Clemson vs Auburn - NCAA Regional Baseball Recap

Clemson 5, Auburn 2 - Clemson earns Sunday afternoon / elimination round bye

The Clemson Tigers' lefty ace Casey Harman shut down the SEC’s most potent lineup. As a result, the boys from the ACC stopped NCAA regional host Auburn on Saturday night in an all-Tiger tilt.

Harman allowed just 5 hits and 2 runs, pitching his first complete game in college for a 5-2 Clemson win on Saturday night.  

Up to the ninth inning, Harman retired every Auburn left-handed batter (before an Auburn first basemen Hunter Morris solo shot) and had a no-hitter into the fifth inning, striking out eight Auburn Tigers along the way. Auburn only truly threatened Harman’s dominance once and that occurred in the eighth inning. Tempers flared on both benches by an umpires' original foul-tip call on a ball that looked to have hit an Auburn batter before hitting the bat – the umpire reversed his call after seeing a mark on the Auburn player  – bringing out a fired-up Clemson coach Jack Leggett and pitching coach Dan Pepicelli onto the field. Both Tiger coaches were on the field at one point before Auburn coach John Pawlawski went to the bench satisfied and Leggett disgruntled. With runners on first and second base with one out (due to the reversed call), Harman coolly struck out the next two Auburn batters to end the inning and quiet the raucous Plainsmen Park crowd at Auburn, Alabama. Harman induced 10 Auburn Tiger flyouts on the night from the power-hitting squad (number one in the nation in home runs). 

Clemson struck early with a leadoff hit by designated hitter Will Lamb and second baseman Mike Freeman two-run home run to right field to give Clemson a 2-0 lead. Clemson third baseman John Hinson later drove in left fielder Kyle Parker to give Clemson a 3-0 advantage in the first.  

> Check out a great selection of Clemson Tigers Apparel & Merchandise & be sure to follow the 2010 College World Series with DFN Sports Sites!

As Harman continued to cruise through Auburn’s lineup, Clemson added more runs in the fifth. Back-to-back doubles by first baseman Richie Shaffer and center fielder Wilson Boyd added a run, and a throwing error on a Lamb grounder scored Shaffer from second base for Clemson’s fifth and final run. 

The Clemson Tigers advance on in the winner’s bracket of the Auburn Regional with a 2-0 record. An elimination game takes place between the 1-seed Auburn Tigers and 3-seed Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles at 2 Eastern on Sunday. The winner of that game plays Clemson at 6 Eastern – Clemson wins and they advance to the Super Regionals and face the winner of the Atlanta Regional (ACC foe Georgia Tech leading regional 2-0). If the Tigers fall in tomorrow’s game, a winner-take-all game comes on Monday.

Regardless of who wins in Sunday afternoon’s elimination game, Clemson is throwing lefthander Will Lamb (4-4, 4.96 ERA). Lamb last pitched in the ACC Tournament against Georgia Tech where he went 6 1/3 innings for the win with 2 earned runs and 4 strikeouts.

By: Brandon Rink
DFN Sports Guest Writer