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June 2, 2002
CLEMSON, SC - Zane Green sent the first pitch of the game over the fence in right and sent top-seeded Clemson on its way to a 21-1 victory over East Carolina in the Championship Game of the Clemson Regional Sunday afternoon before 3,886 fans at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Leading 8-1, the Tigers reeled off 12 runs in the sixth inning, the most runs ever scored by Clemson in one inning of NCAA Tournament play, to turn the game into a runaway.
Green, batting in the leadoff spot for the first time all season, hit his second home run of the series and of his career. The long ball was only the beginning as Clemson scored in each of the first four innings, including three runs in the second. Jarrod Schmidt led off the frame with a single and scored when Kyle Frank's double was mishandled by center fielder Warren Gaspar. Frank moved to third on a groundout and then stole home for the second run of the inning. Khalil Greene extended his hitting streak to 30 games with an RBI-single that extended the lead to 4-0.
Three straight hits led off the Clemson third, the last of which was an RBI-single by Schmidt. Russell Triplett executed a squeeze bunt to plate another run. East Carolina broke through in the bottom of the third when Jedd Sorenson hit a two-out double to left field that plated Ben Sanderson. In the fourth, Michael Johnson roped a single through a drawn in infield to score two runs and extend the lead to 8-1.
Clemson erased any doubt about the outcome in the sixth. East Carolina
used three pitchers in the inning, but none of the hurlers had success
slowing down the Tiger bats. Fifteen batters came to the plate and the
inning was capped by a three-run homer by Michael Johnson and a two-run
homer by Schmidt, who also singled in the inning. The inning was the
second highest scoring sixth inning in Clemson history, behind a 14-run
frame against Maine in 1998. The Tigers added a run in the ninth to make
the final margin 21-1.
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Clemson reached the 50-win plateau for the seventh time since 1990 and will advance to the Super Regional round for the fourth straight season. The Tigers will play either Arkansas or Oral Roberts from the Wichita State Regional in a best-of-three series beginning on Friday.
2002 Clemson Regional All-Tournament Team
SP - Steve Reba, Clemson
SP - Matt Henrie, Clemson
C - Clayton McCullough, East Carolina
1B - Darryl Lawhorn, East Carolina
2B - Gary Morris, Elon
SS - Khalil Greene, Clemson
3B - Jeff Baker, Clemson
OF - Jarrod Schmidt, Clemson
OF - Kyle Frank, Clemson
OF - Ben Sanderson, East Carolina
DH - Zane Green, Clemson
MVP - Khalil Greene, Clemson
