May 22, 2002

CLEMSON BLANKS TECH 10-0 IN ACC TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Steve Reba worked eight shutout innings and Khalil Greene homered to lead fourth-seeded Clemson (45-12) to a 10-0 win over fifth-seeded Georgia Tech (44-13) in the first round of the 2002 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament on Wednesday morning at Florida Power Park. The Yellow Jackets were shut out for the first time since Reba tossed a complete game, three-hitter on April 20, 2001 at Clemson.

The Tigers, ranked fifth in the nation this week, advance in the ACC Tournament where they will face the winner of Wednesday's Florida State-Duke game on Thursday at 5 p.m. The Yellow Jackets, ranked seventh, fall to the loser's bracket and will face the loser of the Florida State-Duke game on Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Reba (12-2) held Tech to seven hits over eight innings, issuing one walk and striking out three batters. He needed just 100 pitches and allowed just one Tech base runner to advance past second base. Steven Jackson worked a scoreless ninth inning to preserve the shutout.

The Clemson defense aided Reba's effort by turning four double plays in the game. Tech had the leadoff runner reach base in four of the first six innings of the game, but failed to score each time.

"It was one of our worst played games this season," said Tech head coach Danny Hall. "I thought [starting pitcher] Chris Goodman pitched very well, but we did not help him out defensively. If we catch three fly balls, that takes six runs off the board.

"But I give credit to Steve Reba. He pitched a very good game, and did a good job of getting the double play balls when he needed them. We hit into four double plays and couldn't get a two-out base hit all game. Now we have our work cut out for us against either Florida State or Duke tomorrow." Clemson took control early after jumping to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. After Jeff Baker was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, Michael Johnson tripled off the center field wall. A short pop fly that was dropped by Tech left fielder Matt Murton allowed Johnson to score. Russell Triplett singled, and Roberto Valiente provided the big blow of the inning with a two-out, two-run single up the middle.

A two-run homer from Greene, his team-leading 22nd of the season, gave the Tigers a 6-0 lead in the fifth inning. Clemson added two unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh after Tech right fielder Brandon Boggs dropped a fly ball with two outs. Clemson scored twice in the eighth inning with a two-out double from Johnson, a pop-fly that fell between three Tech fielders.

Tech starter Chris Goodman (6-1) took the loss after allowing six runs, four of which were earned, on eight hits in six innings of work. Four of Clemson's 10 runs in the game were unearned.

"I wanted to start (Kyle) Bakker, but he felt like he needed another day because he had some soreness," said Hall. "Goodman had had success against them. To reiterate, I don't think he pitched that poorly, I just think that we needed to catch a few fly balls for him. Then, he might have had a little better fate and certainly scoring some runs would have helped him."

 
          2002 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
           GEORGIA TECH vs CLEMSON
May 22, 2002 at St. Petersburg, Fla. (Florida Power Park)

GEORGIA TECH 0 (44-13)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Eric Patterson 2b........  4  0  1  0   0  1  1  1   1
Victor Menocal ss........  4  0  0  0   0  2  0  2   1
Jeremy Slayden dh........  3  0  1  0   1  0  0  0   0
Matt Murton lf...........  3  0  1  0   1  0  0  0   0
Jason Perry 1b/rf........  4  0  1  0   0  1  9  1   0
Tyler Parker c...........  3  0  0  0   0  0  8  0   0
Matthew Boggs 3b.........  3  0  1  0   1  0  2  6   4
Brandon Boggs rf.........  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   1
 Clifton Remole ph/1b....  1  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Wes Rynders cf...........  2  0  2  0   0  0  3  0   0
Chris Goodman p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Nick Wagner p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Aaron Walker p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Jordan Crews p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 29  0  7  0   3  4 24 10   7

CLEMSON 10 (45-12)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Valiente, Roberto lf.....  5  1  2  2   0  0  1  0   1
Frank, Kyle cf...........  5  1  1  0   0  0  2  0   2
Greene, Khalil ss........  3  3  2  2   1  1  4  6   0
Baker, Jeff 3b...........  4  2  1  0   0  2  0  2   0
Johnson, Michael 1b......  5  1  3  3   0  1 12  1   0
Schmidt, Jarrod rf.......  5  0  0  0   0  3  0  0   2
Triplett, Russell dh.....  3  1  1  0   1  1  0  0   1
Slevin, David 2b.........  4  1  0  0   0  0  3  7   0
Pyzik, Steve c...........  4  0  1  0   0  0  3  1   2
 Miller, Seth c..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Reba, Steve p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 Jackson, Steven p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 38 10 11  7   2  8 27 18   8

Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
GEORGIA TECH........ 000 000 000 -  0  7  3
CLEMSON............. 040 020 22X - 10 11  0
-------------------------------------------

E - Murton, M.(6); Boggs, M.(19); Boggs, B.(6). 
DP - CLEMSON 4. LOB - GEORGIA TECH 7; CLEMSON 8. 
2B - Perry, J.(16); Rynders, W.(7); VALIENTE(3); GREENE(23); JOHNSON(14); PYZIK(7). 
3B - JOHNSON(1). HR - GREENE(22). HBP - Parker, T.; Rynders, W.; GREENE; BAKER.

GEORGIA TECH           IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
Chris Goodman.......  6.0  8  6  4  0  5 28 29  98
Nick Wagner.........  0.0  1  2  0  1  0  1  2  11
Aaron Walker........  1.0  0  0  0  1  1  4  5  17
Jordan Crews........  1.0  2  2  2  0  2  5  6  21

CLEMSON                IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
Reba, Steve.........  8.0  7  0  0  1  3 26 29 100
Jackson, Steven.....  1.0  0  0  0  2  1  3  5  24

Wagner, N. faced 2 batters in the 7th.

Win - REBA (12-2).  Loss - Goodman, C. (6-1).  Save - None.
HBP - by Goodman, C. (BAKER); by REBA 2 (Rynders, Parker) by Crews, J. (GREENE). 
PB - Parker, T.(6). Inherited runners/scored: Walker, A. 2/2. 
Pitches/strikes: Goodman, C. 98/66; Wagner, N. 11/4; Walker, A. 17/12;
Crews, J. 21/16; REBA 100/60; JACKSON 24/11.

Umpires - HP: Tony Maners  1B: A.J. Lostaglio  2B: Scott Graham  3B: Steve Manders  
Start: 10:02 a.m.  Time of game: 2:31


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