role. Weismann, Deese, who was making his first career outing, Cruz, and Vaughn each pitched an inning to close out the game. Spartan starter Austin Moyer (1-4) suffered the loss, as he yielded one hit, two runs (one earned), and two walks in 1.0 innings pitched.

On the offensive side, Clemson totaled 11 hits and was led by Mike Freeman. The junior second-baseman went 4-for-5 with a homer, triple, three runs, a career-high seven RBIs, a walk, and stolen base. Freshman catcher Phil Pohl added three runs.

The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead on only one hit in the first inning. Freeman drew a one-out walk. Two batters later, Kyle Parker reached with two outs on a catcher’s interference. After Jeff Schaus walked to load the bases, Richard Mounce lined a single to center to score Freeman and Parker.

In the second inning, Clemson doubled its lead. Pohl reached on a hit-by-pitch and Jason Stolz followed with a walk. After Brad Miller’s sacrifice bunt advanced both runners one base, Freeman singled to left to plate Pohl. Stolz then scored on a wild pitch.

Miller led off the fourth inning with a single to right-center, stole second, and scored on Freeman’s triple down the right-field line. Freeman then scored on Ben Paulsen’s groundout, upping Clemson’s lead to 6-0.

In the fifth inning, the Tigers added two more runs. Will Lamb blooped a one-out single to left field and went to third on Pohl’s double to left. After Stolz walked to load the bases, Miller plated Lamb with a sacrifice fly to left. Freeman then hit an infield single to score Pohl.

Clemson increased its lead to double-digits in the seventh inning after the first two batters of the frame were retired. Stolz reached on a throwing error and Miller followed with a walk. Freeman then hit a three-run homer just inside the left-field foul pole. It was Freeman’s first home run of the season.

In the eighth inning, Schaus, pinch-hitter Chris Epps, and Addison Johnson led off with walks. Two batters later, Stolz laced a single to left to score Epps. Miller followed with a walk to score Johnson. Freeman’s groundout then scored Pohl.

Vaughn, the Tigers’ senior captain, closed out the no-hitter in the ninth inning. Stolz stabbed a chopper in the hole at third base and threw to first to retire leadoff batter Branden Millhouse. Vaughn then struck out Kyle Simpson swinging for the second out. Vaughn capped off the no-hitter by retiring Eric Guillen on a called third strike to end the game.

Georgia 11, Georgia State 6

ATHENS, GA. — Each Georgia starter had at least one hit and the Bulldogs scored runs in five of the first six innings in an 11-6 win over Georgia State on Wednesday in Atlanta.

Lyle Allen had a season-high three hits for the Bulldogs (16-2) including an RBI double and scored three runs, and Matt Cerione, Bryce Massanari, Colby May and Chase Davidson had two hits apiece. Davidson and Massanari both homered and Levi Hyams had a season-high four RBI. Hyams played the entire game at shortstop for the first time this season, and Michael Demperio moved to second.

Freshman Chase Hawkins (2-0) pitched 2.1 innings and allowed two runs on four hits while striking out three in his second win in eight days. Steve Esmonde worked 1.2 scoreless innings in relief, and Cecil Tanner and Jeff Walters worked the final three innings and allowed no runs and no hits. Alex McRee started the game for Georgia and pitched one inning in his first appearance since March 5.

“We played a lot of guys and that is huge for momentum going into this weekend,” said head coach David Perno. “We made some bad base running mistakes but our guys hung in there. Our pitching was solid those last three frames. Cecil and Walters were good, and Esmonde and Earls did a nice job. We pitched six guys tonight and we only walked two.”

After the Panthers (12-6) took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Rich Poythress led off Georgia’s second inning with a double, then scored on a single by Allen. Davidson followed with a home run to center field to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead.

Matt Cerione hit his second triple of the season in the third, and scored on May’s single to right field to make it 4-2. Another Georgia run in the fourth stretched the lead to three runs before Georgia State cut the deficit to 5-4 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning.

Hyams cleared the bases with a three-run double in the fifth to give Georgia an 8-4 lead, and Massanari hit an opposite-field two-run home run in the sixth to extend the lead to six runs. Georgia State scored twice in the bottom of the sixth, and Georgia scored it’s final run in the eighth.

John Locklear (3-1) took the loss for Georgia State after he allowed five runs on nine hits in 3.1 innings.

LINCOLN-MEMORIAL 14, ANDERSON 5

The Trojan baseball team returned home Wednesday to play future South Atlantic Conference rival Lincoln-Memorial, but the visiting Railsplitters ran away with the afternoon contest, 14-5, dropping AU to 16-13 on the year.

Kyle Williamson started on the mound for AU, but he was touched up early. Jordan Oates came in to relieve Williamson then gave way fairly quickly to sophomore Elliot Tolley. Tolley got the loss, going two innings and giving up four earned runs.

Railsplitters’ centerfielder Cody Pack gave three different Trojan pitchers fits, going 3-6 at the plate with two runs and three RBIs. Among his hits was a massive homer over the deepest part of centerfield.

Matt Hill, Trent Still, and Blair Carson got a late rally started as AU put together a four-run 8th, but it wasn’t enough.