Will's Tiger Walk Blog

Game day is here, finally

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:18:00 +0000

Finally it’s game day.

I know it has been only five days since Clemson beat Oklahoma State to advance to the Super Regional, but for some reason the last five days have been the longest five days I can remember. I guess the time change may play a part in that.

Anyway, if you have never been to the Tempe or Phoenix, Ariz., areas, I recommend you come out and try it. It is a very clean area where a lot of things are within walking distance or at least a short drive.

We hit the downtown area of Tempe last night and there a lot of things to do. That area is called The Mill Avenue District and there were tons of restaurants and other social gathering places as well as a few night clubs. It’s pretty cool.

It seems like Clemson is having a pretty good time as well. The team went to a mall last night and Jack has given them a couple of hours here and there the last couple of days to let them enjoy the trip.

The players really enjoyed batting practice yesterday and seemed loose and ready to go. Several players and Coach Leggett commented on the way the ball carries at Packard Stadium, especially to right field.

“The ball carries to right centerfield and right field, right down to that right-field corner,” Leggett said. “If the wind is blowing (today) like it did (Friday), it dies a little bit in left field so the ballpark plays a lot bigger from left center over and a lot smaller from right center over.

“We will have to keep the ball down and keep it inside of those right-handers and keep it away from those lefties.”

As for the weather conditions tonight, it should not be a problem. By 6 p.m. local time for first pitch, the temperature is expected to be in the low 80s with a southwest wind of 10 to 20 miles per hour under partly cloudy skies. The temperature today is only expected to get in the low 90s and remember there is no humidity.

“It takes time to get used to,” centerfielder Kyle Parker said. “The biggest thing about this is that you just don’t sweat as much. You are going to be out there and it is going to be 100 degrees, but out here it is just dry and (in South Carolina) it is moist.”

And that also means you get thirsty a lot quicker.

“When we went to go hit the other day, everyone was walking around with water bottles,” Parker said. “I guess that’s why you need something to drink all the time.”

Leggett said the heat and the dry weather was part of the reasoning for getting out here on Thursday and then having a practice a few hours after touching down at the airport.

“You always want to get the bus ride and the long plane ride out of them,” Leggett said. “We had a long day (Thursday) so I wanted them to get used to the air and used to the heat a little bit and also to get their legs stretched out and take a few swings.

“I think it was good for us (Thursday). It would have been tough to play (Thursday) night or do anything very effective so we had to get that out of our system.”

And finally it is time to play baseball.

Hello from Tempe!

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:22:00 +0000

Okay, someone left the oven on out here because it is hot. You know how it feels when you open your oven door to check on your baked cookies or biscuits and the heat hits you in the face. Well, that’s what it feels like out here, but you can’t shut the oven door.

It’s not hot like the heat back in South Carolina; it’s more of a dry heat. The air is not thick or anything like that, it’s just hot.

The temperature yesterday when I arrived was 102 degrees. Today it is supposed to be the same. I’m glad I’m covering baseball instead of playing it.

The Clemson baseball team is excited about being here. I actually, by coincidence, flew on the same plane with them yesterday. Some guys appeared nervous about the trip, others not so much. Head coach Jack Leggett started the trip a few rows behind me, but because there were some empty seats he got to move up closer to first class and then when the pilot realized the Clemson team was aboard his plane and that there was an empty seat in first class, he moved Leggett up there, where the team started to give him a hard time.

As for the team, they were very well behaved young men. Leggett had them all dressed up in their best clothes, while sporting ties. Other than the occasional joking around that teammates will do, they pretty much kept to themselves and did not disturb any of the other passengers.

After getting off the plane and checked in at the team hotel, the team headed out for a short practice to get themselves acclimated to the weather conditions. They practiced at the Los Angeles Angels spring training facility.

Not much to report after that. They will practice again today at 2:45 p.m. (Pacific Time) at Packard Stadium, Arizona State’s home field. Game 1 of the Tempe Super Regional is scheduled for 9 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) Saturday.

My hotel is about a mile away from the stadium and when I got here I went by Sun Devil Stadium and Packard Stadium. They both seem like nice facilities from the outside, and Sun Devil Stadium reminded me of what Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla., used to look like before the outside of it was redone about 10 years ago.

Packard Stadium has been Arizona State’s home field since 1974 and is considered one of college baseball’s most beautiful ballparks. The outfield wall is lined with palm trees and in the background Tempe Town Lake can be seen as well as the Superstition Mountains.

Dimensions of Packard are 338 feet down the lines, 368 feet in the power alleys and 395 to straightaway center. The fence is 10 feet high. Located five feet beyond the center-field wall is the “Green Monster,” a 30-foot-high batting eye.

Only 18 players have ever hit a home run over the Monster.

With a capacity of over 4,000, Packard has more than 3,000 permanent seats in the main grandstand. Field-level box seats are also available behind home plate. The remaining seats are located on popular grass berms, which run down the first-base and third-base line.

The Sun Devils have won two national titles since calling Packard their home park and have won more than 77 percent of their games there. This year Arizona State is 34-4 there and has won better than 80 percent of their games at home in the last six seasons.

There is some hope for the Tigers though. Last year, Fresno State came into Tempe and won the Super Regional series to advance to the College World Series and then, as we all know, went on to win the National Championship. And remember, the Bulldogs did that as a No. 4 seed.

I guess a team just has to be playing hot when they come here. I know there is plenty of heat out here for them if they are not.

What a game, more Clemson notes

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 05:54:00 +0000

Wow!

That’s the best way I can sum up last night’s thrilling come-from-behind, 6-5, victory by the Clemson Tigers to win the Clemson Regional and advance to Saturday’s Super Regional against Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz.

Trailing much of the night, it looked bleak for the Tigers (44-20) especially after throwing the ball around the infield and allowing Oklahoma State to get two unearned runs to take a 5-1 lead in the top of the seventh. But like this entire year, this Clemson team did not yield to self-doubt and pity and instead came back in what will truly be one of the greatest wins in Clemson history.

“The other day I was telling these guys about some of the great wins we have had here and how people still remember and talk about those teams now,” Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. “I told them about the 1999 regional and how we lost that first game to Arkansas, but we came back and won the regional.

“People still talk about that and what they did tonight; people will talk about when they remember this team.”

What Clemson did was win three straight games to fight off elimination and come from a 4-run deficit in the seventh and eighth innings to advance to yet another super regional — the Tigers fourth in the last five years and their eighth in the last 11 years.

What was even more remarkable, Clemson scored all six of its runs Monday night with two outs.

“It was a huge, huge thing for us,” Leggett said. “We had to break the ice. The first run was huge just to get to 3-1, then when we got down in the seventh inning and didn’t play very well on defense, it was huge to get back to 5-3 real quick. We got some huge hits from all these guys, and the guys who were in the lineups from top to bottom got some big hits with two strikes, big hits with two outs, and big hits with men on base tonight.

“It was a little frustrating at the beginning, but we came alive towards the end.”

Want some more news from the thrilling win Monday? Here are some quick notes.

Clemson is now 11-0 under Leggett in home NCAA tournament games that could clinch a regional or super regional championship.

In Jack Leggett’s 11 home NCAA regional or super regional titles, Clemson had suffered a loss earlier in the tournament just once. That was in the 2002 Super Regional when the Tigers lost the opener of the three-game series, then won the last two games.

Clemson is now 25-2 in home NCAA Tournament games in the 21st century. The only losses have been to Arkansas in a Super Regional game in 2002 and then Saturday in this tournament to Oklahoma State.

Leggett is now 56-31 in NCAA tournament play, including 36-6 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. With the 56 NCAA tournament wins he is Clemson’s winningest coach in post season play. Bill Wilhelm had 42 NCAA tournament wins.

This is the first NCAA regional or super region clinching victory for the Tigers at Kingsmore Stadium since the 2006 Super Regional when Tyler Colvin hit a walk-off grand slam to send the Tigers to the College World Series with a win over Oral Roberts. The score of that game was also 6-5.

Kyle Parker had the biggest hit of the game with a two-run single with two out in the bottom of the eighth inning. Clemson trailed 5-4 before that hit, which put the Tigers in the lead 6-5, the eventual final score. Parker had been just 1-9 at the plate in the NCAA tournament prior to that hit and was 5 for his last 30 at the plate.

Clemson trailed 5-4 entering the bottom of the eighth inning this evening. Clemson had been just 1-13 when trailing after seven innings entering tonight’s game. The lone win before Monday came last Friday night in Game 2 of the Clemson Regional when Jeff Schaus’ hit in the bottom of the ninth scored two runs in the 5-4 victory over Tennessee Tech.

Chris Epps was the most valuable player of the Clemson Regional. He entered the regional with just two home runs all year, then hit two in this regional, including one tonight that brought Clemson to within two runs at 5-3.

Clemson advances to the Super Regional and will face Arizona State. This will be just the second meeting on the baseball diamond between the two schools. Arizona State defeated Clemson at the 1977 College World Series, 10-7. That was the first game of the 1977 College World Series for both teams.

2009 Clemson Regional All-Tournament Team

First Base: Ben Paulsen, Clemson
Second Base: Mike Freeman, Clemson
Third Base: Tyrone Hambly, Oklahoma State
Shortstop: Tom Belza, Oklahoma State
Outfield: Wilson Boyd, Clemson
Outfield: Alex Henry, Tennessee Tech
Outfield: Michael Dabbs, Oklahoma State
Catcher: Vin DiFazio, Alabama
DH: Chris Epps, Clemson
Pitcher: Chris Dwyer, Clemson
Pitcher Tyler Lyons, Oklahoma State

Most Valuable Player: Chris Epps, Clemson

Winner to Arizona State, more Clemson notes

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:19:00 +0000

Well, we now know where the winner of tonight’s Clemson and Oklahoma State baseball game is going for next week’s super regional.

