AUBURN, ALABAMA -- Casey Harman pitched a five-hitter and snuffed out a late rally attempt to lead Clemson past Auburn 5-2 on Saturday night to take control of the Auburn Regional.
Clemson (40-21) got its second straight dominant pitching performance and will face the Auburn-Southern Miss winner Sunday night needing just one win to advance.
Auburn (41-20) got its second solo home run of the night when Hunter Morris drove the ball over the left-field fence to open the bottom of the ninth. Harman then gave up a single to Tony Caldwell who had the first solo shot but got Dan Gamache to ground into a double play. Ryan Jenkins popped up to end it.
Mike Freeman hit a two-run homer to highlight a three-run first, and Clemson added two more in the fourth.
Harman (7-2) took care of the rest against Auburn (41-20), which came in leading the nation in homers but got little beyond the two long balls.
``They came in with a very good reputation,'' Harman said. ``We stuck with our game plan: Attack them and don't give in.''
Harman struck out eight and walked only one. Weismann and Clemson allowed only one run in the regional opener against Southern Miss, giving the team a rested bullpen.
Harman worked out of a jam unscathed in the eighth. Justin Hargett hit a one-out single and Justin Fradejas was hit by a pitch. But the left-hander struck out Auburn stars Trent Mummey and Brian Fletcher to end the inning.
Clemson coach Jack Leggett stuck with him in the ninth, even after the homer.
``He came in after the eighth and said he wanted the ball, wanted to finish this thing off,'' the coach said. ``At that point, it was his ball.
``I could tell from the very beginning he was locked in on what he wanted to do tonight.''
Harman, who had allowed 14 earned runs in his last three starts, didn't give up a hit until the fifth. Then Caldwell led off with a homer that just cleared the high fence in left field.
Auburn nearly got back into it in the sixth but Clemson center fielder Wilson Boyd made a leaping grab at the wall to prevent what might have been a two-run homer.
``I got to the point where I was on the (warning) track and knew I had to either go after it or it's going to be a hit and a momentum switch in the game,'' Boyd said.
Clemson also turned two double plays behind Harman.
``We had a few opportunities, not many, but they made the plays,'' Auburn coach John Pawlowski said. ``They did what they needed to do not only to keep the momentum but win the ball game.''
Harman's performance helped. ``Everybody plays inspired behind a guy who's going out there throwing strikes and competing for us,'' Boyd said.
Clemson jumped on Auburn starter Grant Dayton with three runs in the first, including Freeman's two-run shot that cleared the right-field fence with plenty of room to spare. He labored to 38 pitches in the inning but managed to keep Auburn within striking distance.
Dayton struck out nine batters and threw 130 pitches.
``He gave us a chance, and that's all we ask of our starters,'' Pawlowski said. ``He was outstanding. He gave us a chance but unfortunately we weren't able to get anything going offensively.''
Wednesday
October 30th, 2024
11:25PM
