June 21, 2010

College World Series Schedule and Game Stories

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Clemson knocks off top-seeded Arizona State

By Phil Stanton

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Co-Founder

OMAHA, Neb. – Casey Harman (right) and Alex Frederick combined to hold top-seeded Arizona State to three runs as Clemson claimed a 6-3 win in Game 4 of the 2010 College World Series Monday in front of 14,198 fans at Rosenblatt Stadium.

The Tigers (44-23) will face Oklahoma on Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT. The Sun Devils (52-9) will meet South Carolina on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. in an elimination contest.

Harman (8-3) entered the seventh with a 6-2 lead. He allowed singles to Johnny Ruettiger and Deven Marrero and a walk to Raoul Torrez to load the bases with no outs.

Frederick came in and was outstanding. He got a short flyout by Austin Barnes, not deep enough to bring in a run. Drew Maggi grounded out to second, plating Ruettiger to make it 6-3. Frederick fanned Zack MacPhee to squelch the rally.

“I thought the seventh inning was a big key for us,” said ASU head coach Tim Esmay, “to get bases loaded with nobody out and come away with just one.”

Frederick allowed a one-out walk in the eighth and a two-out single in the ninth, but neither scored as he notched his third save.

They played a very good ballgame today,” said head coach Jack Leggett of his Tigers, “a complete game from start to finish. Our pitching was very good. Casey opened it up and gave us some great innings, and Alex came in and closed the door and did an outstanding job.”

The Tigers threatened by loading the bases in the top of the first, but Marrero snagged a line drive at short to start an unassisted double play to thwart the threat.

Clemson broke through in the second. Richie Shaffer had a one-out base hit and moved to second when Wilson Boyd walked. After the runners moved up on a balk, Spencer Kieboom had an infield single to plate Shaffer with the game’s first run. Boyd scored on an error to push the Tiger lead to 2-0.

Torrez sparked a rally for the Sun Devils in the third. He hit a ball to shallow left that he hustled into a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. Barnes lofted a fly to right, which Kyle Parker caught and fired the ball to the plate. Torrez made a nice slide to avoid the tag and put ASU on the board.

ASU is unable to make a couple defensive plays in the fifth, allowing Clemson to add to its lead. Jeff Schaus drew his third walk and Parker singled to start the inning. With one out, John Hinson ripped a shot off the first baseman that was ruled a hit and scored Schaus.

It spelled the end of the day for ASU starter Seth Blair, whose 4.1 innings marked the second-shortest outing among his 18 starts.

Shaffer greeted reliever Brady Rodgers by lofting a fly ball which the left fielder lost in the sun, becoming a single to bring home Parker. Boyd’s base hit plated Hinson to give the Tigers a 5-1 lead in the fifth.

Blair allowed seven hits and five earned runs with four strikeouts and a season-high five walks.

“He was not commanding the zone early,” Esmay said. “I thought Clemson did a good job of being very patient.”

Clemson added a run in the sixth as Chris Epps singled, moved to second on a balk, advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on a base hit by Schaus to give the Tigers a 6-1 advantage.

ASU got a run back in the bottom of the frame on a RBI single by Riccio Torrez to make it 6-2.

The game was originally scheduled for Sunday night, but inclement weather forced the move to Monday morning.

Every Tiger starter had at least one hit, with Epps, Hinson, Shaffer, Boyd and Mike Freeman each collecting two.

Freeman was key on defense as well, starting a pair of double plays for Clemson.

No Sun Devil had more than one hit.

(photo courtesy of Clemson Media Relations Office)