Thanks to Zack MacPhee’s two-run, go-ahead single in the sixth inning Arizona State (47-12) got an 8-3 victory over Oral Roberts on Sunday night to advance to its third straight super regional, which it will host next weekend.

Jared McDonald added a two-run, inside-the-park home run in the eighth inning for Arizona State. Pitcher Seth Blair held Oral Roberts (33-15) to four hits over six innings, settling down after surrendering three runs in the first on Johnny Roberts’ RBI single and Colby Price’s two-run double.

Mitchell Lambson pitched three perfect innings for his fourth save. Oral Roberts starter Drew Bowen took the loss.

As for the Clemson Regional, here are some notes from today involving the Tigers.

Clemson starting pitcher Chris Dwyer struck out 13 batters in Sunday’s win over Oklahoma State. That is the most strikeouts by a Clemson pitcher in an NCAA Tournament game since Kris Benson struck out 15 against Miami in the College World Series on May 31, 1996, exactly 13 years ago Sunday.

Also, the 13 strikeouts are the most by any Clemson pitcher in any game since March 20, 1998 when Ryan Mottl struck out 13 in a win over Maryland.

The Tigers (43-20) defeated Tennessee Tech and Oklahoma State Sunday. It marked the first time in school history that Clemson won two NCAA Tournament elimination games at home on the same day. The last time Clemson accomplished the feat anywhere was May 30, 1999. That day Clemson defeated Missouri State twice in the NCAA regional at Fayetteville, AR to advance to the Super Regional.

Overall, Clemson has won two elimination games in the same day in the NCAA Tournament seven times.

The Tigers won both games Sunday by at least 10 runs. It is the first time Clemson has won two consecutive NCAA tournament games by 10 runs or more, never mind on the same day.

Sunday marked the fourth time this year Clemson won two games in the same day. The Tigers had doubleheader sweeps in the regular season on March 13 (Wake Forest), March 24 (Elon), and March 28 (Boston College).

This is the first time since the 1992 season that Clemson has won two games in the same day four times.

Prior to this year Clemson had a combined four dates in the last seven years in which the Tigers won two games in the same day.

Clemson scored in double figures in both games today, just the third time in school history Clemson has done that in two NCAA Tournament games in the same day. It also happened in 1999 at Fayetteville, Ark., in a 17-3 win over Delaware and a 12-4 win over host Arkansas, and in 1989, in Tallahassee, Fla., in a 13-5 win over Stetson and an 11-1 win over Auburn.

The Tigers are now 24-2 in home NCAA Tournament games in the 21st century. The only losses have been to Arkansas in a Super Regional game in 2002 and Saturday in this tournament to Oklahoma State.
The win over Oklahoma State was the 100th in Clemson history in NCAA Tournament play. It was also the 1,100th career victory for Clemson coach Jack Leggett. He has 723 wins at Clemson.

Leggett is now 55-31 in NCAA tournament play, including 35-6 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Clemson enters Monday’s night’s game with the chance to clinch the Clemson regional championships. The Tigers are 10-0 under Leggett in NCAA tournament home games in which it can clinch a regional or super regional championship.

Don’t count the Tigers out just yet

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Sun, 31 May 2009 04:59:00 +0000

Today we will find out a lot about the Clemson baseball team. It’s either win, or watch the season end.

The Tigers, the top seed in its own regional, will have to win two games — first against Tennessee Tech at 3 p.m., and then against Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. — to keep their season alive.

If they can survive today, then they have to beat the Cowboys again on Monday to advance to the NCAA Super Regional round.

All year, we have seen this group of Tigers overcome several odds to get where they are today.

At the beginning of the season, few outside of the team felt the Tigers (41-20) would even host a regional. With a questionable pitching staff that is full of potential, but is young and inexperienced, and a lineup that has few hitters that can hit for power, no one expected much out of Jack Leggett’s team other than Jack Leggett.

Early in the season, Clemson lost two of three games at North Carolina and at Florida State. They lost two heartbreakers to South Carolina and Georgia outside the ACC, while somehow blowing a no-hit effort against Furman in the ninth inning and ultimately losing the game in the 14th.

But when everyone thought they were through, they persevered. The finally ended a long losing streak to South Carolina and beat the Gamecocks twice to close out the season-series. They beat Miami two of three and then Georgia Tech two out of three at The Doug.

They finished the regular season winning 14 of their last 17 games and finished third in the ACC standings and tied FSU and UNC for the most conference wins with 19.

When Clemson opened the ACC Tournament with losses to Virginia and Duke, no one gave the Tigers a chance to beat No. 5 national seed North Carolina in the final game, but they did. It earned Clemson its regional site, where the Tigers now face the possibility of seeing their season end after Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Oklahoma State.

But if we have learned anything about this Clemson baseball team this year, we have learned this — don’t count them out.

“I hope (the fans) will come out tomorrow and get behind our kids,” Leggett said. “Our kids have been battling hard and we have our backs against the wall so what better time to support your team than tomorrow.”

It sounds like the Tigers have Tennessee Tech and Oklahoma State right where they want them.

Scouting the Cowboys

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:27:00 +0000

Friday night’s win over Tennessee Tech was pretty much what I expected in the first game of the Clemson Regional.

There was no doubt the Golden Eagles were going to give Clemson their best shot and that’s what they did. But in the end, this Clemson team, like it has done so many times this year, hung in there and found a way to pull it out in the end.

They got good relief pitching from Graham Stoneburner to keep things close and then Jeff Schaus came though in the clutch with a double in the bottom of the ninth inning to drive in the tying and winning-run in the 5-4 victory.

Now it is time to face Oklahoma State tonight at 7 p.m. The Cowboys beat No. 2 seed Alabama 10-6 Friday to advance into the winners’ brackets showdown with Clemson. Tom Belza, who had only two home runs also season, hit three home runs in the win, including a grand slam in the first inning.

Oklahoma State is hitting .304 with a .506 slugging percentage and .384 on-base percentage coming into the tournament. The Cowboys are averaging better than 7 runs a game as well.

Tyrone Hambly is hitting a team-high .338 with nine homers and 38 RBIs, while Neil Medchill is batting .337 with a team-high 14 home runs and 55 RBIs. Michael Dabbs is hitting .335 with 13 homers, 38 RBIs and has 11 stolen bases. Davis Duren has added a team-high 14 stolen bases in 15 attempts as well.

The pitching staff has a 4.60 ERA and .260 opponents’ batting average and has allowed 187 walks against 486 strikeouts, good for a 2.6-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Freshman righthander Randy McCurry has a team-high nine saves, 3-1 record, 2.45 ERA, and 49 strikeouts in 36.2 innings pitched over a team-high 25 relief appearances.

“Oklahoma State will be a tough opponent tomorrow. I saw 3 innings (of their game) earlier, and it’s not going to be easy. I expected a hard game (yesterday), now we can focus on (tonight),” Clemson coach Jack Leggett said.

The Tigers are expected to send left-hand pitcher Casey Harman (7-3, 3.86 ERA) to the mound tonight, while the Cowboys will counter with either junior righty Tyler Blandford (7-3, 4.83 ERA) or 6-foot-3 junior lefty Andrew Oliver (5-6, 5.58).

Clemson and Oklahoma State have met three times on the diamond, with the Tigers holding a 2-1 lead in the series dating back to 1991. The two teams last met in the 1996 College World Series. The Tigers
eliminated the Cowboys with an 8-5 victory.

Coincidentally, the Tigers’ next game was against Alabama. Both of those meetings were the last time the Tigers faced Oklahoma State and Alabama, respectively.

In 1995, the Tigers opened the season with a 5-2 loss against the Cowboys in a tournament at Arlington, Texas. The Tigers also topped Oklahoma State 6-0 in 1991 in the UNLV Desert Classic at Las Vegas. Therefore, all three meetings have been at neutral sites. The Tigers also own a 1-1 record under Leggett.

Finally we can talk about the NCAA Regional

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:10:00 +0000

What a week it has been at Clemson.

First there is Terrence Oglesby’s news to turn professional and then Barry Humphries arrest and the way it was kept quiet for so long. Both of those news items have dominated the talk so much the last three days in this small college town it is seems as if we all forgot there is a pretty big baseball tournament this weekend.

Finally, I hope, this weekend will be all about the Clemson baseball team which as we all know by now is hosting an NCAA Regional for a 12th time. This is the first time since 2006 — Clemson’s last trip to the College World Series — the Tigers will play at home.

Clemson will play Tennessee Tech at 7 p.m. today inside Doug Kingsmore Stadium, following second seed Alabama and No. 3 Oklahoma State’s 3 p.m. game.

The Tigers (40-19) are 22-1 at home during the current Regional-Super Regional format which began in 1999. Overall, the Tigers are 32-5 under head coach Jack Leggett at home in the NCAA Tournament.

“I think we are very comfortable here,” said Leggett, whose Tigers are 27-8 at home this season. “Usually when you get a regional, it means that you have a good enough team. We have a great atmosphere and fans here. You have to go out on the field and play ball and prove that you earned it.”

The Tigers will try to do that against a pretty strong field the next couple of days. Tennessee Tech is the conference tournament champion of the Ohio Valley Conference and is a very confident team coming in. Then there is Alabama, who is perhaps the best hitting team in the tournament, and then there is Oklahoma State.

Though some might say the Cowboys should not have gotten in the field this year, the point is they are here and they have a track record for being one of the more successful teams in the country when they get in the tournament.

