Notes on Baker's Game-Winning Ninth-Inning Home Run

---

CLEMSON -- Clemson junior third baseman Jeff Baker socked a walk-off

ninth-inning home run to defeat Winthrop on April 3 at Kingsmore

Stadium. It was the first ninth-inning, game ending home run for

the Tigers since May 6, 1997 when Eric DeMoura hit a three-run homer

in the bottom of the ninth to defeat North Carolina, 5-4.

Baker's home run was the fourth walk-off home run for the

Tigers under Jack Leggett (since 1994) and the 17th game-ending hit

since Leggett has been head coach. Sixteen of the 17 game-ending

hits took place at Kingsmore Stadium. The only exception was a game

ending single by Kurt Bultmann against NC State in the 1999 ACC

Tournament in Durham.

Baker has had many clutch hits in his three-year career, but

the home run against Winthrop was his first walk-off hit. Four

different active Tigers now have game-ending hits in their careers.

Khalil Greene has two, one against Coastal Carolina in 2001 and one

against South Carolina earlier this year. Zane Green and Steve Pyzik

are also current players in the walk-off hit club.

Baker's home run in the ninth to beat Winthrop was also his

third home run of the game. Baker became the 10th Clemson player in

history to hit three home runs in a game, the first since April 11,

1993 when Shane Monahan hit three home runs at NC State. It was the

first time any Clemson player had ever hit three home runs in a game

at Kingsmore Stadium. The last time a Clemson player hit three home

runs in a game on the Clemson campus was on April 14, 1964 when Jack

McCall hit three against Georgia Tech.

Walk-off Game-Winning Hits under Jack Leggett


Date	CU-Op	Opponent	Hit	Player      	RBI


3-5-94	10-8	NC State	1B	Gary Burnham	1


4-8-94	10-8	NC State	HR	Seth Brizek	2


4-10-94	5-4	Wake Forest	1B	Mike Eydenberg	1


3-31-95	3-2	North Carolina	1B	David Miller	1


3-2-96	8-7	C Carolina	HR	Doug Livingston	3


5-6-97	5-4	North Carolina	HR	Eric DeMoura	3


4-17-98	11-10	NC State	1B	Kurt Bultmann	1


4-21-99	5-4	South Carolina	1B	Brian Ellis	2


5-1-99	5-4	Virginia	1B	Patrick Boyd	1


5-19-99	7-6	*NC State	1B	Kurt Bultmann	1


4-15-00	6-5	Wake Forest	2B	Brian Ellis	1


5-7-00	5-4	Florida State	1B	Casey Stone	1


4-11-01	8-7	C Carolina	1B	Khalil Greene	1


4-28-01	10-9	North Carolina	1B	Steve Pyzik	1


5-13-01	5-4	Virginia	1B	Zane Green	1


3-3-02	11-10	South Carolina	2B	Khalil Greene	1


4-3-02	6-4	Winthrop	HR	Jeff Baker	2


*At ACC Tournament in Durham, NC    


Three Home Run Games by Clemson Players


Date	Player  	Site	Opponent


5-1-50	Ray Mathews	H	Furman


4-22-53	Bill Barnett	H	Furman


4-14-64	Jack McCall	H	Georgia Tech


4-19-75	Denny Walling	A	Wake Forest


4-7-79	Neil Simons	A	NC State


4-6-83	Bob Paulling	A	Georgia


3-31-87	Steve Baucom	A	Charlotte


5-5-87	Chuck Baldwin	A	Maryland


4-11-93	Shane Monahan	A	NC State


4-3-02	Jeff Baker	H	Winthrop

Trending on TigerNet

Clemson men's basketball lands Duke transfer

5-seed Tigers pull away from 4-seed Cavaliers, advance to ACC semis

No. 2 Tigers head to No. 12 Wake Forest for key ACC series

Clemson hires former Gamecocks defensive coordinator