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By John Manuel
June 14, 2002

Khalil Greene

OMAHA--The third-largest crowd in College World Series history saw a record 13 pitchers used, but only one of them came out unscathed.

Clemson junior righthander Matt Henrie, the team's leading winner, retired the side in the ninth, and the Tigers got a game-winning single from Jeff Baker in the bottom half to claim an 11-10 marathon Friday night against Nebraska.

The Huskers tried seven pitchers, starting with ace righthander Shane Komine, but none of them could consistently find home-plate umpire John Magnusson's strike zone. While both coaches noted the tight zone thereafter, the Tigers were better able to take advantage, getting a pair of three-run homers by Zane Green and Khalil Greene to come back from an early deficit.

"I thought our guys showed a lot of character and a lot of toughness to come back and win, especially when we were down 4-0 and 7-2," Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. "We had many opportunities to give up, and we didn't pitch very well early. But tonight we had clutch hitting and some toughness."

The victory moved Clemson (53-15) into a Sunday matchup with fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member Georgia Tech, which beat South Carolina earlier in the day. The Huskers (47-20), now 0-3 all-time in the CWS, play the Gamecocks in an elimination game Sunday. The loss keeps the Big 12 winless in Omaha since its 1997 inception, a nine-game streak Texas will try to snap Saturday night against Rice.

Both Green(e)s figured into the game-winning run. Reliever Phil Shirek (4-2) walked David Slevin (his third of the game) to lead off the 10th, and Green got down the sacrifice bunt to move Slevin to second. The Huskers predictably intentionally walked Greene, but Baker came through, slamming an 0-1 pitch from Jeff Blaesing into the left-center gap to score Slevin and end the game after four hours and one minute--tied for the third-longest nine-inning game in CWS history.

"We knew when we bunted that they were going to walk Khalil and it would come down to Bakes," Leggett said. "We couldn't have had a better guy up there as well."

Nebraska coach Dave Van Horn acknowledged the difficulty of dealing with the Clemson lineup. "You pick your poison there in the ninth," he said. "Who do you want to pitch to? You can't walk all of them."

It seemed like Nebraska tried, as their seven pitchers combined to hand out 12 bases on balls. Komine, who entered the game having walked 22 in 91 1/3 innings, walked eight over 5 1/3 innings, while striking out seven. He pitched a complete game last Friday and three more innings on Sunday in the super-regional, and said coming back on shorter-than-usual rest "probably affected me a little.

"I lost my control in the fifth, and when you walk guys you don't give your team a chance to win. They made us pay for it. We'd walk the leadoff guy, and he would score. It's very disappointing. It's not what I usually do, and tonight it killed us."

Most of the 24,711 in attendance, a first session record, were rooting in throaty fashion for the Huskers, and they had to like the game's early script. Clemson righthander Steve Reba needed 35 pitches to get out of the first, running the count full five times, but got out of it giving up only one run. He was chased in the second as Nebraska plated two more, and it was 4-0 before Greene's two-run double in the third cut the lead in half.

Still, Nebraska kept up the pressure, getting a two-run homer from Jed Morris and back-to-back doubles by Jeff Blevins and Justin Seely to make it 7-2. However, the Huskers already had left seven runners on base in the first four innings, five of them in scoring position.

"It was a weird game . . . there were a lot of mistakes made that didn't show up in the 'E' category," Van Horn said. "It was not played very well. You throw in all those walks, and it was a little ugly."

Clemson found a way to win ugly, beginning to rally in the fifth. Michael Johnson's double to left field--misplayed by Huskers outfielder Daniel Bruce--plated Baker, who had walked. In fact, five of Clemson's 11 runs scored on walks.

"When you have different umpires that have different strike zones, you have to adjust," Komine said. "The other team had the same zone. You can't use that as an excuse."

The Tigers turned to the long ball to take their first lead. Komine walked Steve Pyzik and David Slevin--the eighth and ninth hitters in the Clemson order--to start the sixth, and Green blasted his first pitch out to right for a three-run homer, making it 7-6. Nebraska rallied in the top half for a run on Jed Morris' bases-loaded single, but Kyle Frank's perfect throw to the plate cut down Joe Simokaitis and kept the Huskers lead at 8-6.

The Tigers kept the momentum in the bottom half, as reliever Aaron Marsden hit Frank with a pitch and walked Pyzik. Slevin plated one run with a single, and after Green's hustle down the line turned a possible inning-ending double play into a fielder's choice, the Huskers brought in reliever Steve Hale to face Greene. Everybody's All-American blasted Hale's second pitch deep into the left-field bleachers for his 401st career hit--only Wichita State's Phil Stephenson (1979-82) had more--and a 10-8 Tigers lead.

"Nothing Khalil does surprises me anymore," Leggett said. "But the play was Green beating that throw at first to break up the double play, just before Khalil hit the home run. If he's not hustling down the line the whole way--and that's something we work on all year . . . he got there a step ahead and gave Khalil a chance."

Usually, giving Greene a chance is enough for the Tigers, but neither team has a real closer, and the Clemson lead didn't last long. Reliever B.J. LaMura gave up a leadoff double in the eighth to Jeff Blevins, then walked Justin Seely. After a strikeout, Huskers second baseman Will Bolt drilled a liner to center that Frank dove for and missed. The ball rolled to the wall for a two-run triple, leaving Bolt pumping his fist in a cloud of dust after a head-first slide into third.

But LaMura got out of the inning without further damage, and Henrie cruised through the ninth with an ease uncommon in Friday's game. "We had to use Henrie--we pulled out every stop," said Leggett, who probably will come back with Henrie for at least part of Sunday's matchup with Georgia Tech. "We'll worry about Sunday when it gets here."

The Tigers' wait will be easier with a win under their belt.