“It hasn’t bothered our guys at all,” said Oklahoma State coach Frank Anderson on the on scrutiny of making the tournament. “A few years ago we got into the tournament as the No. 2 seed in our conference, but we barely made it because our RPI was low. The NCAA parameters are pretty black and white and we have raised our RPI now.”

Anderson, like Leggett, views the Clemson Regional as one of the stronger fields in the tournament.

“Anytime you are playing in an NCAA Regional, there are going to be good teams,” he said. “It is no different here. There are four really good teams playing this weekend.”

Anderson’s team will have his hands full against an Alabama team that is led by National Player of the Year candidate Kent Matthes.

“We were surprised to some degree that he would have as good a season as he is having,” Alabama head coach Jim Wells said. “We did not see it coming. He just started hitting the ball really well and we thought it was just a nice streak, but it is still going.

“He is the kind of player that is good at everything. He runs well and fields well. He is the same guy every day.”

He is a guy that is hitting a team-high .365 and leads the nation with 28 home runs, 81 RBIs and a .883 slugging percentage. He also has 13 steals in 15 attempts.

“He is one of those top 5-to-10 guys in the country that really stands out,” Anderson said. “This year there aren’t players like Buster Posey and (Matt) Weiters, but he is their target guy and we have to watch out for him.”

As for the Tigers, they come into the regional feeling good about themselves. Though they went 1-2 in the ACC Tournament last week, they did close things with an emotional win against No. 5 national seed North Carolina and come into this weekend as winners in 15 of their last 20 games.

“We did a good job coming back. I thought we only had a few bad innings during the tournament,” Leggett said. “The way we played against North Carolina, I couldn’t have been happier to get the win.”

And Clemson can’t be any happier about hosting a regional and finally having people talking about the baseball team again, like it should have been all week long.

Clemson and Memorial Day

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Tue, 26 May 2009 11:51:00 +0000

I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend and took a few moments yesterday to stop and think about those that sacrificed their own lives so that we may be free.

Being that this is a Clemson blog, we especially need to remember and honor those soldiers that lost their lives in war while protecting us. Some of them, as you know, were either Clemson graduates or students. So please remember all of our fallen soldiers and their families and give thanks to them for what they did for us, if you have not already.

Speaking of Memorial Day in reference to Clemson, did you know that the first 20,000 seats in Clemson Memorial Stadium were built and ready for use before the 1942 season, less than a year after Pearl Harbor was bombed and the United States was drawn into World War II?

Clemson, known for its military heritage, named its football stadium in memory of those former Clemson Cadets that lost their lives in war. The University honors those soldiers and its military heritage each year with Military Appreciation Day.

This upcoming fall, Clemson’s home game against Virginia on Nov. 21, is the day Clemson will honor all of its fallen, former and current soldiers who have or are currently serving our country in the U.S. Armed Forces.

My stepfather, Carl E. Buck, Jr., was a War World II veteran and a 1949 graduate of Clemson A&M College. Until the day he passed away in October of 2006, he always spoke highly of Clemson primarily because of the way it honors and respects its military heritage. When speaking to anyone, he always referred to Clemson as Clemson A&M College instead of Clemson University.

My passion for all things Clemson is rooted through what was his passion for Clemson. Obviously, I learned as a young boy what Clemson’s heritage and traditions were all about and I try to share what I’ve learned through my stepfather’s experiences with anyone that is willing to listen.

Even though my stepfather taught and shared a lot of things about Clemson, I’m still learning today about the school’s history. Just recently I learned the World Wars saw a flurry of cadets leave Clemson for active duty and the campus itself became a base for military training.

That’s something I did not know.

World War I saw nearly every cadet in the classes of 1917 and 1918 enlist, and at one point the college had only 42 active student-cadets. World War II saw even greater involvement. Airborne troops training at Camp Toccoa, just across the Georgia border, would march 30 or so miles to Clemson to practice on the campus rifle range.

At the time, Clemson ranked third in the country in institutions providing Army officers. Only the United States Military Academy and Texas A&M provided more.

Before 1955, Clemson decided to drop its military status and became more of a civilian institution and started to enroll women in the fall of 1954. In 1955, Clemson officially became Clemson College and in 1964 it changed its name again to what it is known as today as Clemson University.

Though Clemson is still more than 50 years removed from its military roots, there are still signs all over campus about its past. There are two bronze Civil War cannons, nicknamed Tom and Jerry, that stand watch over Bowman Field, where they have been since 1951.

Bowman Field itself is rich with military history as it served as the place for many military activities and drills during the World Wars.

Then there is the cadet statue in the Military Heritage Plaza, which more than anything reflects Clemson’s rich military heritage. And then of course there is Memorial Stadium.

To learn more about Clemson’s military heritage or anything about the University, I recommend the book “Clemson: There’s Something In These Hills” which was written by Trent Allen and has great photos by my good friend Kevin Bray.

You can find the book at my sponsor’s store — Clemson Variety and Frame Shop — in downtown Clemson or, if you can’t make it to Clemson, click on their link to their Web site to the right of this blog and then go to Clemson Collectibles and then click for the home. You will find the book in that listing.

Clemson is blowing it

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Sat, 23 May 2009 15:45:00 +0000

First of all, I want to start off today by giving a shout out to my alma mater, Bamberg-Ehrhardt High School (S.C.), for winning it’s 15th state championship last night in baseball.

The 15 state titles are a national record and 14 of them have been won by legendary head coach David Horton — the best high school coach in America, and I’m not just saying that either. Coach Horton has won 817 career games since becoming the Red Raiders head coach in 1968. I believe that is a national record too.

By the way, he has only been beat 243 times.

At one point, he guided B-E to eight straight state championships from 1974-’81, which is tied for the national record. The Red Raiders beat Chesterfield, 7-1, last night to win their second straight Class A state championship. For more on my high school’s great tradition in baseball check out this article by my friend Bob Gillespie of The State at http://www.thestate.com/sports/story/797027.html, and this one by my other friend Thomas Grant at the Orangeburg T&D at http://thetandd.com/articles/2009/05/23/sports/doc4a1785c1d1106024579986.txt.

Now let’s talk about Clemson’s baseball team. The news isn’t so good for the 13th-ranked Tigers.

This time last week, the Tigers (39-19) were on their way to sweeping N.C. State for their 14th victory in 17 games. Talk was they may have set themselves up to possibly be a top-eight seed in the NCAA Tournament if they put on an equally impressive showing in this week’s ACC Tournament.

But after blowing a four-run lead to Virginia in the first game to suffer a 6-5 loss, Clemson was humbled by a much improved, but still no better than average Duke squad, 10-4, in the second game Friday. As they head into today’s 4 p.m. contest against No. 4 North Carolina, the Tigers might need a win to secure a regional site as a host school, which was thought to be a lock before the ACC Championships.

To make matters even worse, Virginia pounded the Tar Heels, 11-1, in the night game, bolstering its résumé’ to lock up one of the remaining regional sites up for grabs. The 16th-ranked Cavaliers need a win over Duke tonight to secure a second straight trip to the ACC Title game.

“Obviously, we came in here to win ballgames, but we didn’t get it done,” Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. “I thought we played pretty well (against Virginia), but we just went through a quiet period offensively and they pitched pretty well.

“We had a letup in the middle of the game just like (the Duke game). Other than those two or three innings, we’ve played okay. We just have to be able to come out (today) and be able to play a better baseball game against a really good team in North Carolina.”

And if they don’t, the Tigers might find themselves on the road for a regional instead of playing at the comforts of Doug Kingsmore Stadium, where they are 22-1 in the NCAA Tournament since 1999.

“Everybody realizes that baseball is a funny game and you can come in here and score 10 runs or get 10 runs scored on you,” right fielder Kyle Parker said. “I think we’re strong. We can shake it off and come back and play hard.”

I guess we will see. Regional sites will be announced tomorrow by the way.

Big game for the Tigers

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:09:00 +0000

Clemson’s road to the ACC Tournament Championship game got a little harder following Thursday night’s 6-5 loss to Virginia, but there is still a chance for the 13th-ranked Tigers.

First of all, Clemson (39-18) has to take care of business against Duke this afternoon. Not an easy as a task as it sounds. Though the Tigers beat Duke two of three games earlier this season, the Blue Devils are a tough out.

They will send their ace, senior right-hander Andrew Wolcott (7-3, 2.79 ERA), to the mound in hopes of knocking Clemson out of the running for the championship. Wolcott has made 12 starts and one relief appearance for a total of 87.0 innings pitched. He has yielded 81 hits and 18 walks with 67 strikeouts. He has also given up just three home runs and has pitched two complete games.

Wolcott already owns a win against the Tigers this year after pitching six complete innings and giving up three runs (two earned) in a 10-7 victory at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on April 4.

If the Tigers get past the Blue Devils, they then have to hope North Carolina beats Virginia tonight. That would make the Tar Heels 2-0 with Clemson left to play on Saturday, while the Cavaliers will be 1-1 with Duke left to play.

If those two scenarios happen, then Clemson needs to beat the Tar Heels on Saturday, which it has already done once and nearly did a second time before a ninth-inning rally by UNC at Chapel Hill in the third-game of their three-game series back in March. If they do that, then they will need Duke to knock off Virginia in the night game to advance to the championship game on Sunday, where Florida State is already penciled in.

I know that sounds crazy to say Florida State in already in because it’s just Friday, but that’s the ACC Tournament for you. The Seminoles punched their ticket by beating Miami Thursday, coupled with Boston College’s win over Georgia Tech.

Now back Duke. Today’s game is also important for Clemson in regards to hosting a regional in next week’s NCAA Tournament. The Tigers can reach 40 wins with a victory today and in the past that usually nails down a spot for most teams.

