Tigers Lose Game One of Super Regional 7-4 To Sun Devils

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During the NCAA Regional they hosted last weekend, the Clemson Tigers lost their second game, on Saturday to Oklahoma St., and found themselves facing a situation in which they had to win three consecutive games in order to advance.

After losing to the host Arizona St. Sun Devils on Saturday night in Tempe, they are now faced with a similar situation, and must win on both Sunday and Monday if they hope to travel to Omaha, Neb., for the College World Series.

The Tigers (44-21) had scored two runs in the top of the seventh off of Arizona St. starter Mike Leake, arguably one of the top two pitchers in all of college baseball this season, to tie the score at 4-4, but the Sun Devils scored a single run in the bottom of the inning to go up 5-4, then added two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to seal with the win in front of an above-capacity crowd of 4,381 at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark.

The Sun Devils (44-21) jumped ahead early, as Jason Kipnis hit a solo home run to center in the first off of Clemson starter Casey Harman.

Brad Miller led off the third with a single for the Tigers, and advanced to second on a one-out single by Matt Sanders. Chris Epps then continued his hot hitting with a single up the middle to tie the score at 1-1.

Clemson then scored on an unearned run in the fifth to take a 2-1 lead. Kyle Parker reached on a throwing error, stole second and then came home when Sanders beat out a potential inning-ending double play to get the run home.

The Sun Devils came back against Harman in the fifth, scoring two runs for a 3-2 lead, then added a single run in the sixth to give Leake a 4-2 cushion.

The Tigers refused to go quietly, however, with Miller leading off the 7th with a single, followed by a ringing double into the left field corner by John Nester to put runners at second and third with no one out. Epps then singled to right to score both runners, tying the score at 4-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh, when the Sun Devils scored the go-ahead run.

The last six of the Sun Devils’ runs were scored after the Tigers had gotten two outs in an inning.

Leake went eight innings and allowed eight hits and four runs (three earned) with seven strikeouts to earn the win and move to 16-1 on the season. Mitchell Lambson pitched the ninth, striking out two, to earn his fifth save of the season.

Harman allowed four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings, but it was Graham Stoneburner (7-4) that took the loss for the Tigers, giving up three earned runs in just two innings of work.

Game two of the series will be played Sunday night, starting at 10 p.m. EST. Clemson will be the home team, and if a game three is necessary, the Sun Devils have already won a coin flip and will the designated home team.

Clemson 4 (44-21)


Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB


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Chris Epps dh............  5  0  2  3   0  0  0  0   2


Mike Freeman 2b..........  4  0  0  0   0  0  2  4   1


Jeff Schaus lf...........  4  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   1


Ben Paulsen 1b...........  3  0  1  0   1  1  8  1   0


Wilson Boyd cf...........  4  0  0  0   0  2  2  0   0


Kyle Parker rf...........  4  1  0  0   0  1  0  0   2


Brad Miller ss...........  4  2  2  0   0  2  4  2   0


John Nester c............  4  1  2  0   0  2  6  0   0


Matt Sanders 3b..........  4  0  2  1   0  0  0  2   0


Casey Harman p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0


 Graham Stoneburner p....  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0


 Ryan Hinson p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0


Totals................... 36  4  9  4   1  9 24 10   6


Arizona State 7 (48-12)


Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB


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Drew Maggi ss............  5  2  3  0   0  1  4  4   1


Jason Kipnis cf..........  4  1  1  1   1  0  3  0   0


Carlos Ramirez c.........  5  1  3  3   0  1  9  0   0


Kole Calhoun lf..........  5  0  1  1   0  1  0  0   2


Matt Newman rf...........  4  0  2  1   0  2  1  0   2


Raoul Torrez 3b..........  4  0  1  0   0  1  0  1   1


Jared McDonald 1b........  4  0  1  0   0  0  5  1   1


Johnny Ruettiger dh......  2  1  1  0   2  0  0  0   0


Zack MacPhee 2b..........  3  2  1  1   1  0  4  5   2


Mike Leake p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0


 Mitchell Lambson p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0


Totals................... 36  7 14  7   4  6 27 11   9


Score by Innings                    R  H  E


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Clemson............. 001 010 200 -  4  9  1


Arizona State....... 100 021 12X -  7 14  2


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E - SANDERS(8); MAGGI(15); McDONALD(3). DP - Clemson 1; Arizona St. 2. LOB -


Clemson 6; Arizona St. 9. 2B - NESTER(11); NEWMAN(13); McDONALD(5). HR -


KIPNIS(16). SB - PARKER(6); KIPNIS(25); RAMIREZ(3); NEWMAN(5);


RUETTIGER(11). CS - MAGGI(2).


Clemson                IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF


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Casey Harman........  5.2 10  4  4  2  4 25 27


Graham Stoneburner..  2.0  4  3  3  2  1 10 12


Ryan Hinson.........  0.1  0  0  0  0  1  1  1


Arizona State          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF


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Mike Leake..........  8.0  8  4  3  1  7 32 33


Mitchell Lambson....  1.0  1  0  0  0  2  4  4


Win - LEAKE (16-1).  Loss - STONEBURNER (7-4).  Save - LAMBSON (5).


PB - NESTER(8).


Umpires - HP: Darrin Sealey  1B: Mike Conlin  2B: Jim Jackson  3B: Chris Coskey


Start: 6:05 PM   Time: 2:54   Attendance: 4381


Game notes:


Game 1 of Tempe Super Regional.

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