What a heartbreaking loss Tuesday’s game was for the Clemson Baseball team. 15 innings and losing on a wild pitch was an ending that left a lot to be desired. The umpires completely gaffed on a Jarren Purify homerun in the early innings, but the Tigers had ample opportunities to pile on the Bulldogs and failed to do so.
It was a great mid-week game, and being able to hold that potent lineup to only 4 runs, also holding national player of the year probable Charlie Condon to 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts. He was walked three times, but not many staffs (I believe it’s none) can say they held Condon to only one hit.
The Tigers have to lick their wounds and head back on the road for a conference series against the Louisville Cardinals.
Clemson Baseball Briefly:
Clemson is now 32-8, 13-5 in the ACC.
Clemson Bullpen: lately it’s seemed that this spot has been held down by the Clemson pitchers. Billy Barlow was sharp early in the game but was pulled in the 4th inning. The bullpen was solid throughout and it took a bloop that dropped to score the tying run in the 9th.
Jarren Purify: the freshman is a little less heralded as Cam Cannarella was a season ago, but Purify has locked down that 2nd base position and he’s too athletic and smart to not get his bat going. A career shortstop is performing admirably at his new position.
Blake Wright: Wright cooled a little bit since his torrid start, but the senior is starting to get hot again and as we know, is capable of carrying this team on his shoulders for stretches.
Here is your preview of the Louisville Cardinals:
Louisville Cardinals
Head Coach – Dan McDonnell (18th Season)
Record – 24-16 (9-9 ACC)
Wins against: St Bonaventure x3, Eastern Kentucky, Youngstown State x3, Moorehead State, Northwestern x2, Lipscomb x2, Virginia Tech, Bellarmine, Wake Forest, Cincinnati, Florida State, NC State x3, Virginia, Miami x2, Western Kentucky
Losses against: Indiana State, UConn, Xavier, St Bonaventure, Northwestern, Virginia Tech x2, Wake Forest x2, Florida State x2, Western Kentucky, Virginia x2, Kentucky, Miami
Pitching Match Ups:
Friday 6PM: LHP Tristan Smith (Clemson) vs. LHP Sebastian Gongora (Louisville)
Saturday 1PM: LHP Ethan Darden (Clemson) vs. LHP Evan Webster (Louisville)
Sunday 4PM: TBA (Clemson) vs. TBA (Louisville)
***Writer’s Guess: RHP Matthew Marchal (Clemson) vs. RHP Kaleb Corbett (Louisville)
******* as Post and Courier Writer Jon Blau states, we may not see Knaak this weekend due to workload, not injury. *******
Tristan Smith is working his way back to full strength and had a short outing a week ago against Pitt. In 2.2 innings, Smith allowed 4 runs on 4 hits and had 4 strikeouts. He looks to get back to early season form against a very good hitting Louisville squad.
Ethan Darden slots in to his normal Saturday spot. The sophomore was the victim of bad luck against Pitt, taking the loss in game 2. Darden is a “pitch to contact” guy that needs a solid defense behind him to be successful. He did not have that a week ago.
Louisville will counter with elder-statesmen left handers Sebastian Gongora and Evan Webster on Friday and Saturday respectively before announcing TBA for Sunday..
Here is the best-guess, projected starters for the hard-hitting Louisville Cardinals positionally based on previous games, with their season stats as well:
Position Players:
| Name (Jersey #) | Grade | Position | Cumulative 2024 Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| JT Benson (13) | Senior | Left Field | .272; 4 2B, 5 HR, 29 RBI; 25-29 SB |
| Dylan Hoy (9) | Senior | 3rd Base | .343; 3 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 21 RBI; 8-10 SB |
| Zion Rose (32) | Freshman | DH | .391; 4 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 20 RBI; 6-8 SB |
| Isaac Humphrey (51) | Senior | Right Field | .339; 11 2B, 3B, 6 HR; 8-8 SB |
| Gavin Kilen (5) | Sophomore | Shortstop | .368; 16 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 30 RBI |
| Eddie King Jr. (42) | Junior | Centerfield | .309; 5 2B, 5 HR, 23 RBI; 7-10 SB |
| Matt Klein (25) | Sophomore | Catcher | .284; 7 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 19 RBI |
| Ryan McCoy (30) | Senior | 1st Base | .328; 6 2B, 2 3B, 9 HR, 32 RBI; 7-8 SB |
| Alex Alicea (0) | Freshman | 2nd Base | .346; 8 2B, 2 3B, 19 RBI |
Offensively, the Cardinals are hitting .325 as a team (6th nationally), with 87 doubles, 17 triples, 61 and have knocked in 314 runs. This Cardinals team is extremely well-rounded, as Dan McDonnell-coached teams usually are. There’s a lot of consistent bats in the lineup led by freshman designated hitter, Zion Rose, hitting .393 in his first season of college baseball.
This team, from a batting average perspective, is better than Georgia. They will also run, and run often. Leadoff hitter JT Benson has 25 stolen bases on the season, good enough for 12th in the country.
STARTING PITCHING
| Name (Jersey #) | Grade/Hand | Cumulative 2024 Statistics |
|---|---|---|
| Sebastian Gongora (26) | Senior/LHP | 4-3; 5.23 ERA, 53.1 IP, 63K, 21BB; OppBA: .254 |
| Evan Webster (27) | Senior/LHP | 3-1; 3.23 ERA, 47.1 IP, 43K, 13BB; OppBA: .251 |
| Kaleb Corbett (54) | Senior/RHP | 1-1; 9.70 ERA, 21.1 IP; 27K, 8BB; OppBA: .314 |
As a pitching staff, Louisville has a 6.16 ERA, 161st in the country through 40 games, while opponents are hitting .279 against the Cardinals. They’ve surrendered 61 2Bs, 3 3B, and 57 HRs as a staff.
SUMMARY
This Louisville team is one of those programs that exudes consistency. The pre-season top 25 squad started the season losing their first four games to lesser competition before rattling off 8-straight victories. This is a good baseball team, as per normal for the Cardinals.
Clemson will need to avoid first inning runs, and be able to control the Louisville running game. All of the Cardinals are plenty capable of getting on base, it’ll be up to the pitchers and catchers to not allow too many crooked numbers in the run column.
The last part of the season will be a test for the Clemson Baseball team, and it started on Tuesday night and continues on the road this weekend.