Clemson doesn’t want to have to go into Saturday’s game against No. 4 North Carolina needing a win to get 40. Currently 15 teams across the country have recorded 40 or more wins, including Virginia with last night’s win over Clemson. Though I think Clemson is almost assured a regional bid, it would not look good for the Tigers to go 0-3 in the ACC Tournament with one of those losses coming from one of the teams (Virginia) that they are in competition with for a regional site.

So believe it or not, a baseball game against Duke of all teams is probably the biggest one Clemson has had in the last two years.

The ACC Baseball Tournament is a joke

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:15:00 +0000

I ask you this, why does the ACC even have a baseball tournament? There is no advantage to it, especially with it being played at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C.

The last time it was played at that ballpark, the tournament made little, if any money at all on the event. But that’s just part of the reason for my complaint.

My real complaint is that this format, which they have used now for the third year, really stinks. I mean other than the media and television, it has no advantage for any team. It basically means the entire ACC regular season means little other than deciding the eight teams to get in the tournament. But once the tournament is set, Florida State, the top seed, has little if no advantage at all to fifth seeded Miami.

In fact, the Hurricanes, who beat Georgia Tech in the first game earlier this afternoon, have a better advantage. If Miami beats the Seminoles on Thursday, it will already lock up a spot in Sunday’s ACC Championship game even though there will be two days and seven games left before the second team in the championship game is decided.

How fair is that?

That means Miami, the No. 5 seed and the team Clemson beat two of three times this year, will already be in the championship game before the third seeded Tigers even throw their first pitch to Virginia Thursday night in the ACC Tournament.

What makes it even more unfair, and meaningless, is the fact if North Carolina beats Duke tonight, Clemson will have to win three straight games regardless of what happens in the other games to advance to the championship. What that means is a Miami or Florida State — the Seminoles can lock up a spot in the championship game by Friday depending on the outcomes of their first two games and the Miami and Boston College game on Friday — can rest their pitching and throw anyone they want on Sunday.

In fact, Miami, which will play three straight games before getting Saturday off, can rest their pitching after Thursday if they were to beat Florida State because Friday’s game against Boston College would not mean anything.

That game might not mean anything anyway because if Florida State beats BC tonight and then Miami Thursday afternoon, the Hurricanes will eliminate themselves from the championship by beating BC. That’s right; they can eliminate themselves by winning a game. Since when does that make sense?

If Florida State beats BC tonight, then beats Miami, the Hurricanes cannot play for the ACC title, even if Georgia Tech beats BC and FSU. The reason you might ask? In the event of a three-way tie, tiebreaker goes to the higher seed and in that case FSU will move on.

Finally, the regular season plays into the tournament, but by that time it is still unfair.

There are a whole bunch of scenarios that can play out like that in this format. There are so many, it can make your head spin. Trust me on that. Mine is spinning as I write this.

Anyway, my point is, this format only benefits one thing and that is television. And what makes me mad about this even more — the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament comes from the ACC Tournament.

Does the regular season not many anything? Since when should we award an automatic bid to a team who won the championship, even if that is Clemson, because they won the tiebreaker rule from pool play. Is this Big 12 Football?

What happened to earning it on the field? What happened to double elimination?

If they are going to continue to play this tournament in this format, then fine let them, but take away the automatic bid from it and give it to the school that really won the ACC Championship — the school that had the best record in conference play during the season.

And since I’m complaining, ACC can you please let the team that had the best record in the conference be the home team throughout the tournament. Currently the ACC has a rule in place that each team will be the home team at least once in the tournament.

They say it isn’t fair to be the road team all the time.

Hello! That’s why they play the regular season. They had their chance to earn that right during the regular season. If a team is the No. 8 seed in the tournament, it should be the visiting team as long as it is in the tournament. That’s what they earned.

The team with the better record deserves to have the last at-bat. What’s next, Major League Baseball will play an All-Star game to determine who has home field advantage in the World Series? Oh yeah, Bud Selig has already come up with that great idea.

Tigers stake claim to regional bid

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:30:00 +0000

If Clemson hadn’t already nailed down a regional bid before the weekend series with N.C. State, it has now.

The Tigers were nothing but impressive in a three-game sweep at N.C. State to close the regular season, while earning the ACC’s No. 3 seed in this week’s ACC Tournament which starts Wednesday in Durham, N.C. To make matters even better, Virginia, one of the seven teams they’re battling for one of the remaining regional sites, lost two of three games to Virginia Tech over the weekend.

Clemson (39-17, 19-11 ACC) closed the regular season on a five-game winning streak and were 8-2 in its last 10 games. The Cavaliers on the other hand were 6-4 over the last 10 games.

Again, the reason the Clemson-Virginia battle for a regional site is so important is because it is doubtful both will land regional sites. The ACC will more than likely has regional bids locked up for Florida State, North Carolina and Georgia Tech, and no conference since the current NCAA Tournament format began in 1999 has had five schools host regionals.

Now here is the interesting note, the Tigers will play No. 6 seed Virginia (16-11-1 ACC) in the round-robin pool of the ACC Tournament on Thursday night. It will be the only head-to-head meeting between the two this season. Will the selection committee use this one game as a determining factor in deciding who gets the bid? Odds are, no.

In situations like this, the selection committee will reward a school for its overall body of work and not just one game. When comparing the two schedules, the Tigers 39-17 record is much more impressive than Virginia’s 39-12 record. Here’s why.

Clemson is ranked 7th in the latest WarrenNolan.com RPI rankings and has strength of schedule of No. 8. The Cavaliers, though ranked No. 9 in the RPI rankings, have a strength of schedule of 38.

But the big eye catcher when comparing the two teams is when you break down the non-conference schedule. First of all, Clemson’s out of conference schedule was much more difficult. The Tigers, winners in 14 of their last 17 games, posted a 20-6 mark outside the ACC. Virginia went 23-1 out of the ACC.

But when you examine that 23-1 record, you will notice the Cavaliers did not play a single out of conference opponent ranked in top 140 of the RPI. Radford, ranked 142, was the highest RPI team the Cavaliers played on their non-conference slate. They were supposed to play No. 31 Coastal Carolina, but that game was canceled.

Clemson on the other hand was 7-4 against top 50 RPI out of conference foes and 11-4 against teams ranked in the top 63. In fact, the Tigers played eight games against top 25 non-conference opponents and were 4-4 in those games.

So just based on what has happened on the field during the regular season, thus far, Clemson should be awarded a regional site come Sunday. But it wouldn’t hurt to go ahead and beat the Cavaliers to make its case even stronger.

Let's talk baseball regionals

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:13:00 +0000

Let me start this blog by telling you I have been out of the mix for a little while. I've spent the last four days in Florida without any ESPN or NFL Network and without internet access and barely a cell phone signal.

To call someone or check my messages on my phone, I had to walk around
outside and find a certain spot to get a signal. It was like living in the
1980s again.

Where is this spot you ask? My mother-in-law's in Fernandina Beach, Fla.,
or some of you might know it as Amelia Island. My wife on the other hand,
she loved the fact I was out of the loop a little while, though I did my
best to find out what was going on by running up to the McDonalds and
connecting to the World Wide Web there.

Anyway, it feels good to be back and let's get started again with a little
baseball talk. It appears the Clemson baseball team is in good position to
host a regional despite bad losses to Maryland and UNC-Wilmington.
However, I still believe the Tigers (36-17, 16-11 ACC) need to close the
year by winning two of three games at N.C. State today, tomorrow and
Saturday to host.

It also wouldn't hurt to have a good showing in next week's ACC Baseball
Tournament. The Tigers will play three guaranteed games in the tournament,
and with three or two wins they could find themselves in the championship
game. All of those scenarios would more than likely help Clemson's chances
to host.

Currently, every projection I see has Clemson hosting, including Baseball
America. In all but one projection, the Tigers are grouped with the
College of Charleston in the pairings.

Baseball America has it even more interesting, they have Clemson hosting
South Carolina, C of C and Rhode Island. Talk about a good regional. Can
you imagine the attendance for all of those games? How about a Clemson and
South Carolina matchup with a Super Regional spot at stake?

After what happened in the College World Series in 2002, I would think
Clemson would love nothing more than to send USC into the off-season with
the sting of being eliminated by their archrival. It probably would not
feel nearly as good as USC felt in 2002, but it would be up there I think.

Anyway, back to the numbers. What also helps Clemson in this fight to host
a regional are you, Clemson fans. I'm sure in Clemson's bid to the NCAA
they were able to guarantee certain things that a school like Virginia,
who is fighting Clemson for one of the seven regional sites that are still
up in the air, cannot.

Right now it appears that Florida State, North Carolina, Rice, UC Irvine,
Texas, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, LSU and Cal State Fullerton are a lock
to host. Along with Virginia, Clemson is fighting Florida, Ole Miss and
Alabama from the SEC and Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Kansas State from the Big
12.

There is also a chance the winner of the Big 10 could host a regional
considering the NCAA has been pushing in recent years for more schools
from the north to be awarded host sites.

Right now, the Tigers appear to be in good shape against all of those
schools, including Virginia. Only Florida, among the teams being
considered for a site, ranks higher than Clemson in terms of RPI and
strength of schedule numbers.

Now keep in mind the ACC already has three teams hosting in FSU, UNC and
Georgia Tech and its unlikely Clemson and Virginia will both be rewarded
sites since the NCAA has never awarded a conference five of the 16 sites
since they went to this format in 1999.

Host sites will be announced on May 24. The NCAA will announce the
tournament field on May 25.

