May 31, 2014

Xavier Sends Clemson Packing

By Gary Johnson

Special to CollegeBaseballInsider.com

@garyjohnson50

NASHVILLE – With one team’s excitement comes a disappointment for another.

Despite a near two-hour weather delay in the top of the seventh inning, fourth-seeded Xavier outlasted third-seeded Clemson 6-4 in an elimination game on Saturday afternoon in the NCAA Nashville Region.

The win advances the Musketeers (30-28) into a matchup with Oregon on Sunday in another elimination game.

“I think it was a great team win for us, a great start to the game,” Xavier coach Scott Googins said. “We overcame a lot of adversity I thought, with the delay. We were able to add some runs in the bottom of the seventh and come out with a really big victory for us.”

Clemson becomes the first team eliminated from the Nashville Region. The Tigers suffered an 18-1 loss to Oregon on Friday.

“It’s disappointing,” Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. “I’m disappointed for our players, disappointed for our team. I think right now we just didn’t play well enough this weekend to deserve to stay to be honest with you. We just didn’t enough good things offensively, pitching-wise, defensively. We just somehow didn’t come here and play our best baseball.

"We put ourselves in tough positions, obviously yesterday, but we put ourselves in tough positions today. I thought we had a chance. We came out of the lightning delay and somehow didn’t make some plays we needed to make and put ourselves in a tough spot. So I’m disappointed for our team.”

Brian Bruening went 4 for 4, and Daniel Rizzie collected three hits, two runs and drove in a pair of runs for Xavier.

Right-handed senior Scott Klever (7-6) got the start and win on the mound, pitching 6.1 innings and allowing a pair of earned runs on six hits before handing the ball over to junior right-hander Sean Campbell to close out the game.

The Musketeers found a way to stay focused during the delay.

“It’s something we’ve kind of figured out in the past three weeks. I can’t tell you the last game we’ve had playing straight through without weather issues," Rizzie said. "You just got to stay focused and stay locked in.”

Tyler Krieger went 3 for 4 with two runs, and Steve Wilkerson had a two-run homer for the Tigers (36-25).