The Clemson Tigers baseball team went into Durham, North Carolina in a highly-anticipated early conference set with Duke and came home winning 2 of the 3 games. All three of the games were highly entertaining. Duke is a very good baseball team who was top 10 in both their bats and on the mound, and Clemson managed to scrap and claw and match what Duke had for the series victory.
Clemson welcomes in undefeated Florida State over the weekend but first, two mid-week games against Winthrop and Presbyterian.
First up, on Tuesday evening, the Winthrop Eagles travel from Rock Hill to Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
The game is scheduled for 6pm at DKS.
Clemson Briefly:
Clemson is hitting .296 as a team through 19 games.
The team has hit 37 home runs through 19 games, including 7 over the weekend against Duke.
Alden Mathes continues to lead the Tigers in hitting at .333, however, it was his glove that graced ESPN’s Top 10 two days in a row, including his catch that robbed a home run at #1.
Jimmy Obertop and Blake Wright both hit two home runs over the weekend. Wright leads the team with 7 on the season.
Tigers Pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.03 (29th Nationally)
Clemson’s Bullpen was outstanding in big spots over the weekend. Drew Titsworth, Rob Hughes, Lucas Mahlstadt, Matthew Marchal and Nick Clayton all came through in big spots to help hold leads late in the latter two games.
The Tigers are averaging 7.9 (T-77th for overall runs, 150) runs per game.
Winthrop Head Coach Tom Riginos was an assistant under Jack Leggett at Clemson and is the father of Clemson’s Director of Player Development (and former player) Ben Paulsen.
Here is your preview of the Tuesday evening game against Winthrop:
Winthrop Eagles
Head Coach – Tom Riginos (14th Season)
Record – 8-10 (2-1 Big South)
Wins against: Indiana, Toledo x2, Maine x3, Appalachian State, Longwood x2
Losses against: Rutgers x3, South Carolina, Toledo x2, Queens, Appalachian State, Charlotte, Longwood
Pitching Match Up:
Tuesday @ 6PM: RHP Billy Barlow (Clemson) vs. RHP Shane Keup (Winthrop)
Billy Barlow has had two of his best outings of the season the last two mid-week starts. Barlow is really settling in to his new role and thriving as well. Currently 3-1 with a 3.18 ERA with 17 strike outs to 7 walks, and opponents are hitting .275 against him, which has steadily been coming down since his Friday appearance against Kennesaw State.
Sophomore Joe Allen has usually been the first guy out of the pen in the midweek and he’s been solid for the staff as well. The ERA is a bit high at 6.35, however, he’s settled down in a lot of games and allowed the Tigers to rally and win.
Here is the projected starters for the Winthrop Eagles positionally, with their season stats as well:
Position Players:
| NAME (Jersey #) | GRADE | POSITION | ‘24 STATISTICS |
| Anthony Ruocco (33) | Freshman | 2nd Base | .304; 4 2B, 7 RBI |
| Alan Benhardt (29) | Junior | Right Field | .344; 4 2B, 8 RBI |
| Nicholas Badillo (26) | Sophomore | DH | .227; 4 2B, 7 RBI |
| Jaylen Hernandez (41) | Freshman | 1st Base | .327; 10 2B, 2 HR, 13 RBI |
| Will Dorrell (2) | RS Sophomore | Left Field | .224; 3 2B, HR, 5 RBI |
| Harrison Wilson (17) | Sophomore | 3rd Base | .229; 2 HR, 9 RBI |
| Chancellor Jennings (25) | Freshman | Centerfield | .625; 2B, RBI |
| Nate Chronis (16) | Junior | Catcher | .219; 2 2B, 3 RBI |
| Abe Affolter (4) | Junior | Shortstop | .158; 2B, 3 RBI |
Offensively, the Eagles are hitting .270 as a team (163rd nationally), with 34 doubles, no triples, 13 home runs and have knocked in 99 runs. The Eagles stats do not jump off the screen by any account, however, neither did Kennesaw State’s and we saw what happened there. Funny things happen in the mid-week. Hopefully that’s not the case for this game.
STARTING PITCHING
| NAME (Jersey #) | Year/Hand | ‘24 Statistics |
| Shane Keup (35) | RS Freshman/RHP | No stats |
Winthrop will start Redshirt Freshman Shane Keup for his first outing of the season. The 6’1” righty from Columbia will face a quality Clemson lineup regardless of who coach Erik Bakich throws at the unknown hurler.
As a pitching staff, Winthrop has a 5.61 ERA 125th in the country through 18 games, while opponents are hitting .268 against the Eagles. They’ve surrendered 24 2Bs, 2 3B, and 23 HRs as a staff.
The Tigers are coming off a huge series win against a top 10 opponent. They will welcome a (presumably) unbeaten top 15 program this upcoming weekend, but some of the shine may be taken off that upcoming series should the Tigers drop a game during the mid-week. We do not foresee that happening. The Tigers should keep rolling along.