Clemson women cruise to Sweet 16

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Sun, 10 May 2009 13:26:00 +0000

The Clemson women’s tennis team continued its streak of Sweet 16 appearances, while also exercising some revenge on ACC rival North Carolina at the same time Saturday. The 12th-ranked Tigers defeated No. 20 North Carolina 4-0 to advance to their third straight Sweet16.

Clemson will play No. 5 seed Notre Dame next Friday at College Station, Texas.

Against North Carolina The Tigers (19-7) prevailed in doubles action and then won the opening set on all six singles courts en route to posting victories at flights two, three and six.

“I’m so happy for our team to get this win," Clemson head coach Nancy Harris said. “Our goal was to never let them get going. To get the doubles point was phenomenal because, in my opinion, North Carolina has the best doubles in the country. Every player on the team stepped up today for us.”

The Tar Heels (19-11) beat Clemson 4-2 last month in the ACC Tournament, but on Saturday they never had a shot. Clemson outlasted North Carolina to win an extremely hard-fought doubles point and take a 1-0 lead in the match.

Federica van Adrichem, playing in just her second match since early November, partnered with Alexandra Luc to post the first victory of the day for Clemson. The Tigers’ duo claimed the first five games against Meg Fanjoy and Laura Reichert and held on for the 8-4 victory at flight three.

The match at the second position was one of runs that saw the teams of Josipa Bek and Ina Hadziselimovic from Clemson and Austin Smith and Katrina Tsang from North Carolina trade wins their first six games. The Tiger tandem then won the next four games for a 7-3 lead in the match. However, the Tar Heel duo battled for a break to narrow the margin to 7-5 before Clemson closed out the match on a winner by Hadziselimovic.

Bek was then first off the court in singles play, a day after clinching a Tiger victory over Winthrop, as she defeated Tsang in straight sets at flight two. Tsang held her first serve of the opening set before Bek rattled off eight straight games including three in the second set.

Hadziselimovic put Clemson on top by a 3-0 margin with her win over Austin Smith at the third position.
The Tiger junior served for match point and Smith's return went long for the 6-3, 6-2 win.

Sophomore Laurianne Henry sent her team to the NCAA Tournament round of 16 for the second straight season as she clinched the Tigers’ 4-0 wins. It was the second straight year Henry found herself in that position as she won her match at flight six.

The sophomore from Anderson clinched Clemson's 4-1 win over Michigan last season. Saturday she edged North Carolina's Laura Reichert for the 6-4 win in the first set and then defeated the Tar Heel player by a 6-3 margin in the second.

“I didn’t really know until the last two games when I finally looked at the score,” Henry said. “I was in the same position last year and the pressure felt exactly the same, so I was prepared.”

Just a little note on the track side of things before I wrap this baby up. Earlier Saturday, Jacoby Ford won the Orange & Purple Classic with a time of 10.11, which is the fastest time in the NCAA so far this season.

However, he was not the fastest sprinter with Clemson ties to run the 100-metter dash this weekend. Former Tiger great Travis Padgett ran 10 seconds flat on Friday to win the Super Grand Prix in Doha, Qatar.

Padgett, who earned six All-American honors and a national championship at Clemson from 2006-’08, ran a solid 10.04 in the preliminary round, then followed that by matching the world-best time with a 10.00 in the final. The 2008 Olympian held off the likes of Nesta Carter and Michael Frater, both members of the gold-medal Jamaican 4x100 relay team from 2008.

Olympic sports hold their own

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Sat, 09 May 2009 13:13:00 +0000

Just a little Olympic sports update here. We all know the Clemson baseball team got back on the winning side of things Friday with a 13-2 win over UNC-Wilmington, but what a lot of folks probably don’t know is that the Clemson women’s tennis team, which is hosting the NCAA Regional for a sixth straight year, beat Winthrop Friday to advance to today’s second round matchup with No. 20 North Carolina.

In track and field, Nikola Lomnicka recorded a personal best and Alex Padgett matched his previous best, both in the hammer throw, to lead Clemson track & field on day one at the Orange & Purple Classic. Both student-athletes took home first-place finishes for the Tiger program, and both did so with NCAA regional-qualifying performances.

This will be the third match of the year between the No. 12 Tigers and the Tar Heels on the tennis courts. The two have spilt the first two meetings with Clemson winning the regular season matchup in Chapel Hill and UNC winning the quarterfinal match of the ACC Tournament last month.

Today’s match at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. The winner will advance to the Sweet 16, which is being held in College Station, Texas.

Rookie Josipa Bek clinched Clemson's win over Winthrop in the opening round while Ina Hadziselimovic and Keri Wong also picked up singles victories in the 4-0 sweep over Winthrop on Friday.

North Carolina knocked off Georgia State, 4-0 to advance.

Clemson has now advanced to the second round of the national tournament for the eighth straight year.

The Tigers also captured the doubles point as Ani Mijacika and Keri Wong, the nation's ninth-ranked duo, swept Winthrop's team of Liza Zaytseva and Pay Coimbra at the top spot(8-0) in just over 30 minutes and the Tigers' number-two combination posted their win just a few minutes later.

Josipa Bek and Ina Hadziselimovic improved to 14-6 with their 8-1 win over Lisa Wilkinson and Sandra Herrera.

Back at the Orange and Purple Classic, Lomnicka, a freshman from Slovakia, had a dominating performance to kick off the hammer throw competitions. She shattered her personal best, as she produced a throw of 208’8” on the third attempt of the preliminaries.

Her next closest competitor was Alexis DeJean of St. Joseph’s (IN), with a throw of 164’7”. Lomnicka holds the freshman record at Clemson for the hammer throw, and ranks second in school history in the event behind only former national champion Jamine Moton.

Padgett produced his first-place finish by matching his personal best to the centimeter. On his first throw of the preliminary round, he hit a mark of 192’7”. He eased his way to victory at that point, as the next-closest finisher was a Gardner-Webb thrower at 176’4”. Padgett ranks third in school history in the event.

Clemson is hosting a regional

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:59:00 +0000

Clemson is going to host an NCAA Regional and it has nothing to do with the baseball team. Well, not yet anyway.

Though the baseball team lost to a bad Maryland team over the weekend, the Tigers still have a shot at hosting a regional, though it is just a small shot. By the way, the baseball game against Furman at Fluor Field was postponed last night due to rain and has been rescheduled for 4 p.m. Monday.

Anyway, back to what I was originally writing about to begin with. Clemson is hosting a regional and it starts tomorrow. Clemson University will be hosting the NCAA Women’s Tennis Regional and will play Winthrop at 2 p.m. at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center. North Carolina will take on Georgia State in the other matchup. The two winners will play Saturday at 1 p.m. to see who moves on to the Sweet 16, which will be held in College Station, Texas.

This is the sixth straight year Clemson has hosted a regional.

“I hope we can continue to host because it is such a great honor,” Clemson women’s tennis coach Nancy Harris said. “The girls have had a great season and they have done very well and I’m delighted they have put themselves in position to do well.”

The Tigers are ranked No. 12 in the country and come into the regional with a 17-7 record.

“To be No. 12 in the country and to be at this point and hosting, I’m happy for them and happy with the results,” Harris said. “But I feel this team is a top 5 team. When they are healthy and at their best, they are a top 5 team.”

Clemson has been banged up this year as ACC Player of the Year Ani Mijacika is just now getting back to strength after battling leg injuries all year, as is Estefania Balda, who missed the ACC Tournament.

But what the Tigers do have going for them is home court advantage. Clemson owns a 9-1 record all-time in regional matches at Sloan and have advanced out of those regionals four of the five times it has hosted.
This year’s draw could be tougher with No. 20 North Carolina likely staring the Tigers down for a possible second-round matchup.

The Tar Heels upset Clemson 4-2 on April 17 in the ACC Tournament after the Tigers routed them, 5-2, at Chapel Hill during the regular season.

A win over North Carolina can go a long way in helping Clemson become the team Harris has always felt they could have been this year.

“They need to beat Winthrop soundly and then they need to beat North Carolina big,” she said. “Not just beat them 4-3, but they need to beat them badly. If they beat them pretty badly, that’s what they need to go all the way.

“If they beat them just a little bit, then I think it is going to be a tough tournament. If they beat them pretty soundly they are going to be thinking, ‘you know what, we are pretty good. We can do this.’ That’s what I hope for them.”

Does Bowden deserve to be in Hall of Fame?

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:27:00 +0000

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! I hope you know what that means and more importantly, why this day is celebrated in both Mexico and American. If you don’t, I encourage you to visit this web site. It will tell you all that you need to know.

Now on with the rest of this blog ...

I have been listening to some of the sports talk shows in the Upstate the last week or so, and several times I heard some of the guys bring up the subject “who you want to see in the Clemson Hall of Fame that isn’t already in there?”

That got me to thinking about some names, and of course most of them where on the football side, but I thought of one or two that played basketball and baseball that are not in there that deserve to be in there. But I’m not going to spill into who I think deserves to be in there because that’s a topic that I can write a book on and I’m sure not all of you want to read that.

But as I listened to some of the suggestions on the radio, and granted I have not had the time to listen to complete shows, but as I heard some of the listeners, one name I did not hear while I was listening, was Tommy Bowden.

Granted, Bowden never won a championship at Clemson and he will always be remembered for that, but he did bring a lot of things to the Clemson program. He left the program in better shape than it was when he inherited it in December of 1998. That WestZone you see standing in Memorial Stadium was Bowden’s idea from day one at Clemson.

He pushed that on the administration from the outset, and trust me people, though the outside of Death Valley looked good at the time, there were structures on the inside that needed major work. Not until athletic director Terry Don Phillips came on board in 2002, and included his ideas in with Bowden, did the Clemson administration finally start working on improving the football program’s facilities as well as the rest of the sports programs at Clemson.

