North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Baseball Stops Clemson 5-1 Behind Schmitt, Combs
4/7/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Ryan Combs (2-3) worked 7 2/3 strong innings to pick up the victory. He allowed just one run on two hits, walked four and struck out six. Clemson ace Scott Berney (7-2) took the loss after being tagged with four runs on eight hits in 7 2/3 innings of work. He walked three and struck out one.
The win snapped a five-game ACC losing streak for NC State, which improved to 6-7 in the league and 20-14 overall. The loss, Clemson's third in a row in the conference, dropped the Tigers to 4-3 in the ACC and 26-7 overall. Clemson lost for just the third time in 26 games at home this season.
The game started out as a pitchers duel between Combs and Berney, with Clemson scoring the game's lone run through the first seven innings. Casey Stone led off the bottom of the fourth with a single up the middle, the first leadoff baserunner of the game. He went to third on a one-out single past third base, and scored on Michael Johnson's RBI-grounder to first.
The Wolfpack finally got to Berney in the top of the eighth and wound up with a big inning. Brian Wright led off with an opposite-field single to left field and went to second on a one-out bunt by Dan Mooney, scored a sacrifice for the second out of the inning.
The crucial at-bat was by Craig Lee, who worked Berney for a disputed walk. Lee took a very close 2-2 slider for ball three, drawing howls of protest from the Clemson dugout. Lee went on to walk, and Schmitt followed with a three-run homer to left field, his fourth long ball of the season.
Jeremy Dutton followed with a single, bringing Tigers closer Nick Glaser into the game. Dutton then stole second and scored on Jason Smith's single to left, making it 4-1.
The bottom third of the Clemson batting order worked Combs for a pair of walks in the bottom of the eighth, prompting Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent to bring in Schmitt, who retired Casey Stone and Henri Stanley, the top two hitters in the Tigers batting order, on routine groundouts to get out of the eighth, and then mowed down Clemson in the bottom of the ninth, allowing just a harmless leadoff single to Khalil Greene.
Ryan Strain led off the top of the ninth with his first triple of the season and scored an insurance run on Wright's third hit of the game, a single to right field.
