Box Score

Clemson 8, VT 7

 

CLEMSON, S.C. - The Virginia Tech baseball team scored twice in ninth and had the bases loaded with two outs before falling just short, 8-7, to Clemson in ACC action on Saturday night at Kingsmore Stadium.

The Hokies out-hit the Tigers 15-8 and walked just three batters, but Clemson used three home runs - including a pair of three-run bombs - to improve to 23-20-1 overall and 9-13-1 in the ACC. The Hokies slipped to 18-25 on the year with a 4-19 conference mark.

The ninth inning started with the Hokies down 8-5. Third baseman Michael Seaborn (Atlanta, Ga.) was the second batter of the frame and reached via a walk before advancing all the way to third on an error committed during designated hitter Matt Hacker's fielder's choice to short. Right fielder Steve Bumbry (Cockeysville, Md.) then singled home Seaborn before first baseman Sean O'Brien doubled in Hacker, and center fielder Sean Ryan (Ashburn, Va.) walked to load the bases. Clemson reliever Matt Vaughn ended the threat, though, as he got Tech catcher Anthony Sosnoskie to ground out to short for the game's final out.

Clemson gained the three-run advantage thanks to a three-run homer from right fielder Kyle Parker in the bottom of the eighth - his second of the day and third of the weekend. Left fielder Jeff Schaus, who singled, and center fielder Wilson Boyd, who bunted for a single, were on base for the game-clinching shot to right-center field.

Parker ended up with five RBI on his three hits, and Vaughn (1-2) was credited with the victory after pitching the final two innings for Clemson. Though the Tigers' final home run was hit off of Tech reliever Sean McDermott (Walpole, Mass.), sophomore Josh Wymer (5-5, Fort Worth, Texas) was tagged with the loss because the lead runner - and go-ahead run - was inherited by McDermott after singling off of Wymer. Bumbry, O'Brien and Ryan each had three hits for the Hokies.

Clemson picked up one run in the bottom of the first when Kyle Parker lined a double over Ryan's head to plate Wilson Boyd, who had walked, but the Hokies jumped all over Tigers' starter Ryan Hinson in the second to take a 4-1 lead.

Tech manufactured the first run when left fielder Jose Cueto (Miami, Fla.) reached first on the fortune of a fielding error by Clemson second baseman Mike Freeman. He took second on a passed ball before Seaborn sacrificed him to third with a bunt. Hacker (Richmond, Va) followed with a base-knock up the middle to drive in Cueto and record his 21^st RBI in just 26 games played.

After Hacker's single, the left-handed Bumbry stepped to the plate and sent a 3-1 offering to the opposite gap that allowed Hacker to race home. Bumbry was credited with a double, but advanced to third on an errant throw home by the Clemson shortstop. O'Brien (Chappaqua, N.Y.) walked two batters later, and Ryan then pulled a single through the left side that brought home Bumbry and moved O'Brien to third. The inning's scoring was capped when Sosnoskie (Front Royal, Va.) ripped another base-hit up the gut to plate O'Brien.

Seaborn increased Tech's lead to 5-1 in the top of the third when he laced a bases-empty frozen rope over the left field wall for his team-leading seventh home run of the season.

Clemson's Kyle Parker matched Seaborn in the bottom of the fourth with a solo shot of his own, hitting his first home run of the game over the right-center field wall to make it 5-2.

Following a 41-minute rain delay in the middle of the sixth inning, Clemson got two runners on base with a single by Jeff Schaus and a walk by Ben Paulsen. Catcher Doug Hogan then cranked a three-run bomb over the left field wall to knot the contest at five runs apiece.

First pitch of the game was pushed back 24 minutes due to rain.

Due to threat of inclement weather in the afternoon on Sunday, the series' final game will start at 10 a.m. rather than the originally scheduled 1 p.m.