I think Tommy Bowden does and will belong in the Clemson Hall of Fame one day, but I was curious as to what you guys think. In your opinion, does he deserve to get in? I’m going to put these facts out in front of you and then compare these numbers with other Clemson coaches. You tell me if he deserves that honor or not?

Tommy Bowden facts (according to the 2008 Clemson football media guide)

He was 72-45 (.615) in 10 seasons at Clemson

He had three teams win at least 9 games (tied with Howard for second most in school history)

Coached Clemson in 8 bowl games (tied with Ford for most all-time)

Recorded a winning record in eight of his 10 seasons as head coach

None of his teams had a losing record (joining only Danny Ford to coach five or more years without a losing record)

Eight straight years his teams recorded winning records (Clemson record)

Record 43 ACC wins in his 10 seasons (second only to his father, Bobby Bowden, at Florida State during that time)

Was the fifth head coach in ACC history to record eight straight winning seasons

He was 7-2 vs. South Carolina. The best record for a Clemson coach against the Gamecocks.

His 72 overall wins are third most in Clemson history (only Frank Howard and Danny Ford have more)

Three straight 8 wins or more seasons from 2005-’07 (first Clemson coach to do that since Danny Ford)

Twice named ACC Coach of the Year (ties Howard, Charlie Pell and Ford)

His 10 seasons as head coach is the third longest tenure in school history (only Howard and Ford coached longer)

Nearly 80 percent of seniors graduated during his time as head coach and each of the top eight semester team GPA’s were recorded during his tenure.

Swinney will get the job done

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Sun, 03 May 2009 17:44:00 +0000

Okay, I have seen it posted on some of the message boards where some guys question whether Dabo Swinney is the man to take Clemson to the next level.

Some say his mottos, like “All-in” are cheesy. Some even made fun of his fantasy camp, which for the record I thought was a great idea and had a good time covering it.

Some question his leadership skills and some say he is all talk. Some look at his background, and say “how can he be a head coach when he wasn’t even a coordinator?”

I can understand Clemson fans' concerns. They have a right to be. The football program has not produced an ACC Championship since 1991.

But what I can’t understand is this thinking that Swinney can’t get the job done at Clemson.

Why? I want to know where this thinking comes from.

If anyone has read the story of Dabo Swinney and his life to this point, the one thing they should take away from it – this guy gets the job done.

Go look at his track record. He was an A-student in high school despite playing three sports and dealing with serious family issues at home, and keep in mind he was still trying to be a teenager.

He somehow worked his way to the University of Alabama – his dream at the time – to attend school. Despite those that said there was no way he could make it or could find the funds to attend college, he made it happen.

“I always worked to go to Alabama,” he said. “That was my first goal. I got Pell grants and student loans and that’s how I made it.

“I was going to be a doctor. I majored in biology and was going to make something of myself. I wanted a better life.”

When he decided to walk on to the football team at Alabama people laughed at him and coaches said they doubted he could make the team. What did he do? He made the team.

When he said he was going to earn a scholarship and was going to play instead of just being a punching bag for the starters, again people doubted him. What did he do? He played and he won a national championship by doing it.

When he decided he was going to be a coach at Alabama, he became one of the best young assistants in the country.

Even off the field Swinney has got the job done. In high school and in college, he cleaned gutters to make some extra money. What did he do? He became the best gutter cleaner he could be – he always had jobs lined up.

While staying at Alabama and working out in the summer, Swinney took on a job as a door-to-door salesman for a knife and kitchen company. What did he do? He became one of the company’s top salesmen and was honored for such.

After leaving Alabama in 2000, Swinney got involved in commercial real estate at AIG Baker. What did he do?

“I made more money than I had ever made in my life while I was there,” Swinney said.

But something was missing and when Tommy Bowden called, he decided to take the job at Clemson. People thought he was crazy to get back in coaching, but Swinney missed it. He wanted to make a difference.

“I missed coaching football,” he said. “I mean (AIG) was a good job, but I didn’t feel like I was making a difference with kids and stuff. Sure I was coaching little league, teaching at clinics and going to speaking engagements, and I had my children, but I missed coaching.

“I had coached too long and I had too much knowledge in my head. I was almost a coordinator when I was 30 years old, but I turned that job down to stay at Alabama. I knew I still wanted to coach, but it would have to be at the right time, with the right coach, the right staff and the right school.”

After joining the Clemson staff, Swinney was out to prove he made the right choice. He instantly became a difference maker as Clemson’s wide receivers coach – coaching an All-ACC first-team receiver each year as the position coach – while becoming one of the top recruiters in the country.

Then last year came. No one gave Clemson a shot to do anything after the school fired Tommy Bowden at midseason. I heard some say; “the Tigers would not win another game.” But Swinney again proved he can get the job done.

There are those out there that say he isn’t a proven coach. Hello! If getting your team to go 4-2 when all else seemed lost than I don’t know what a proven coach is.

By the way, I’m not counting the Georgia Tech game because having less than three days to prepare for a team with all that was going on you can’t really count that. Clemson University should be charged with that loss. And even with all that, Clemson nearly won that game.

Also, keep in mind he led Clemson to wins at Boston College and at Virginia, places the Tigers had not played well in past years. Then he beat Steve Spurrier and South Carolina with the pressure of trying to avoid being the first Clemson team not to be bowl eligible or have a winning record for the first time in 10 years.

If that’s not a proven coach, I don’t know what is.

As for those that question whether Swinney should have been hired since he was never a coordinator. What does that have to do with anything? Danny Ford was the offensive line coach and was never a coordinator before he got hired. I think he did fairly well, right?

Frank Howard was never a coordinator. I think he did okay, right?

Like Howard and Ford before him, Swinney seems to understand it’s who he surrounds himself with that will make or break him as a head coach. Like Ford did, he has compiled a staff that has a good mix of youth with age and experience to build. Each member of the staff brings a little bit of something to the table.

And also like Ford, most of the experience on Swinney’s staff is on the defensive side of the ball. And that my friend is no consistence.

There is no doubt in my mind that Dabo Swinney will get the job done at Clemson. His history says he will.

It’s time to seize moment

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:14:00 +0000

Granted, this hasn’t been the grandest year for Clemson baseball, but it has been a good one. The 17th-ranked Tigers come out of exam week in pretty good shape as they sit second in the ACC’s Atlantic Division and are 30-15 overall.

What does this mean? Well, the Tigers are in position not only to get back to the NCAA Tournament after having to sit out a year for the first time since 1986, but they have a fairly decent shot at hosting one of the 16 regionals.

I know some of you think a team at 30-15 doesn’t really deserve a shot at hosting a regional, but do you really know that for that sure? If not Clemson, then who? Of the teams under consideration as the regular season enters its last 16 days, few teams have a better résumé than the Tigers.

Currently Clemson has played more top 50 teams than any team in the country and they have posted a 16-13 record against those teams. The Tigers also rank No. 8 in WarrenNolan.com’s RPI (rating percentage index) – one of five ACC teams in the top 11.

North Carolina and Georgia Tech own the top spots in the RPI rankings, while Miami is No. 6 and Virginia is No. 11. By the way, Florida State, who leads the Atlantic by two full games over Clemson, is ranked No. 18.

The Web site also has Clemson ranked No. 3 in strength of schedule thanks to that 16-13 record against top 50 teams and considering the fact it has a 5-4 record against three of the teams in the top four. The Tigers beat No. 1 Miami and No. 2 Georgia Tech two out of three times in both weekend series and also got one win at No. 4 North Carolina on March 7.

Plus keep in mind the NCAA doesn’t rule a regional to a team because it deserves it necessarily. Granted, they have to be at least close to other teams that are considered, but some regionals are decided based on bids considering institutions have sent into the NCAA – you know the guaranteed money they can send the NCAA if they should host a regional.

Few college ballparks can sit what Clemson can for a regional. Doug Kingsmore is capable of holding 6,217 fans officially, but I believe I have been a part of few crowds that have exceeded that number by at least a thousand or two.

Then consider the fact Clemson is just a handful of baseball programs capable of supporting itself. Clemson fans love baseball and will pack Doug Kingsmore for any regional game that involves the Tigers, plus they have shown in the past they will support the other games that are being played that particular weekend.

The last part of why the Tigers have a good shot at hosting a regional – their schedule. As tough as the first 45 games were, the last 11 games appear to be a whole lot easier. Now there are still two conference series to go – Maryland and N.C. State – but the Tigers should win both and in fact have a good shot at sweeping both.

Maryland, who the Tigers host this weekend for a three-game series starting Saturday, are just 6-18 in ACC play and 22-24 overall. Clemson is 51-1 against the Terps all-time at Doug Kingsmore. The Tigers have won 21 straight at home against Maryland dating back to a 10-9 loss in 1992.

Clemson goes to N.C. State on May 14 to close out the regular season. Unlike the Terrapins, the Tigers have had some difficulties against N.C. State, especially in Raleigh. Clemson is just 36-35 all-time at N.C. State, including six losses in its last nine games up there.

In between those two series, the Tigers play Furman (19-22) in a rematch of their 14-inning game back on March 3, which the Paladins won 4-2, at Greenville’s Fluor Field on May 6. Clemson follows that up with a three-game home series against UNC-Wilmington (24-17) starting on May 8 and then host the College of Charleston (22-16) to close out the home part of its schedule on May 12.

Though Furman has beat the Tigers once this year and UNC-Wilmington and the College of Charleston will be playing to get into the tournament, there is no reason to think Clemson can’t win all 11 of those games and if not, at least 10 of them.

