Was anyone else having flashbacks of the Florida State series while watching Clemson blow, and nearly lose a 10-run lead on Sunday in South Bend? There’s no way it was just me. There were many thoughts that crossed the mind during the implosion. The good news? Clemson got the victory and yet another sweep in ACC play, on the road. The bad news? The Tigers likely took their foot off of the gas a bit early to a fundamentally sound Notre Dame squad.
With all of that being said, how about Aiden Knaak?!?! He continued his dominance away from Doug Kingsmore Stadium. More on that in a bit.
This week the Tigers take on USC-Upstate for the third time on the season, before a weekend set with a very good North Carolina State Wolfpack team at the Doug.
Clemson Briefly:
Clemson is now 28-3, 10-2 in the ACC. Just a tremendous start with still some answers yet to be had on the mound.
Weekend Starters: Matthew Marchal, Ethan Darden and Aidan Knaak were outstanding for the Tigers this weekend. Marchal went 6 innings giving up 4 hits and 2 earned runs on Friday night. Darden gutted out 7 innings allowing 5 hits and only a run while not walking an Irish batter. And finally Knaak was magnificent on Sunday, not allowing a hit through 6 innings and was three outs from a shortened no-hitter before a bloop started a furious rally from Notre Dame.
Jacob Hinderleider had 7 hits over the weekend.
Jacob Jarrell is continuing to find his stride, starting behind the plate on Sunday and adding a no-doubt 3-run home run and 4 total RBIs.
Jimmy Obertop continues to hit in streaks. His on-base percentage leads the regulars at .489, as he’s continuously getting on base any way possible helping pass the baton to the other guys in the potent lineup.
Here is your preview of the USC-Upstate Spartans:
USC-Upstate Spartans
Head Coach – Mike McGuire (5th Year)
Record – 21-12; (10-2 Big South)
Wins against: Western Carolina, Quinnipiac, Canisius, St Joseph’s, Penn x2, Rider x3, Tennessee Tech x2, Gardner-Webb x3, Radford, UNC-Asheville x3, Winthrop x3
Losses against: Kentucky x3, CLEMSON x2, Penn, Coastal Carolina, South Carolina, Radford x2, Elon
Pitching Match Up:
Tuesday 6PM: RHP Billy Barlow (Clemson) vs. RHP Braden Consaul (USC-Upstate)
Billy Barlow faces the Spartans for the second time in as many weeks, this time at the friendly confines of Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The redshirt Sophomore is 4-1 with a 3.20 ERA over 25.1 innings pitched. He’s been steady in that mid-week role and will look to continue to do so Tuesday evening.
Here is the projected starters for the USC-Upstate Spartans positionally, with their season stats as well:
Position Players:
| NAME (Jersey #) | GRADE | POSITION | ‘24 STATISTICS |
| Daniel Gernon (6) | RS Senior | Centerfield | .325; 5 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 23 RBI; 13-13 SB |
| Troy Hamilton (2) | RS Senior | Shortstop | .326; 9 2B, 3B, 12 HR, 28 RBI; 8-8 SB |
| Grant Sherrod (14) | RS Senior | 1st Base | .345; 8 2B, 10 HR, 49 RBI, 3-4 SB |
| Jace Rinehart (20) | Junior | Left Field | .385; 10 2B, 2 3B, 10 HR, 35 RBI; 7-8 SB |
| Noah Sullivan (18) | RS Sophomore | DH | .337; 3 2B, 8 HR, 34 RBI; 3-3 SB |
| Koby Kropf (34) | RS Junior | Right Field | .339; 8 2B, 8 HR, 34 RBI; 2-3 SB |
| David Pereira (5) | RS Senior | Catcher | .279; 6 2B, 5 HR, 19 RBI; 4-5 SB |
| Easton Cullison (0) | Senior | 2nd Base | .273; 2 2B, 5 RBI; 15-19 SB |
| Vance Sheehan (10) | Freshman | 3rd Base | .271; 3 2B, 13 RBI; 2-3 SB |
Offensively, the Spartants are hitting .305 as a team (38th nationally), with 57 doubles, 7 triples, 60 home runs and have knocked in 262 runs. Troy Hamilton leads the offense from a home run perspective with 12. Grant Sherrod has knocked in 49 runs for the Spartans. The top 6 hitters are all hitting over .300 for the season. Five of the regulars have at least 8 home runs.
STARTING PITCHING
| NAME (Jersey #) | Year/Hand | ‘24 Statistics |
| Braden Consaul (29) | Sophomore/RHP | 0-0; 2.53 ERA; 10.2 IP, 12 K, 7 BB; OppBA: .302 |
USC-Upstate will throw Braden Consaul against the Tigers. The sophomore righty from Rochester, NY will be making his first start, although he’s appeared in 10 games for the Spartans.
As a pitching staff, Upstate has a 5.77 ERA, 139th in the country through 33 games, while opponents are hitting .263 against the Spartans. They’ve surrendered 47 2Bs, 8 3B, and 52 HRs as a staff.
SUMMARY
This Spartans team is currently atop the Big South standings. The Tigers have handled them so far through the first two meetings this season including a run-rule victory a week ago.
Upstate will throw the kitchen sink at the Tigers to get their first victory against them in their last regular season opportunity. I sound like a broken record when previewing the Spartans, but this is a very good baseball team that the Tigers have gotten the better of previously. As we as fans know, Upstate can flip that script in a hurry.
Go Tigers!
