Durham, NC – Righthanders Dominic Leone and David Haselden combined for a six-hit shutout and Jeff Schaus went 4-for-5 with two doubles in #14 Clemson’s 9-0 victory over #8 Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament in front of 1,571 fans at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Wednesday.
The Tigers, the #6 seed, improved to 40-17 overall and 1-0 in the ACC Tournament. The Yellow Jackets, the #3 seed, fell to 39-18 overall and 0-1 in the ACC Tourney.
Chris Epps broke a scoreless tie with a two-out, three-run homer in the fourth inning. With the Tigers ahead 4-0, they scored five runs in the ninth inning to put the game out of reach. Seven of Clemson’s eight RBIs in the game were two-out RBIs.
The Tigers’ seventh shutout of the season was also Clemson’s first in the ACC Tournament since 2002, when the Tigers blanked the Yellow Jackets by a score of 10-0 in Clemson’s opener of the 2002 ACC Tourney. It also ended Georgia Tech’s 177-game streak of scoring at least one game dating back to the 2008 season.
In 5.0 innings pitched, Leone (6-2) allowed four hits, no runs, and four walks with five strikeouts to earn the win. Haselden recorded his third save of the year by pitching the final 4.0 innings. He yielded just two hits, no runs, and no walks with two strikeouts.
Georgia Tech starter Mark Pope (11-4) suffered the loss, as he gave up nine hits, four runs, and two walks with three strikeouts in 6.2 innings pitched.
The Tigers took the game’s first lead in the fourth inning. Will Lamb hit a one-out single through the right side and went to third two batters later on Jeff Schaus’ two-out single through the right side on an 0-2 pitch. Epps, a native of Stone Mountain, GA, then belted a three-run homer to right field, his ninth long ball of the season.
In the seventh inning, Spencer Kieboom led off with a walk, but he was retired at second base on Jason Stolz’s bunt back to the mound. Stolz advanced to third base on John Hinson’s double down the left-field line and scored on Phil Pohl’s sacrifice fly to left field.
Clemson added five insurance runs in the ninth inning. Kieboom led off with a single to left-center, but he was retired at second base on Stolz’s bunt to first. After Stolz stole second and Hinson walked, Pohl hit a chopper up the middle. Second-baseman Mott Hyde booted the potential inning-ending, double-play grounder, allowing Stolz to score, Hinson to move to third, and Pohl to advance to second base. After Brad Miller walked to load the bases with one out, Lamb reached on a fielder’s choice to first as Hinson was retired at the plate. But Richie Shaffer came through with a two-out double over the third-base bag to score Pohl and Miller, then Schaus doubled off the wall down the left-field line to plate Lamb and Shaffer.
Schaus went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs to lead Clemson, who totaled 13 hits. Shaffer went 2-for-5 with a double, two RBIs, and a steal, while Epps added a three-run homer. Hinson went 2-for-4 with a walk to up his hitting streak to 13 games as well.
Jake Davies went 2-for-2 with two walks to lead Georgia Tech, who put 10 batters on base.
Clemson will face #2-seed and #7-ranked Florida State on Thursday at 3:00 PM at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
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