Last week, Jack Leggett told his team before heading into a stretch where they played a nationally ranked Coastal Carolina team, their archrival in South Carolina and hosted a top five team in Georgia Tech that they had an opportunity to make a statement. The Tigers made that statement with a 4-1 record.

If last week was the week of opportunity, then the next 11 games will be time to seize the moment at hand. Win them all or at last nine of them, and there is little doubt Clemson will find itself at home the first weekend of the NCAAs. Win only half, or worse yet, more than their share then the Tigers will have to test their 7-9 road record at someone else’s regional.

How bad do they want it?

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:07:00 +0000

Sunday became such a long wait for former Clemson safety Michael Hamlin — he decided he was going to take a nap to kill the time.

“I watched (the draft) all the way through to the mid-fourth round and then I decided to turn it off and took a nap,” Hamlin said to the Cowboys’ official Web site Sunday evening. “I just went around and tried to do something to distract myself.”

Hamlin had to distract himself until late in the fifth round, when the Dallas Cowboys drafted him with the 30th selection in the fifth round and 166th overall in the 2009 NFL Draft.

It was that kind of day for the former Clemson players as no Tiger was drafted until defensive tackle Dorell Scott went third in the fourth round Sunday and was 103 overall. Then late in the fifth round safety Chris Clemons went one spot ahead of Hamlin at 165 to the Miami Dolphins.

“I was nervous waiting on the phone to ring,” Clemons told reporters. “It got frustrating a little bit, but I just kept my head up and stayed in there.”

James Davis hung in there too. The Tigers second all-time leading rusher did not get drafted until the sixth round, when the Cleveland Browns selected him No. 22 in the round and 195th overall. It surprised him even more to learn that he was the last player and the only offensive player selected from a team that eight months earlier was considered one of the top offensive units in college football.

But Clemson’s involvement in the 2009 Draft was more than likely a result of the 2008 season — a year that had so much hope and promise that it still continues to haunt members of the team four months after its conclusion.

Aaron Kelly and Cullen Harper, who were projected to be drafted somewhere in the fifth or sixth rounds Sunday, never heard their names called out. Kelly later signed a free-agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons, the only team he worked out for, while Harper has not announced his plans.

Two other Tigers signed free agent contracts. Defensive tackle Rashaad Jackson will try to make it with the San Diego Chargers, while Tyler Grisham hopes he can become a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers next fall.

Overall, it wasn’t the kind of draft Clemson fans and some of the so-called experts envisioned when the Tigers opened the 2008 football season as the No. 9 ranked team. But when you don’t meet expectations as a team, then in most cases the individual usually suffers the most when it’s time to hear his name called in the NFL Draft.

The good news is four guys did hear their named called ultimately and now they will have a shot — though there’s a hard road ahead — to fulfill their dreams of being NFL players. I wish all four players — guys I have had the pleasure to get to know over the last four years — the best as well as those who have and will sign free agent contracts.

All of them are going to get the opportunity to live out their dreams. Now that the opportunity is here, how bad do they want it?

Thinking about The Fridge

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:18:00 +0000

I’m sure some of you have already heard this news, but former Clemson standout William “The Refrigerator” Perry is in serious condition at a hospital at the Aiken Regional Medical Center.

Perry, who was a freshman defensive tackle on the national championship team in 1981, was hospitalized with complications from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, according to the Associated Press. Guillain-Barre syndrome is an uncommon inflammatory disorder in which your body's immune system attacks your nerves, typically causing severe weakness and numbness that usually starts in your extremities and quickly worsens.

According to the MayoClinic.com Web site, eventually your whole body can become paralyzed, even the muscles used for breathing. The exact cause of Guillain-Barre syndrome is unknown, but it sometimes is triggered by a respiratory infection or the stomach flu. It can lead to death.

Members of Perry’s family have reportedly said the former football star is doing better after being admitted to the hospital more than a week ago.

Perry, now 46, became known around the country when former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka used him as a short yardage fullback on a Monday night home game against the Green Bay Packers during his rookie season in 1985.

The 6-foot-3, 340-pound defensive tackle barreled through the Packers front-seven for an easy touchdown and so began “The Refrigerator” craze. Perry went on to score several more touchdowns that year, including a touchdown pass later that season at Green Bay and then a one-yard plunge into the end zone in Super Bowl XX.

But what a lot of people don’t know is that Perry got his nickname the “The Refrigerator” or “The Fridge” while at Clemson. I remember as a kid seeing a big promotional poster with Perry standing alongside a refrigerator while wearing his No. 66 jersey. I believe that was a poster for his All-American, Lombardi and Outland Trophy campaigns in 1984.

In talking with Clemson Sports Information Director Tim Bourret, former Clemson teammate Ray Brown is really the guy that is credited with giving Perry his nickname.

During Perry’s freshman year, he, Brown and a couple of other players were at a hotel and were waiting for an elevator. Perry was standing in front of the elevator and was blocking the entire entrance to the door. That’s when Brown, who could not see the elevator open up, told Perry he was as big as a refrigerator.

The team actually started calling Perry GE (General Electric) after that. However, the school went with the more conventional name of “The Refrigerator” when they started promoting Perry because of copyright laws and those sorts of the things.

I remember Perry being the first of his kind when he started playing at Clemson. Back then a 300-pound man was uncommon in football, and secondly, a 300-pound man did not move the way Perry did. It’s not uncommon now to see a guy of Perry’s size and athletic ability move the way he did, but at the time, no one was like him in college or in the NFL.

Case in point, Pittsburgh’s Mean Joe Greene, who played the nose in the Steelers’ 4-3 scheme, was considered the best defensive tackle in the NFL when Perry was growing up, but Mean Joe never weighed more than 260 pounds during his playing days with the Steelers.

A member of the Clemson Hall of Fame, Perry was an All-American at Clemson in 1982, `83, and '84 —the first three-time All-American in Clemson history. The three-time All-ACC middle guard led the nation in tackles for loss in 1984 with 27 and was named ACC Player of the Year.

For his accomplishments in the 1984 season, Perry was a Lombardi Award finalist and an Outland Trophy finalist.

Hearing the news on Perry this morning, kind of brought back some of those memories I had as a kid watching him play or in most cases listening to Jim Phillips describe him on the radio. I know the World will be watching his bout with Guillain-Barre syndrome unfold because of his playing days with the Bears.

As for me, I will be watching and praying for him as the football hero I remember from his playing days at Clemson.

Good week for Olympic sports

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:28:00 +0000

Olympic sport champions wear Clemson orange

First of all congratulations to the Clemson rowing team - 2009 ACC
Champions. That's a great accomplishment for those young ladies. A lot of
people don't realize how much time and energy they put into that and it's
always great to see a group come together and win a championship.

The Tigers won their first ACC Championship by knocking off nine-time
defending champion Virginia. Second-year head coach Richard Ruggieri was
also named the ACC Coach of the Year.

The rowing team's ACC Championship Monday capped off a pretty good week
for Clemson's Olympic sports programs, which usually get lost in the glow
of the big three - football, basketball and baseball. Besides the rowing
team's success, the golf team, led by David May's record round of 66,
rallied to finish second in the ACC Golf Tournament.

May's 66 allowed him to win co-medalist honors with N.C. State's Matt Hill
and it was the best final round by an individual at the ACC Tournament in
Clemson golf history. The previous best was a 67 by Stephen Poole at The
Old North State Club in 2006.

The Clemson senior made up four shots in the final round with his
six-under-par 66, his top round of the year and his best round since he
had a 65 in the second round of the ACC Tournament at The Old North State
Club on April 22, 2006.

May's round on Sunday included eight birdies and two bogeys. He had seven
birdies in an eight-hole stretch between the fourth and 11th holes to get
to seven under par for the day and 11 under par for the tournament. He hit
a wedge to within a foot on the par-five 11th hole to give him his eighth
birdie of the day.

Though they could not repeat the magic that won them an ACC Championship a
year ago, the Clemson women's tennis team did earn a couple of individual
honors. Ani Mijacika was named the 2009 ACC Player of the Year, as voted
on by the league's 12 head coaches.

This is the second major ACC honor for Mijacika, who was named Freshman of
the Year in 2007. She has earned player of the week honors three times
this season and is a seven-time recipient over her career.

Mijacika, a junior, was joined on the all-conference team by rookie Josipa
Bek as the two give Clemson a powerful combination at the top of the
line-up. Mijacika stands at 28-7 overall in singles play, including a 7-3
mark against ACC foes, and is currently ranked number three in the
Campbell/ITA Tennis singles poll.

The native of Makarska, Croatia has also spent six weeks as the nation's
top-ranked player this season. Mijacika is the ninth player in Clemson
women's history to earn to the league's top honor and is the Tigers' first
three-time All-ACC selection since Julie Coin from 2002-05.

Coin won ACC Player of the Year honors in 2004.

Not be forgotten of course is two-sport star Jacoby Ford, who won his
first ACC outdoor championship in the 100-meter dash Saturday.

Ford, who was second on the Clemson football team in receiving yards and
receptions last year, became the sixth different Clemson sprinter to win
both the indoor 60-meter and outdoor 100-meter in the same season. Shawn
Crawford (1998) was the first to accomplish the feat.

The double was also previously accomplished by Jacey Harper (2001), Dwight
Thomas (2002), Tye Hill (2004), and Travis Padgett (2008).

It marked the fourth straight year a Clemson athlete has claimed the 100,
and ninth time in the last 12 years of the event. Padgett won the crown
each of the last three seasons.

Ford led a 1-2-3 sweep of the men's 100. It marked the first sweep of the
three spots in that event since Clemson did it 2001 with Jacey Harper,
Larry Griffin, and Sultan Tucker.

