There’s something to be said about mid-week victories. Clemson has made it midway through the season without dropping a mid-week game, and not everyone around college baseball can say the same. Heck, there’s even another major university down the street from Clemson that has made it a habit of dropping games to “lesser” teams in the mid-week.
Clemson dispatched USC-Upstate rather handily on Tuesday night behind a really good performance on the hill from Billy Barlow. Solid at-bats led to a lot of runs and a fun (and quick) night in Greenville.
This week the Tigers take their talents on the road to South Bend, Indiana to play conference foe, Notre Dame. Many may not remember two seasons ago, before Erik Bakich came into the fold, the Tigers went up to South Bend during a cold spell and not only the weather was cold up there. Notre Dame took 2 of 3 against a much better (on paper) Clemson team.
The weather is not promising if you were looking for a nice, mild Spring weekend in Indiana this weekend where the highs will be lucky to even reach 55. Brrrrr.
Clemson Briefly:
Clemson is now 25-3, 7-2 in the ACC exactly one game beyond the mid-way point in the season.
Cam Canarella added two hits and 3 RBIs in the contest with Upstate during the week.
Billy Barlow improved his record 4-1 and lowered his ERA to 3.40 with 5 innings of work scattering only 3 Spartan hits. Added to that are 5 strikeouts in those 5 innings.
Jacob Jarrell had himself a day as he’s worked back into the regular lineup. The catcher was 2-2 on Tuesday with 2 RBIs and 2 walks.
Blake Wright’s early season success has been recognized as he’s been placed on the Golden Spikes Award Mid-Season Watch List. The Golden Spikes, or the Dick Howser Award is given annually to college baseball’s best player. It’s a great honor to even be mentioned in this list and Wright is having a great season and deservedly has been added.
Here is your preview of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish:
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Head Coach – Shawn Stiffler (2nd Season)
Record – 14-12; (2-10 ACC)
Wins against: Rice x3, FIU x2, Tennessee Tech x3, Purdue, Radford x2, Western Michigan, Miami x2
Losses against: FIU x2, Virginia Tech x3, Florida State x3, Miami, NC State x3
Pitching Match Ups:
Friday 4:30PM: RHP Matthew Marchal (Clemson) vs. RHP Matt Bedford (ND)
Saturday 5:30PM: LHP Ethan Darden (Clemson) vs. RHP Jack Radel (ND)
Sunday 1PM: RHP Aidan Knaak (Clemson) vs. RHP Rory Fox
Matthew Marchal getting the nod for the Friday night start again for a second straight week. He scatterd 6 hits and 1 run in 4 innings a week ago at Miami. Marchal is 4-0 with most of his work coming out of the bullpen in the first half of the year. His ERA is a steady 3.24 on the season.
Ethan Darden again goes in the Saturday role. Darden only went 3 innings at Miami last week allowing 5 hits and 2 runs. Darden’s ERA has steadily been falling after the early season game against South Carolina that inflated it. Currently, it sits at 5.23 to go along with a 4-0 record.
And then there is the steady force on Sunday. Aidan Knaak just continues to thrive in his first season of college baseball holding down that Sunday starting role. Knaak is 2-0 on the season with a 3.76 ERA. He was tremendous last Sunday at Miami with 10 strikeouts across 7 innings pitched, both career highs (for now), allowing only two hits on the day.
Here is the projected starters for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish positionally, with their season stats as well:
Position Players:
| NAME (Jersey #) | GRADE | POSITION | ‘24 STATISTICS |
|---|---|---|---|
| TJ Williams (6) | Senior | Centerfield | .407; 4 2B, 5 HR, 21 RBI; 7-9 SB |
| David Glancy (2) | Graduate | Left Field | .295; 4 2B, 3B, 9 HR, 31 RBI; 2-4 SB |
| Connor Hincks (12) | Senior | 1st Base | .297; 6 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 23 RBI |
| Simon Baumgardt (18) | Graduate | 3rd Base | .287; 9 2B, 6 HR, 20 RBI |
| Jack Penney (11) | Junior | Shortstop | .206; 4 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 14 RBI; 6-9 SB |
| Tito Flores (7) | Graduate | DH | .248; 4 2B, 3 HR, 22 RBI |
| Brady Gumpf (21) | Senior | Right Field | .286; 8 2B, 3 HR, 15 RBI |
| Joey Spence (13) | Junior | Catcher | .351; 4 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 4 RBI |
| Estevan Moreno (3) | Sophomore | 2nd Base | .313; 9 2B, 6 HR, 19 RBI; 3-3 SB |
Offensively, the Fighting Irish are hitting .276 as a team (154th nationally), with 56 doubles, 9 triples, 46 home runs and have knocked in 184 runs. TJ Williams leads the offense from a batting average perspective, tied for 45th nationally in that category with a .407 average. He gets Notre Dame going right off the rip as he leads off and has all season long.
On the basepaths, Notre Dame has successfully stolen a base 29 times on 40 attempts. Led by Williams with 7, followed by Jack Penney with 6 and DM Jefferson with 5 respectively.
STARTING PITCHING
| NAME (Jersey #) | Year/Hand | ‘24 Statistics |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Bedford (32) | Senior/RHP | 1-4; 5.60 ERA, 27.1 IP, 20 K, 10 BB, OppBA: .248 |
| Jack Radel (27) | Freshman/RHP | 2-0; 2.96 ERA, 24 IP, 16 K, 7 BB; OppBA:.255 |
| Rory Fox (10) | Sophomore/RHP | 1-0; 5.48 ERA, 23 IP, 17 K, 9 BB; OppBA: .271 |
Notre Dame has used the same weekend starters for the last three weeks. Only Matt Bedford has been in the same spot all season long. The senior leads the staff albeit with a less than average record and ERA. Battling some tough lineups as well as counterparts in that “Friday night” role has led to some bad luck.
Radel and Fox are two youngsters that are getting their chance in the second half of the season to steady the ship for the Irish. They have performed admirably during their starts to the season.
As a pitching staff, Notre Dame has a 6.70 ERA 195th in the country through 26 games, while opponents are hitting .280 against the Irish. They’ve surrendered 37 2Bs, 7 3B, and 42 HRs as a staff.
SUMMARY
The word of the weekend will be cold! It is going to be chilly up in Indiana this weekend and my memory is not a positive one the last time the Tigers went up there for a three game set. Erik Bakich has this team mentally tough, so here’s to hoping a little cold weather won’t cool down these hot bats.
This is a series that Clemson SHOULD handle, on paper. But we all know the saying, “sometimes baseball happens.” Hoping Clemson can not allow it to rule the weekend.
