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 Email this story to a friend  Jarrod Schmidt, right, hugs David Slevin, center, after Slevin scored the winning run against Nebraska in the ninth inning of Clemson's 11-10 victory Friday. |
June 14, 2002
By DOUG ALDEN
AP Sports Writer
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Jeff Baker's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Clemson an 11-10 victory over Nebraska on Friday night in the opening round of the College World Series.
Baker's single to left-center was his only hit and drove in David Slevin, who led off the inning with the Tigers' 12th walk of the game.
Khalil Greene hit a three-run homer and drove in five runs and Zane Green also hit a three-run homer for the Tigers (53-15), who trailed by as many as five runs and didn't lead until the eighth inning.
Jed Morris hit a two-run homer and Will Bolt drove in two runs for Nebraska (47-20), which is one loss away from going 0-2 in the College World Series for the second straight year.
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Clemson Shortstop Gets 400th Hit |
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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Clemson shortstop Khalil Greene got his 400th career hit Friday night, the second NCAA Division I player to reach the milestone. Greene hit a two-run double in the third inning of the Tigers' opening-round game against Nebraska in the College World Series to reach 400. Greene, who earlier Friday won the Dick Howser player of the year trophy from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, also singled in the first off Nebraska starter Shane Komine. Only Wichita State's Phil Stephenson, who had 418 hits from 1979-82, had more career hits. Greene was selected by the San Diego Padres with the 13th overall pick in the recent amateur draft.
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The Cornhuskers, who left 12 runners on base, will play South Carolina in an elimination game Sunday afternoon. Georgia Tech, which shut out the Gamecocks 11-0 earlier Friday, will play Clemson in a winner's bracket game later Sunday.
Nebraska and Clemson set a CWS record by using a combined 13 pitchers, breaking the mark of 12 Tennessee and Miami used a year ago in the Hurricanes' 21-13 win.
There were 21 walks and 21 hits in the game, which looked to be Nebraska's until the late innings.
Matt Henrie (13-4) retired Nebraska in order in the ninth and picked up the win in relief. He was Clemson's sixth pitcher of the game.
Phil Shirek (4-2), who walked Slevin to start the ninth, took the loss. Green bunted Slevin to second and Jeremy Becker intentionally walked Greene.
Jeff Blaesing came on for Nebraska and his second pitch was lined into the left-center gap for the game-winner.
The game drew a crowd of 24,711, with the vast majority wearing the red and white of the Cornhuskers, whose Lincoln campus is about 60 miles away, and shouting "Go Big Red!" for most of the game. It was the third-largest crowd in CWS history and it got very quiet after Greene's shot in the seventh gave Clemson a 10-8 lead.
Greene had struck out in his previous two at-bats.
Nebraska came right back in the eighth. Jeff Blevins opened with a double, Justin Seely walked and Bolt hit a triple to tie it at 8-all.
Nebraska starter Shane Komine struck out seven, but also walked a career-high eight. He walked two in the sixth before Green's homer cut Nebraska's lead to 7-6.