Ford, the NCAA indoor champion in the 60-meter dash posted a time of 10.28
to run away with the ACC crown. His football teammate and good friend,
C.J. Spiller, was runner-up after posting a regional-qualifying time of
10.49. It was Spiller's second All-ACC honor in the 100.

Trenton Guy also claimed his first individual all-conference accolade by
virtue of his third-place showing (10.51).

Ford continued his outstanding meet with a runner-up finish in the
200-meter. He turned in a season-best time of 20.88 to lead Clemson. Guy
was sixth (21.18), while Spiller came across seventh (21.56) in the event.

My fantasy camp experience

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:02:00 +0000

I have covered a lot of things in my 12 years as a sportswriter and have seen the best of the best athletes play at the highest level all the way down through the prep and recreation ranks.

From covering and experiencing the difference between an NFL regular season game and a playoff game, to covering the NCAA basketball tournament, to covering the College World Series and experiencing everything Rosenblatt Stadium and its atmosphere has to offer, I have experienced a lot and I have a lot of good memories to go with them. Now I have one more.

On Sunday, I was Dabo Swinney’s lone guest from the media to experience his Fantasy Camp at Clemson. I don’t mean the game he had for them on Frank Howard Field. I’m talking everything from the time they arrived at the stadium at 10 a.m. through the post-game interviews.

If you get the opportunity to do this next year, you have to do it. In all, 13 men from as far away as New Jersey came and spent the weekend at Clemson to see what it was like to be a Clemson football player on game weekends.

“It was a great weekend. Our objective was to make it all about these guys that are really passionate about Clemson,” Swinney said. “We wanted to make it to where we gave them as much insight as we could possibly give them in a weekend and have a lot of fun at the same time.”

Mission accomplished.

I have only seen locker rooms that have won some sort of a championship happier than what I saw Sunday afternoon. Swinney and his coaching staff did a marvelous job reenacting everything that goes on during game days.

After a team breakfast, the new batch of Tigers, which Swinney referred to as true freshmen, arrived at the stadium at 10 a.m. on the nose and got dressed in full gear. Each participant was given his own locker which had full equipment in it from the helmet to the shoes.

I later found out that every player was allowed to keep his jersey and some of his equipment as well as his practice gear from Friday and Saturday. I will have more on the full weekend in stories to come.

At about 10:30, Swinney came into the locker room and gave the guys some instruction as if he was about to lead the real Tigers out onto the field for pregame warm ups. He told them what he expected from each one of them and then he turned things over to strength and conditioning coach Joey Batson, who went over some final instructions and then lined the players up just as he does on Saturdays in the fall.

He lined the entire team up and checked to make sure everyone’s equipment was in working order and safe before releasing them. Batson said to the fantasy campers that on real game days, this is the part when the team starts to get jacked up and knows that it is almost time to play.

He said every time he opens the door to release a group, you can hear the band playing or the crowd cheering.

After going through warm-ups and being introduced over the PA system on the Jumbotron, the team returned to the locker room. This is where Swinney went out of his way Sunday to make sure the experience was as real as it could get.

After the team got some water and gathered at the Tiger Paw at the center of the room, which is what the real team does, Swinney made sure he left them alone to gather their thoughts for about five minutes or so. These men, most of whom were engineers or business men of some sort, just sat there on one knee in the middle of that room and thought to themselves quietly. You could hear a pin drop it got so quiet at one point. Strength coach Larry Greenlee told me it was just like game day.

Swinney then entered the room and demanded all the players’ attention and at that point he gave a pre-game talk just as he would to his real team. After that, Batson did a countdown and everyone exited the locker room and headed up the ramp where they loaded the bus and were given a police escort.

On the ride around the stadium, some of the guys were standing up, like Dan Jones of Easley, and encouraging the others to live the moment. A few just sat back and enjoyed the ride, while others led the 1-2-3-4 chant. It was a pretty exciting couple of minutes to say the least.

When the bus stopped and the doors opened, a few of the guys jumped off the bus as if they were going to tackle someone. After pictures with Swinney at Howard’s Rock, all 13 players gathered at the top of the hill with Swinney and the coaches, with Frank Howard telling them “to give it 110 percent or keep their filthy hands off his rock” on the Jumbotron. After the video, Tiger Rag cranked up, the Tiger Cub fired the cannon and led the team down the hill on an orange Clemson carpet.

“To rub that rock, I have had the privilege of having my picture taken with it in the past, but to actually rub it and run down the hill, it was a phenomenal experience,” Jones said.

Afterwards, Jones led a late second half rally as he caught a one-yard touchdown pass on the last play of a seven-on-seven game called Swinney Ball to force overtime. His team eventually lost in overtime, but nonetheless it was an experience he will always cherish.

After that, players got to experience the part most athletes dread after games and practices – the post game interviews with the media. But as Floyd Elliott of Spartanburg told me “that wasn’t as bad as I had heard it was.”

And it wasn’t. There was nothing bad about Dabo Swinney’s Fantasy Camp. In fact, it was a pretty fun day, including for this sportswriter.

Dwyer a first-rounder?

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:46:00 +0000

A few months ago, Clemson pitcher Chris Dwyer told my good friend Paul Strelow at The State (Columbia) Newspaper that he isn’t worried about anything other than helping Clemson reach its goals this year.

Those are admirable words and are probably true. But after pitching a two-hit complete game against one of the best hitting teams in college baseball last Saturday, the 6-foot-2 freshman might have a little bit more on his mind right now.

See Dwyer, a lefty who can throw the baseball in the mid-to-low 90s on a consistent basis, turned 21 years old last Friday. What does that have to do with anything, you may ask? Everything.

See Dwyer is one of those few college freshmen that can be selected in the Amateur Baseball Draft this June. Usually a baseball player has to wait three years from the time he starts taking college classes to be considered for the draft, but any college player who turns 21 within 45 days after the June draft is eligible to be selected.

“This usually comes into play for some sophomores every once in a while, and rarely does it happen for a freshman,” said Kevin Goldstein of baseballprospectus.com.

Goldstein said Dwyer is being looked at by some scouts as a possible first-round selection in the June draft and what he did last week to the Miami Hurricanes did not hurt his stock. Dwyer, who will get the start today at Virginia Tech, has a 4-2 record with a 4.20 ERA so far for the Tigers. In his 47 innings of work, opponents are batting just .210 and he has recorded 47 strikeouts to 18 walks.

Because of his college status Dwyer has a rare bargaining tool should clubs want to bid for his services. Several clubs offered to draft him in the fifth round last year but they passed because he intentionally carried such a high price tag. He eventually was selected by the New York Yankees in the 36th round and thanks to a stress fracture in his lower leg; the Yanks did not really try and sign him.

Some think Dwyer might be a low-end first-round pick in June and if that’s the case, some might be willing to pay the asking price he had last year. If the 6-foot-2, 200-pound lefty decides not to go pro this year, then he will face this same question again next year and the year after that.

Though it is a nice bargaining tool to have, it can also become annoying or become a curse. It’s hard to imagine, however, Dwyer being a pick somewhere in the first three rounds and not jumping to the next level. But nobody thought he would turn down fifth-round money either.

In case you are curious how Dwyer became a 21-year old freshman in the first place, he started elementary school a year late and then chose to repeat his junior year of high school when he transferred to a prep boarding school.

The bats come alive

noreply@blogger.com (Roy Philpott) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:50:00 +0000

It appears the Tiger that was lurking in the weeds for better than half
the college baseball season has now started to pounce on its prey.

That Tiger of course is the Clemson baseball team which just completed an
impressive two game sweep of Western Carolina with a 13-2 win last night
at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. In all, Clemson outscored the Catamounts 24-3
in the two games combined and have now won four straight.

Keep in mind this is the same Western Carolina team that took two of three
games from then No. 24 Southern Cal in Los Angeles earlier in the season
and was 20-12 coming into the series.

During the Tigers four-game winning streak, which included two wins over a
top five Miami team last weekend, the y have scored 42 runs off 49 hits.
It's the kind of consistency the team was missing earlier in the year.

Since the first day of spring on March 21, Clemson has scored five or more
runs 15 times, seven or more runs 11 times and eight or more runs seven
times.

Ben Paulsen has been solid at the plate all season, but finally guys like
Kyle Parker and Jeff Schaus are starting to heat up at the same time.
Parker went 7-for-8 with a homer, six RBIs, and five runs in the two
games, while Paulsen added four hits, and Schaus had three. Wilson Boyd,
who was just inserted in to the lineup last week following injury, totaled
three hits and six RBIs.

Over the last 10 games, Clemson has scored at least six runs in every one
and is averaging 8.7 runs, while posting a 7-3 record during that stretch.

And who says scoring doesn't help pitching? The Tigers' pitching staff had
a 1.50 ERA and 25 strikeouts against only three walks in the Western
Carolina series and in the second game against Miami, freshman Chris Dwyer
had a complete game two-hitter against the Hurricanes. The Tigers won that
game 9-1.

Clemson (25-12, 11-7 ACC) should continue the hitting this weekend as it
faces a Virginia Tech pitching staff that has a 5.20 ERA collectively.
Though the Hokies have won four straight ACC games and are 22-12 overall,
the No. 18 Tigers have a solid chance to continue their current climb in
the ACC standings.

Clemson is currently in first place in the Atlantic Division and is in
second place overall behind Georgia Tech (10-5-1). The Tigers are 11-1
against Virginia Tech since the Hokies joined the ACC and have won five
straight in Blacksburg, the site of the weekend series.

Can they keep it up? I guess we will see. But you have to like their
chances as they try to continue that momentum before heading into next
week's schedule which will have Coast Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia
Tech on the docket.