Baseball Suffers 9-1 Defeat in Game One vs. Clemson

May 15, 2008

ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Clemson starting pitcher D.J. Mitchell proved to be a tough puzzle to solve Thursday at Jay Bergman Field, where the UCF baseball team dropped a 9-1 decision to the Tigers. The contest opened up the final regular-season series for the Knights, who saw their record fall to 31-23 on the year.

Mitchell allowed just one run on five hits and struck out nine to help Clemson improve to 28-25-1. UCF shortstop Eric Kallstrom and right fielder Ryan Richardson each collected two hits vs. the Tiger pitching staff, while junior Caleb Graham tossed 1.2 scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts.

For the fourth time in the last five games and the seventh time in the last nine, UCF surrendered at least one run in the first inning as the Tigers' Ben Paulsen drove in two on a one-out triple down the right-field line vs. Kyle Sweat. The Knights tried to answer vs. D.J. Mitchell by putting two aboard with one out in the bottom half, but witnessed the righty strike out the No. 4 and No. 5 hitters to end the threat.

While Mitchell was starting to cruise through the UCF order, the Tigers added an unearned run in the fourth and picked up a solo homer from Kyle Parker in the fifth for a 4-0 lead. When the sixth rolled around and the Black and Gold went to reliever Carmine Giardina, Clemson put the game out of reach with four more runs.

Mitchell finally surrendered a run in the seventh, giving up a leadoff base hit to Richardson and a one-out first-pitch RBI double to Kallstrom. The Clemson hurler eventually held UCF to just the one run, and Justin Sarratt pitched two scoreless innings to close the door.

UCF and Clemson will get set for game two Friday at 6:30 p.m. Fans attending that night will have the opportunity to win tickets to see Duran Duran Sunday at the new UCF Arena.

UCF baseball single-game tickets are currently available by contacting the UCF Ticket Office at 407-823-1000, or by going online at www.ucfathletics.com, the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also check out UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.

Game Notes
Clemson - 28-25-1 Overall, 11-18-1 ACC
UCF - 31-23 Overall, 8-16 Conference USA
WP: D.J. Mitchell (6-4), 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K
LP: Kyle Sweat (5-4), 5.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
- Josh Siebenaler made his sixth start of the year at second base, and his first since April 2 vs. Florida Gulf Coast. The junior was filling in for injured second baseman Dwayne Bailey, who had played all 53 games before missing Thursday's contest vs. Clemson.
- Game one vs. the Tigers was UCF's first game on a Thursday since May 17 last year against Marshall.
- This week marks the first time Clemson has visited UCF's home field. The Tigers and Knights previously met in a three-game series in South Carolina in 2004, once at Disney in 2000 and once in Kissimmee in 1998. Clemson's win on Thursday helped it draw even with UCF in the all-time series at 3-3.
- It also is the first time since 1994 that the Knights end their regular season with a non-conference series.
- Catcher Robert Lara picked off his Conference USA leading fifth runner of the season when he nabbed Stan Widman at first base in the second inning.