Clemson vs. Mississippi State Notes

*Mississippi State defeated Clemson 8-5 today. It is the third straight NCAA Tournament game between the two teams in which the winning team scored at least eight runs. Clemson won last year 8-6 and Mississippi State won Friday's game 8-6.

*Clemson finishes the year with a 41-23 record. It marks the 22nd time in the last 23 years that Clemson has won at least 40 games.

*Despite the two losses in the Super Regional, Clemson should still finish in the top 20 of the college baseball polls. It will give Jack Leggett 11 top 20 finishes in at least one poll in his 14 seasons. A top 15 finish this year will give him 10 top 15 finishes in his 14 years.

*Andy D'Alessio concluded his Clemson career with a record tying 59 home runs. He hit his 59th and final home run on Friday to tie Jeff Baker's record (2000-02). Baker hit his final home run on June 7, 2002 in the opening game of a Super Regional against an SEC team (Arkansas). D'Alessio's final home run was also against an SEC team in the first game of a Super Regional. The dates were just one day apart (June 8, 2007).

*A Super Regional record crowd of 13,715 watched Saturday's game in Starkville, MS. A total of 26,335 watched the two games of the Super Regional.

*David Kopp took the loss today, his first loss since March 20 when he lost at Western Carolina. He left in the second inning, his shortest stint of the season. His previous low was 4 1/3 innings at Florida State on May 12.

*Doug Hogan finished the year with a 15-game hitting streak. He had three hits in Saturday's game and finished the year with four consecutive multi-hit games. He had seven multi-hit games during his 15-game hitting streak.

*Clemson had 11 players drafted in the Major League first-year player's draft. Only Rice had more with 14. Clemson, Oklahoma State and Texas all had 11 to tie for second, while Cal Fullerton and Georgia Tech had 10 apiece. The 11 players drafted is the most in Clemson history for any sport. Clemson had 10 baseball players drafted last year. The Tiger football program had 10 players drafted in 1983.

*Today was Clemson's first loss on a Saturday since April 21 when Clemson lost 3-0 to a sixth ranked Virginia team. Clemson had won five straight games played on Saturday.

*This was just the second time in seven Super Regional appearances that Clemson has gone two-and-out in the Super Regional. The other occasion came in 2001 when Clemson lost two straight at Miami (FL).