Coach Bakich said he was excited to have his Clemson baseball get “punched in the mouth” to see how they would deal with adversity. They did just that in each of the three games at the Shriners Children’s Tournament in Arlington, Texas winning 2 of 3 games.
What a great tournament to start the year. And a lot of questions got answered, but there are some that we are still waiting for. All in all, a great weekend to start the season.
The Tigers escaped Texas with a 2-1 record, beating highly ranked Oklahoma State and Arizona, before losing the finale to Ole Miss.
Here are some things that we learned in this weekend’s series recap:
The Great
The Lineup – Coach Bakich was unavailable for the first two games, and Clemson Athletics creative team had a field day playing that up. But the question coming in was who was he going to throw out there to start the year. With the lineup seemingly (at least) 14 players deep. The Tigers faced three righties, but did tinker with the lineup all three days, with different players leading the way in all three outings.
The Transfers – Dominic Listi (5-9; .556, 7 RBIs), Josh Paino (4-9; .444, 5 RBIs), and Collin Priest (3-8; .375, 2 RBIs) were bright spots all weekend at the plate and in the field. All three made run-saving plays in the field, while adding gap to gap offense.
Friday/Saturday Starters – Sophomore Aidan Knaak garnered all of the off-season accolades on the heels of a stellar freshman campaign. In his first outing, he struck out the first six hitters. He finished with 7 strikeouts through 4 complete innings. Ethan Darden followed on Saturday with a fantastic outing allowing only 2 hits and striking out 6 across 4 innings pitched.
Hidden Ball Trick – These never get old.
The Really Good
Jacob Jarrell – Jarrell contributed 4 hits over the course of the three games, but it was his play behind the plate that garners mention in this area. And, quite honestly, he could (and maybe should) be in the Great section, but he leads here. There is quite a bit of unproven depth behind Jarrell, but it is quality depth, which will push Jarrell to be his best self. And if the first series is any indication, Clemson will be in great hands with Jarrell handling the pitching staff.
The Bullpen – The ‘pen should be a strength of this team as the weather starts to warm up. I thought the 12 arms used out of the bullpen all showed glimpses of quality. We have to remember that it is the first three games of the season and guys are not quite stretched out fully, so there may be some bumps in the early portion of the season. Overall, the bullpen was a strength this weekend.
Cam Cannarella – Cam is who Cam is. He is great by definition. He started a little slow in the leadoff spot on Friday and may have been pressing coming off of shoulder surgery. He was dynamic in the field, as expected and picked up the offense on both Saturday and Sunday. His effort is second to none and his passion and extreme desire to win and help his team win is infectious. He is a generational talent who we need to enjoy watching; a la Khalil Greene, Seth Beer, Shane Monahan, Tyler Colvin, Caden Grice, et al.
The OK
Sunday – The sweep uniforms (and helmets) were out on Sunday. A noticeably nervous Justin LeGuernic was missing in the zone which allowed a good-hitting Ole Miss team to tee off. I may be in the minority here, but I think LeGuernic has the makeup of a quality Sunday starter. We must remember that this was his first start against a quality Power 4 conference foe. A loss will always bring out those that believe instant change needs to take place. There was enough good on Sunday to think Coach Bakich runs LeGuernic back out there on Sunday next weekend, the way he did with Austin Gordon last season.
Overall Grade
B+ – The excitement of the season being here was extended with a thorough beating of top ranked Oklahoma State on Friday. It was extended to Saturday with a stomping of Arizona and slightly muted after Sunday. We have to remember that it is still early. The lineup will solidify as the season goes, as will the weekend rotation. The good news is Friday and Saturday’s starters seem to be cemented in place.
The lineup will also work itself out, and the transfers are as advertised and seem to be guys that are an extremely likeable group.
Next up is the home opener as Clemson hosts the Clemson Baseball Invitational with two games each against VCU and North Carolina A&T (coached by former Clemson fan favorite, Ben Hall) with games beginning at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Friday.
