Clemson entered this weekend’s Clemson Baseball Invitational sitting at 2 wins and a loss. With the threat of weather cancelling the mid-week, there would only be weekend baseball at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
The Tigers welcomed in North Carolina A&T and Virginia Commonwealth to their cozy confines and had a pretty successful weekend.
The Tigers handily beat VCU twice, and battled hard but won twice against a scrappy North Carolina A&T team to leave their record at 6 wins and only 1 loss.
Here are some things that we learned in this weekend’s series recap:
The Great
This Team Responds – The theme of the weekend was responding when adversity hits. Clemson gave up a 6 spot to NC A&T in the first game Saturday to trail 6-3. They proceeded to score 4 in the bottom half of that third inning and kept the momentum going after that. Just about every time that the opponent would score in the top half, Clemson would respond with runs of their own.
Dominic Listi’s Fire – I laugh every time I see one of these transfers come to a Bakich led team and ingratiate themselves into the culture and quickly become fan favorites. I shouldn’t have favorite players, but early in the year I love Listi’s fire at the plate and in the field. ACCNX Color Commentator Ron Smith said simply, “he’s a ball player.” Simple, but oh so true. He looks like the emotional leader of the team through the early going. (The go ahead double Sunday was nice too!)
Tristen McCladdie– The much-maligned (at least by the fanbase) McCladdie played three positions in three days (1B, 2B, 3B) admirably, but also led the offense going 6-11 (.545) on the weekend with a home run. It’s going to be hard to keep him out of the lineup and he’s proven he can play multiple positions capably.
Lucas Mahlstedt – with four games in a weekend, I was curious as to where Mahlstedt would fit in. Maybe fit in isn’t the right word. We knew we would see the side-armer at some point, just didn’t know where. Coach Bakich inserted him against the first NC A&T game which was a little bit of a struggle early, but after Nathan Dvorsky and BJ Bailey pitched admirably to calm the scoring of the Aggies, it was Mahlstedt that cemented the win going 2 and 2/3s.
Joe Allen – Allen is one of the slightly forgotten guys on the staff. Highly touted out of high school, he’s a guy who has continued to find his spot with the staff. He came in on Sunday to close out the game and was dynamic, going 2 ⅓, only allowing 1 hit and 5 strikeouts. He was outstanding.
The Good
The Weekend Starters – “Normal” weekend series are three games. The way the Tigers went into the season it was Knaak, Darden and LeGuernic as the Friday, Saturday, Sunday guys respectively. Those three were extremely solid this weekend and showed that with those consistent performances, and this is a formidable staff. LeGuernic, coming off a woeful season debut, followed it up with career highs in innings pitched (6) and strikeouts (6). He walked 4, and that is something to work out, but only allowed 1 hit while mixing in three plus pitches.
The Lineup – Coach Bakich is still tinkering with the lineup, trying to get all of the talent opportunities before solidifying the “everyday nine.” Weekends like McCladdie had are going to be hard to keep him off the field every day. Only Listi leading off, Cannarella in the three hole, and Purify in the nine spot seem to be the staples through two weekends.
The OK
The Middle of the Order – While Bakich is still figuring out his pieces and parts, the middle of the order most of the weekend struggled, including Cannarella. Cam was uncharacteristically swinging at some marginal pitches over the course of the weekend. But there’s no doubt he’ll be himself as the season progresses. This lineup is really good regardless of who Bakich throws out there. I have no doubt they’ll get it going.
Free 90s – Too many walks and HBPs this weekend. It is interesting watching a game and really paying attention to how often walks and free passes hurt the defense. Clemson has had a little bit of history, early in the year, of giving up too many of them and having those runners come around to score.
Overall Grade
Another B+ – I don’t think this team played a “great” game this weekend. I thought there were parts and pieces that were spectacular. And the fight and grit was evident. This has the makings of a really special team.
This team stepped down in competition from last weekend to this one. They finally added a couple of homeruns to quiet some detractors out there in the metaverse. The at-bats that this team puts together will only lead to some power, especially as the weather warms up. It’s going to be hard to keep guys like Priest and Gaffney in the yard with the quality swings they take.
The pitching staff is coming together too. I believe this weekend (and last) were just auditions to see what the team has and who Coach Bellinger and Coach Bakich can trust during this long season. And there are still guys (notably Michael Gillen) that are still on the shelf nursing some minor injuries.
The season ramps up in a hurry this upcoming week.
Next up is a mid-week game against Winthrop on Tuesday afternoon before the Palmetto Series next weekend against South Carolina with Friday’s game at Doug Kingsmore, Saturday at Fluor Field in Greenville, and Sunday at Founders Park in Columbia.
