Clemson Baseball ended the regular season with a sweep of the gritty Boston College Eagles at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. As soon as the last pitch was thrown and the last Eagle batter struck out, talk immediately shifted to the ACC Tournament.
Who would Coach Bakich start? How is Will Taylor doing with his rehab? Will he be available…
So many questions, and not too many straight answers. First Team All-ACC selection Aidan Knaak returned to his dominant ways on Saturday’s game three and therefore the question was asked to Coach Bakich about the possibility of throwing the freshman stud during the Thursday or Friday games against Miami and Louisville respectively.
Those questions, for the moment, do not have solid answers, however, Coach Bakich has built up enough equity in his first two seasons as Clemson Baseball’s skipper to trust the decision. Whichever decision that may be.
Clemson Briefly:
Clemson finished the regular season at 40-13, 20-10 in the ACC, and won the ACC Atlantic Division title. The 20-10 record was good enough for the 2nd seed at this week’s ACC Tournament in Charlotte, NC.
Blake Wright: the senior enjoyed a curtain call at the end of the Saturday blow-out of the BC Eagles. He added 2 home runs to his docket, for a total of 21, all while hitting a team-leading .341 on the season. A season to remember for Wright.
The Transfers: there has been a lot of talk in the Clemson sports news about transfers this week. One team that truly benefited from the transfer portal was Clemson Baseball. Andrew Ciufo will go down in Clemson lore for his walkoff in Columbia, as well as being a solidifying force in the infield before a season-ending knee injury. Jacob Hinderleider came to Clemson as a shortstop, but moved over to 1st Base until the Ciufo injury and has since moved back. He’s been awesome at the plate for the Tigers hitting .315 and adding 11 home runs. Jimmy Obertop continues to hit and added some much needed grit to the lineup. Another guy who was a DH/1B to start the season, but due to Jacob Jarrell’s injury in the beginning of the year was thrust behind the plate. Alden Mathes, has arguably been the most consistent Tiger for the season at the plate, and adds a gold glove in Right Field. Lucas Mahlstadt and Matthew Marchal have been steady forces coming out of the bullpen. Marchal even stepped into a weekend starting role when Tristan Smith was tending to an ankle injury.
Here is your preview of BOTH Clemson Baseball opponents in the ACC Tournament Pool B:
Miami Hurricanes
Head Coach – JD Arteaga (1st season)
Record – 25-29 (11-19 ACC)
Wins against: NJIT x3, Long Island x2, Florida, Stonehill, Virginia x2, North Carolina x2, Florida International x3, Notre Dame, CLEMSON, Florida Atlantic x2, Louisville x2 (1 – ACC tournament), Georgia Tech, BYU x2, Virginia Tech x2, Pitt
Losses against: UCF, Long Island, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida x2, Virginia, Florida Atlantic x2, North Carolina, Notre Dame x2, CLEMSON x2, Duke x3, Florida State x3, Bethune-Cookman, Louisville x2, Georgia Tech x2, BYU, Florida International, Virginia Tech, Pitt x2
Probable Pitching Match-Ups:
Thursday @ 11 AM: RHP Billy Barlow (Clemson) vs. RHP Gage Ziehl (Miami)
Friday @ 3 PM: RHP Ethan Darden (Clemson) vs. LHP Sebastian Gongora (Louisville)
Coach Erik Bakich, as of this writing, has not named a starting pitcher. Based on his comments from the weekend, it is my guess that Barlow will get the nod against Miami on Thursday morning. A game in which if the Tigers were to win, would automatically advance to the semi-finals based on Miami beating Louisville in Tuesday’s first match-up.
For Miami, usual game 2 weekend starter, Rafe Schlesinger started for the Canes in their first game of the tourney, while Louisville did the same with Evan Webster, which led to the assumption of Ziehl for Miami against the Tigers and Gongora for Louisville. Both normal “Friday night” starters for their respective teams.
Officially, all three head coaches have announced TBA for the starting pitchers. Does Clemson only having to win Thursday to reach the semi-finals go into Coach Bakich’s thinking? We’ll have to find out.
Here is the best-guess, projected starters for Thursday’s opponent, the Miami Hurricanes positionally based on previous games, with their season stats as well:
Position Players:
| Name (Jersey #) | Year | Position | 2024 Cumulative Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jacoby Long (39) | Senior | Centerfield | .302; 11 2B, 3B, 4 HR, 24 RBI; 9-11 SB |
| Edgardo Villegas (45) | Junior | Left Field | .258; 14 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 29 RBI; 2-3 SB |
| Daniel Cuvet (14) | Freshman | 3rd Base | .344; 14 2B, 3B, 21 HR, 65 RBI; 2-2 SB |
| Dorian Gonzalez Jr. (0) | Junior | 2nd Base | .310; 16 2B, 8 HR, 47 RBI; 1-4 SB |
| Carlos Perez (61) | Senior | 1st Base | .221; 6 2B, 2 HR, 15 RBI; 2-2 SB |
| Jack Scanlon (7) | Senior | Catcher | .286; 9 2B, 7 HR, 24 RBI |
| Lorenzo Carrier (99) | RS Sophomore | DH | .252; 12 2B, 5 HR, 18 RBI |
| Lucas Costello (8) | Senior | Right Field | 4 2B, 6 HR, 24 RBI; 3-3 SB |
| JD Urso (2) | Graduate | Shortstop | .232; 3 2B, 4 HR, 17 RBI |
Offensively, the Hurricanes are hitting .276 as a team (163rd nationally), with 112 doubles, 3 triples, 78 home runs and have knocked in 337 runs. This Miami team does not run a whole lot, just 26-36 in the stolen base department.
