The Clemson baseball team took 2 games from the rivals in the midlands over the weekend, sweeping the abbreviated series hastened by weather on Friday night. It is always a great thing to win that series, and even with an impending, yet-to-be-rescheduled third game, the Tigers are assured of winning the yearly series with the Gamecocks.
Clutch performances were the theme of the weekend. Georgetown transfer Andrew Ciufo hit a walk-off home run in the 12th inning of Saturday’s game, Nolan Nawrocki’s glove in the field robbed extra bases in a clutch spot, as well as Ethan Darden looking sharp on the bump. Those are just a few names in a huge weekend series win against the hated rivals.
Clemson is hitting .308 as a team through 10 games. Will Taylor added yet another home run this weekend, and clutch performances by Ciufo, Blake Wright, and Jimmy Obertop among others.
The Tigers are averaging 7.9 runs per game coming into the mid-week tilt with K State.
Here is your preview of the midweek game against the Kansas State Wildcats, who come in at 7-4 on the season, having just lost last night 15-5 against Tennessee. This is a K State team that missed out on the post-season a year ago, with talent up and down the roster, trying to bolster their out-of-conference schedule to solidify their place in this year’s tournament.
Kansas State Wildcats
Head Coach – Pete Hughes – 6th Season
Record -7-4
Wins against: Boston College, Georgetown, Holy Cross x2, UMass-Lowell x3
Losses against: Cal, Arizona State, Holy Cross, Tennessee
Pitching Match Up:
Wednesday – RHP Billy Barlow (Clemson) vs. RHP Andrew Evans (KState)
Interesting mid-week start for Billy Barlow for the Tigers. He’s been the Friday night guy, seemingly a place-holder as they stretched out Austin Gordon. The appointment of Barlow all but solidifies the thinking that Austin Gordon will be in the weekend rotation somewhere (likely Friday night) against UNC-Greensboro.
Here are the projected starters for the Kansas State Wildcats positionally, with their early season stats as well:
Position Players:
| NAME (Jersey #) | GRADE | POSITION | ‘24 STATISTICS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chuck Ingram (9) | Senior | Left Field | .354; 6 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI; 3-3 SB |
| Brendan Jones (5) | Junior | Centerfield | .341; 5 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 13 RBI; 5-5 SB |
| Kaelen Culpepper (22) | Junior | Shortstop | .304; 3 2B, 3B, 4 HR, 11 RBI; 5-5 SB |
| Brady Day (7) | RS Junior | 2nd Base | .349; 2 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 17 RBI; 4-6 SB |
| Nick English (8) | Freshman | Right Field | .346; 3 2B, HR, 9 RBI; 2-2 SB |
| Jayden Lobliner (24) | Sophomore | DH/Catcher | .349; 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 15 RBI |
| Danniel Rivera (3) | Senior | 3rd Base | .243; 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI; 6-6 SB |
| Raphael Pelletier (28) | RS Junior | Catcher/DH | .233; 2 HR, 8 RBI |
| David Bishop (44) | Junior | 1st Base | .206; 4 RBI; 6-6 SB |
Offensively, the Wildcats are hitting .301 as a team, with 22 doubles, 4 triples, 21 home runs, and have knocked in 91 runs. The Wildcats will run and run a lot averaging 3.2 stolen bases a game, a total of 35, having only been caught twice.
Do not let last night’s score (15-5) skew you’re thinking that this is just another mid-week game. This Kansas State team is loaded with MLB Draft talent up and down the line-up. They got beat last night by timely hitting and a grand slam but were leading early against a top-10 Tennessee team. This is a very good offensive baseball team coming into Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
PITCHING
| NAME (Jersey #) | Year/Hand | ‘24 Statistics |
|---|---|---|
| Andrew Evans (35) | Sophomore/RHP | 1-0; 1.59 ERA; 5.2 IP, 5 K, 0 BB; OppBA: .261 |
Sophomore Right-hander Andrew Evans gets his first start of the year for the Wildcats. The 6’5” hurler has thrown in two games this season. Really good command, with three plus pitches to work with.
As a pitching staff, K State has a 6.22 ERA, 162nd in the country in the early going and opponents are hitting .269 against the Wildcats. They’ve surrendered 20 2Bs, 2 3B, and 18 HRs as a staff. This staff has been a work in progress during the early part of the season.
This has all the makings of a great game. A Big XII team that fits the mold of that conference perfectly; has talent up and down the lineup and will beat you with the long ball and aggressiveness on the base paths stressing opposing pitching staffs and defenses.
Clemson has its work cut out for them tonight with this matchup. They will need Barlow to give them quality innings, something that the redshirt sophomore has not quite done yet in the early going.
