Through 31 games the thought crossed my mind that Clemson Baseball would get through their mid-week slate of games unscathed as large matchups with a ranked Georgia Bulldog team loom in the next week. Those thoughts were decisively dashed on Tuesday night with a loss from USC-Upstate 9-5.
Billy Barlow had probably one of his best outings in the mid-week game except for two pitches that went out of Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
The focus now turns to the weekend conference series as the Tigers will welcome the North Carolina State Wolfpack, fresh off a mid-week loss themselves, to UNG-Wilmington 5-4 on Tuesday night.
Clemson Briefly:
Clemson is now 28-4, 10-2 in the ACC. The bullpen has been the strength through 28 games, the last 4 they’ve shown that they are, in fact, human. Too many long balls given up in key moments have led to disaster. And by disaster, I mean one loss. But they have been so good that it has become apparent.
Weekend Starters: there’s a little bit of a game being played between Erik Bakich and NC State Head Coach Elliott Avent as both coaches have not announced a starting pitcher for the entire series.
Cam Canarella had a nice night Tuesday, with 2 hits and 2 RBI including a home run.
Jimmy Obertop, Nolan Nawrocki and Jacob Jarrell all contributed home runs in the Tuesday night loss.
Here is your preview of the NC State Wolfpack:
NC State Wolfpack
Head Coach – Elliott Avent (28th Season)
Record – 18-12; (8-7 ACC)
Wins against: VCU x2, Hawaii x2, Queens, Towson x4, BC x3, Coastal Carolina, Duke x2, Notre Dame x3
Losses against: VCU, Hawaii, UNC-Greensboro, Georgia Tech x3, Duke, East Carolina, Louisville, x3, UNC-Wilmington
Pitching Match Ups***:
Friday 6PM: RHP Matthew Marchal (Clemson) vs. LHP Cooper Consiglio (NC State)
Saturday 8PM: LHP Ethan Darden (Clemson) vs. LHP Dominic Fritton (NC State)
Sunday 1PM: RHP Aidan Knaak (Clemson) vs. LHP Ryan Marohn (NC State)
*** Both teams announced TBA for their pitching staffs. These are educated guesses as to whom we will see this weekend. They are not set in stone. ***
Even with the gamesmanship being played between both head coaches, there really does not seem to be a good reason to tinker with the Clemson pitching staff, and therefore I believe it will remain status quo until Tristan Smith returns from his ankle injury.
NC State will likely counter with the three names above or Heath Andrews, a freshman RHP that started last weekend for the Pack. Wolfpack Ace Sam Highfill is currently out with arm tightness and is not expected back this weekend.
Here is the projected starters for the NC State Wolfpack positionally, with their season stats as well:
Position Players:
| NAME (Jersey #) | GRADE | POSITION | ‘24 STATISTICS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon Butterworth (3) | Junior | Shortstop | .237; 7 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 5-5 SB |
| Garrett Pennington (33) | Graduate | 1st Base | .374; 13 2B, 10 HR, 39 RBI |
| Alec Makarewicz (99) | Graduate | 3rd Base | .350; 11 2B, 13 HR, 45 RBI |
| Jacob Cozart (14) | Junior | Catcher/DH | .314; 3 2B, 6 HR, 21 RBI |
| Josh Hogue (22) | Sophomore | Right Field | .304; 3 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 23 RBI |
| Eli Serrano III (16) | Sophomore | Centerfield | .252; 3 2B, 4 HR, 19 RBI; 4-4 SB |
| Drew Lanphere (15) | RS Freshman | Catcher/DH | .327; 2B, 2 HR, 13 RBI |
| Chase Nixon (12) | Junior | Left Field | .304; 7 RBI |
| Luke Nixon (0) | Freshman | 2nd Base | .270; 2 2B, 3 HR, 18 RBI; 3-4 SB |
Offensively, the Wolfpack are hitting .288 as a team (93rd nationally), with 44 doubles, 3 triples, 49 home runs and have knocked in 221 runs. Garrett Pennington leads the offense from an average perspective, hitting .374 while adding 10 home runs, second on the team. Alec Makarewicz has knocked in 45 runs for the Wolfpack to go along with his team-leading 13 home runs.
STARTING PITCHING
| NAME (Jersey #) | Year/Hand | ‘24 Statistics |
| Cooper Consiglio (36) | Freshman/LHP | 1-2; 7.82, 12.2 IP, 11K, 7 BB; OppBA: .239 |
| Dominic Fritton (51) | Sophomore/LHP | 1-3; 9.29 ERA, 31 IP, 37K, 24 BB; OppBA: .246 |
| Ryan Marohn (20) | Freshman/LHP | 2-2; 4.99 ERA, 30.2 IP, 24K, 17 BB, OppBA: .339 |
I reached out to an NC State super fan to get his thoughts on the starters and this is who he believes will throw this weekend. The caveat, of course, is that until each game, it will officially be TBA for both teams. A name to know for the Wolfpack out of the pen is Shane Van Dam. The sophomore righty leads the team in appearances, with 10 as well as staff ERA with 2.78.
As a pitching staff, NC State has a 6.73 ERA, 207th in the country through 30 games, while opponents are hitting .272 against the Spartans. They’ve surrendered 52 2Bs, 5 3B, and 44 HRs as a staff.
SUMMARY
This Wolfpack team is currently in 3rd place in the ACC Atlantic division behind the Tigers.
NC State is getting hit with a little bit of the injury bug currently, losing their ace to arm tightness for the last few weeks.
Clemson will have their work cut out for them, as Elliott Avent teams always play Clemson tough. If there is a time for the Tigers to take the series and even have the possibility of a sweep, it is probably against this years’ version of the Wolfpack.
Go Tigers!
