THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 21, 1995 TAG: 9503210420
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
One of college baseball's premier leadoff men will patrol centerfield at Old Dominion's Bud Metheny Baseball Complex in a two-game series scheduled to start tonight.
But that's not out of the norm. ODU's Kevin Gibbs is a staple in the Monarchs' lineup.
What's different is that Clemson, starring leadoff-hitting centerfielder Shane Monahan, is in town. Spectators can double their pleasure - Gibbs and Monahan.
The Tigers (20-1), who have won 20 in a row and are ranked No. 2 in the country by Baseball America, meet No. 24 ODU (16-6) tonight and Wednesday. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m.
As a sophomore, Monahan led Division I with 137 hits while batting .415. This year, the 6-foot, 190-pound junior has raised that figure to .536 through 21 games.
It will be the second time this season that the Monarchs have faced Monahan. Clemson swept a three-game series in South Carolina a little over two weeks ago, with Monahan going 6-for-12.
``He only hit .500 against us,'' ODU coach Tony Guzzo said. ``We held him down, didn't we? Oh gosh.
``He can do anything. He's extremely fast, he can steal bases, he can triple on you and he can take it out of the park. At the plate, he's a one-man show.''
Monahan leads the Tigers in batting average, hits (45), doubles (11) and home runs (7) while sporting a .988 slugging percentage.
``Clemson is loaded with talented players,'' said Gibbs, who patrolled center for Team USA last summer while Monahan played leftfield. ``But they might not all come to play every day. Shane comes to play every day.''
It's a work ethic handed down through generations. Monahan's grandfather was hockey Hall of Famer Bernie ``Boom Boom'' Geoffrion. His father, Hartland Monahan, played for six NHL clubs during an eight-year career.
So why didn't the younger Monahan play hockey?
He grew up in Atlanta, where his family moved while Geoffrion was coaching the Atlanta (now the Calgary) Flames).
``Living in Atlanta, it was kind of hard,'' Monahan said. The only ice rink in town closed when he was 12. But diamonds were plentiful.
Monahan figures he won't attain the lofty number of hits he had a year ago for two reasons.
First, Clemson isn't scheduled to play as many games as it did a year ago (75); it has only 56 regular-season games slated.
Second, Monahan is more selective at the plate. He's also leading Clemson in walks with 14. The more walks, the fewer opportunities for hits.
``I'm a lot more patient this year,'' Monahan said. ``My goal is 100 hits.''
In early June, it's almost certain Monahan's name will be one of the first called in pro baseball's annual amateur draft.
``I hate to speculate on those kinds of things,'' said Clemson coach Jack Leggett. ``But he'll go very high.''
NOTES: Clemson will start Ken Vining (1-0, 5.71 ERA) and Kris Benson (4-0, 0.87 ERA), while ODU will go with Ron Walker (3-1, 1.59) and Maika Symmonds (2-1, 7.47). . . . Clemson is hitting .345 as a team; ODU is hitting .302. . . ILLUSTRATION: Photo
CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/Staff
Shane Monahan will be front and center when Clemson visits ODU for a
two-game set beginning tonight.
by CNB