April 21, 2012
Final Stats
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Jack Cleary went 4-for-4 and two other Terps had multiple hits, but Clemson jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the first and held on for a 5-3 victory in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday.
Alfredo Rodriguez and Tomo Delp had two hits apiece for Maryland, which fell to 25-16 overall and 7-13 in the ACC.
Clemson designated hitter Phil Pohl went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Thomas Brittle and Jon McGibbon had a pair of hits. Those three were instrumental as the Tigers took an early lead on Maryland starting pitcher Brett Harman.
Harman opened the game by striking out Clemson leadoff batter Steve Wilkerson on four pitches and looked like he could be primed for a special outing. He went ahead with 0-2 counts on the next two batters, Brittle and Richie Shaffer, but each singled to put runners on the corners.
Still, Harman looked like he had the second out of the inning with a pickoff move Maryland has used to a great degree of success this year. Harman stepped to third, then turned around and had Shaffer caught at first - but the umpire called a balk, allowing both runners to advance.
After that, Pohl hit a run-scoring double down the left-field line and McGibbon followed two batters later with a RBI single to make it 3-0. All four of Clemson's hits in the inning came on two-strike counts.
Delp got a run back for Maryland in the bottom of the first with a solo homer to deep center field on a 2-2 count with two outs. It was the fourth of the season for the senior, who is hitting .311 with a team-high .544 slugging percentage.
Clemson tacked on single runs in the fourth and fifth to take a 5-1 lead. The Tigers' Jason Stolz doubled with two outs to score one in the fourth, while Pohl got his second RBI of the day with a run-scoring single in the fifth.
Those runs proved to be the difference, as Maryland got a couple of runs in the sixth. Singles by Kyle Convissar and Cleary sandwiched a walk to Michael Montville, and Korey Wacker drove in one with a single to left.
After Clemson went to the bullpen for Mike Kent, Alfredo Rodriguez legged out an infield single to make it 5-3. Kent, however, struck out Jordan Hagel to leave the bases loaded.
Michael Boyden gave Maryland four strong innings of relief, holding the Tigers scoreless on a couple of hits while striking out three. The senior hasn't allowed a run in his last 11 innings of work.
Harman (5-3), who allowed five runs on 10 hits, took the loss. With five strikeouts, he moved within two of tying current assistant coach Eric Milton for third place on Maryland's career strikeouts list. Of the 88 pitches he threw Saturday, 65 were for strikes (73.9 percent).
Clemson starter Dominic Leone (6-3) went 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, to pick up the win. Kent earned his second save of the season with 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