Freshman 3rd Baseman Daniel Cuvet leads the Canes offensively in average (.344), home runs (21) and RBI (65). A tremendous freshman campaign for an otherwise disappointing team season for Miami.
STARTING PITCHING:
| Name (Jersey #) | Year/Hand | 2024 Cumulative Stats |
|---|---|---|
| Gage Ziehl (31) | Junior/RHP | 4-3; 3.93 ERA; 94 IP, 85K, 25 BB; OppBA: .239 |
Clemson faced Gage Ziehl in Miami on March 28th, a 2-1 Miami victory. The junior righty was dominant against the Clemson hitters, throwing a complete game scattering 7 hits and only 1 earned run, while striking out 15 Clemson hitters.
As a pitching staff, Miami has a 5.75 ERA, 1118th in the country through 54 games, while opponents are hitting .277 against the Eagles. They’ve surrendered 102 2Bs, 8 3B, and 70 HRs as a staff.
GAME 2 – Pool B – FRIDAY @ 3PM vs. Louisville
Louisville Cardinals
Head Coach – Dan McDonnell (18th Season)
Record – 32-22 (16-14 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, CLEMSON, Northern Kentucky, Boston College x3, Notre Dame x3
Losses against: Indiana State, UConn, Xavier, St Bonaventure, Northwestern, Virginia Tech x2, Wake Forest x2, Florida State x2, Western Kentucky, Virginia x2, Kentucky, CLEMSON x2, Vanderbilt, North Carolina x3, Miami (ACC Tournament)
Here is the best-guess, projected starters for Friday’s opponent, the Louisville Cardinals positionally based on previous games, with their season stats as well:
Position Players:
| Name (Jersey #) | Year | Position | 2024 Cumulative Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| JT Benson (13) | Senior | Left Field | .297; 13 2B, 8 HR, 40 RBI; 34-40 SB |
| Dylan Hoy (9) | Senior | 3rd Base | .310; 5 2B, 3B, 5 HR, 28 RBI; 10-13 SB |
| Zion Rose (32) | Freshman | DH | .389; 9 2B, 5 3B, 5 HR, 32 RBI; 10-13 SB |
| Logan Humphrey (51) | Senior | Right Field | .317; 13 2B, 2 3B, 10 HR, 39 RBI; 9-10 SB |
| Eddie King, Jr. (42) | Junior | Center Field | .324; 7 2B, 14 HR, 43 RBI; 8-12 SB |
| Gavin Kilen (5) | Sophomore | Shortstop | .332; 22 2B, 3 3B, 9 HR, 40 RBI |
| Matt Klein (25) | Sophomore | Catcher | .297; 10 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 24 RBI |
| Ryan McCoy (30) | Senior | 1st Base | .297; 8 2B, 2 3B, 10 HR, 37 RBI, 8-9 SB |
| Alex Alicea (0) | Freshman | 2nd Base | .291; 11 2B, 2 3B, HR, 25 RBI; 4-4 SB |
Offensively, the Cardinals are hitting .312 as a team (20th nationally), with 122 doubles, 21 triples, 86 home runs and have knocked in 406 runs. This Louisville team is the opposite of Miami, they run A LOT. 105-130 on the season, good enough for 18th nationally in stolen bases. JT Benson is 7th in the country, individually, with 34 swiped bags.
Clemson fan’s subject of ire, Dylan Hoy has been in a little bit of a late-season slide going from .343 when they last faced the Tigers to .310 going into Friday’s game.
STARTING PITCHING:
| Name (Jersey #) | Year/Hand | 2024 Cumulative Stats |
|---|---|---|
| Sebastian Gongora (26) | Senior/LHP | 5-4; 6.25 ERA; 72 IP, 83 K, 28 BB; OppBA: .271 |
Clemson also faced Sebastian Gongora at Louisville on April 26th, a 12-11 Clemson, dramatic, come-from-behind victory. The senior lefty went 4 full innings giving up 7 hits, 6 runs while striking out 7 and walking 3.
As a pitching staff, Louisville has a 6.44 ERA, 182nd in the country through 54 games, while opponents are hitting .282 against the Cardinals. They’ve surrendered 83 2Bs, 3 3Bs, and 89 HRs as a staff.
SUMMARY
Clemson Baseball can reap the benefits of being a top four seed in the funky ACC Baseball Tournament and only has to beat Miami on Thursday afternoon to advance to the semi-final on Saturday, as Miami held on to beat Louisville in game 1 of Pool B.
However, Clemson will face a pitcher in Gage Ziehl that, outside of Wake Forest’s Chase Burns seemingly owns the Tigers bats. Clemson is up against a tough challenge on Thursday morning and will need to bring their bats in order to beat this Miami team with nothing to lose after a terrible season by their standards.
Friday should bring some fireworks, as Clemson and Louisville have no love lost between the two. I would expect there to be more chippy play between the two, and watch out for those bat flips! Hopefully Clemson will have more this time…without ejections!
As always…
Go Tigers!
