Tigers' bullpen can't corral the Cowboys

CLEMSON — For much of the night, Oklahoma State starter Andrew Oliver possessed the liveliest fastball east of Strasburg, matched scoreless frame by frame by Clemson starter Casey Harman.

But fortunes rested in bullpens as they often do, and it was the Tigers' relief corps that faltered in a 3-2 winners' bracket loss at the Clemson Regional.

Clemson rematches No. 4 seed

Tennessee Tech in an elimination game at 3 p.m. today at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Clemson will throw Chris Dwyer against Tech's Chason Choate.

"We couldn't catch up with the fastball,'' Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. "There's little margin for error.''

The Tigers bullpen had been better since mid-April, losing just once when handed a tie or lead going into an opponent's final at-bat. But the Tigers had blown six such games in the season's first two months, and lost in a similar situation against the No. 3 seed.

Against the Cowboys (34-22), Ryan Hinson allowed a one-out double to Michael Dabbs in the eighth, and Matt Vaughn came on in relief, allowing a game-winning RBI single to Neil Medchill, a sharply hit ball that glanced off the out-stretched glove of Clemson first baseman Ben Paulsen and trickled into short right field.

"It's one of those plays you practice,'' Paulsen said. "You feel like you can make it every time ... it was hit just hard enough.''

It was enough for the Oklahoma State pen, which sealed Clemson's first regional loss at home since the tournament expanded in 1999.

The Cowboys own several shutdown relievers and unveiled one Saturday. Randy McCurry got out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, and retired the Tigers in order in the ninth.

"It was a tough situation. He has been through tough situations,'' Cowboys coach Frank Anderson said. "He's very competitive. He's going to go out there and battle … that's the biggest thing in that situation.''

Oliver, a lefty who is expected to be selected early in the Major League Baseball June draft, has endured an erratic junior campaign. But with the pressure on in the winners' bracket, he harnessed his mid-90s fastball, spotting it on both sides of the plate, and up and down in the zone to change the eye level of Clemson batters, which he said was key.

Oliver allowed two runs, both earned, over 7 1/3 innings. He allowed eight hits, a walk and struck out six.

Command has been his Achilles' heel, entering the game with 91 strikeouts in 80 1/3 innings but also with 33 walks and a 5.58 ERA.

He also benefited from several sharply hit balls directed right at Cowboys defenders. The Tigers stranded six baserunners.

Much has been made of Clemson's left-handed heavy lineup, which features six left-handed bats. Tennessee Tech threw lefty Ryan Dennick at the Tigers on Friday, and Oklahoma State went with lefty Oliver on Saturday as expected. Choate is also left-handed. Clemson is 15-9 this season against left-handed starters.

Oliver shut out the Tigers through seven innings and was given support in the seventh when Tom Belza and Mark Ginther hit back-to-back home runs.

It was Belza's fourth home run of the regional, which matched the sophomore's career total entering the NCAAs. Ginther followed with a laser shot over the left-center field wall that knocked Harman from the game.

Harman was as good as Oliver, matching his fellow lefty with six scoreless frames up until the seventh.

Harman allowed two runs and five baserunners over 6 1/3 innings, striking out eight.

The Tigers bailed out Harman with two runs in the seventh.

Oliver, who topped the 100-pitch mark in the eighth, allowed back-to-back RBI singles by Chris Epps and Mike Freeman to tie the score at 2-2, and was pulled for McCurry.

McCurry intentionally walked the left-handed Ben Paulsen to load the bases and induced Kyle Parker to pop to second to end the threat.

Reach Travis Sawchik at tsawchik@postandcourier.com and check out his Clemson blog at www.postandcourier.com/blogs/tiger_tracks