Coming off a sweep of the rivals from the midland, the Clemson Baseball team will have two mid-week games with in-state foes this week.
First up is Tuesday at 6PM back at Fluor Field in Greenville against USC Upstate. Wednesday will be back at the cozy confines of Doug Kingsmore Stadium at 4PM against Presbyterian College.
Pitching was the theme of the weekend, with both the starters and relievers shined for the Tigers.
Clemson is 9-3 all time against the USC-Upstate Spartans and 69-23 all time against the Presbyterian Blue Hose.
Here is your preview of both Clemson’s midweek games this week before the weekend series against Davidson.
Clemson Briefly:
Clemson enters the weekend with 10 wins and 1 loss, having swept their hated rivals over the weekend across three separate South Carolina towns.
The Tigers are hitting .289 as a team through 11 games (97th nationally). They’re (still) led in that category by Dominic Listi (.405). They have added 22 doubles and 8 home runs as a team. Jarren Purify leads the team in stolen bases with a perfect 8 steals in 8 attempts.
On the mound, the Tigers pitching staff touts a 4.45 ERA (84th nationally). The staff has struck out 116 batters and walked 38 in the early part. The staff lowered the team ERA by more than 1 full run, and only added 8 walks from a week ago.
Opponents are hitting .211 against the Tigers.
Here is a look at the USC Upstate Spartans through their first 10 games of the season:
USC Upstate Spartans
Head Coach – Kane Sweeney (1st Season)
2025 Record: 6-4
Wins: Boston College, Le Moyne, Bowling Green, Western Carolina, UMass Lowell (x2)
Losses: Boston College, Western Carolina, Bowling Green, UMass Lowell
Here are the probable starting lineup for USC Upstate and their 2025 stats:
Position Players:
| Name (#) | Year | Position | 2024 Stats |
| Scott Newman (0) | RS Soph. | CF | .342; 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI; 5-5 SB |
| Vance Sheahan (10) | Soph. | SS | .451; 7 2B, HR, 11 RBI; 8-10 SB |
| Wylie Waters (1) | Jr. | RF | .395; 2B, 3 HR, 16 RBI |
| Johnny Sweeney (17) | Sr. | 1B | .222; 3 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI |
| Jake Armsey (3) | RS Jr. | 3B | .293; 4 2B, 2 HR, 14 RBI |
| Henry Zenor (44) | RS Fr. | DH | .407; 2B, HR, 4 RBI; 3-4 SB |
| Cayden Wotipka (24) | Jr. | LF | .464; 3 2B, 3B, HR, 10 RBI; 2-2 SB |
| Preston Lucas (12) | Jr. | C | .276; 2 2B, 8 RBI |
| Alex Ritzer (5) | RS Jr. | 2B | .389; 3B, HR, 6 RBI |
Offensively, the Spartans have been extremely impressive through their first ten games. Led by multiple members, Junior outfielder Cayden Wotipka is hitting .464 with 13 hits in 28 at bats. Vance Sheahan, the sophomore shortstop, seems to be the “straw that stirs the drink” for the Spartans. Sheahan is leading the team with 23 hits in 51 at bats. Junior outfielder Wylie Waters leads the team with 16 RBIs.
The Spartans are hitting .359 as a team (2nd nationally). They have hit 25 doubles, 2 triples and 15 home runs as a team. They steal some bases as well, 23-27 in that department. They have scored 103 runs as a team (T-32nd nationally).
Announced Pitcher for USC Upstate:
| NAME (#) | Year | Hand | 2025 Stats |
| Amp Phillips (13) | RS Soph. | RHP | 0-0; 9.45 ERA; 6.2 IP, 4 K, 4 BB; OppBA: .308 |
Redshirt Sophomore Amp Phillips has been announced as the starter for the Spartans on Tuesday night. The righty has appeared in 5 games already this season, leading me to believe this will be an opener type of role, and we should see many Spartan pitchers throughout the night.
The Gamecocks pitching staff owns a 5.56 staff ERA (139th nationally), have struck out 91 opponent hitters while walking 35. They have given up 17 home runs as a staff through those 10 games.
Clemson will counter with Sophomore left-hander Jacob McGovern against the potent lineup.
Presbyterian Blue Hose
Head Coach – Elton Pollock (21st Season)
2025 Record: 6-6
Wins: Georgetown (x2), Le Moyne (x2), Eastern Michigan (x2)
Losses: Georgetown, Elon, Bowling Green, Citadel, Eastern Michigan (x2)
Here are the probable starting lineup for Presbyterian College and their 2025 stats:
Position Players:
| Name (#) | Year | Position | 2024 Stats |
| Mikah Conner (12) | Soph. | CF | .333; 3 2B; 2-3 SB |
| Trey Fenderson (1) | Jr. | 2B | .366; 3 2B, 6 RBI; 4-5 SB |
| Eli Lazio (10) | Sr. | 1B | .457; 4 2B, HR, 2 RBI |
| Amman Dewberry (35) | Jr. | DH | .175; 2B, 3B, HR, 4 RBI |
| Ryan Ouzts (22) | Grad. | LF | .231; 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI |
| Brody Linker (21) | Fr. | SS | .258; 2 3B, HR, 6 RBI; 4-4 SB |
| Jackson Hugus (8) | Sr. | C | .320; 3 2B, 2 RBI |
| Matthew Rollison (15) | Fr. | 3B | .250; 2 2B, 3B, 5 RBI |
| Andrew Albertus (5) | Fr. | RF | .219; 3 RBI; 3-4 SB |
Offensively, the Blue Hose are led by Senior first baseman Eli Lazio. The New Jersey native is hitting an impressive .457 and leads the team with 16 hits. Junior infielder Trey Fenderson is second in hits with 15. Grad Student, Ryan Ouzts leads the team with 2 homeruns.
The Blue Hose are hitting .273 as a team (140th nationally). They have hit 20 doubles, 4 triples and 6 home runs as a team. They steal some bases as well, 22-27 in that department. They have scored 58 runs as a team (T-192nd nationally).
Announced Pitcher for Presbyterian is TBA; best guesses below:
| NAME (#) | Year | Hand | 2025 Stats |
| Sean Hollister (20) | Sr | RHP | 0-1; 10.64 ERA; 11 IP, 9 K, 6 BB; OppBA: .326 |
| Michael Marroquin Jr. (43) | Fr. | RHP | 0-1; 5.40 ERA; 6.2 IP, 7 K, 7 BB; OppBA: .240 |
Neither team has announced a starter for the Wednesday tilt at DKS. Clemson will likely throw Freshman Brendon Bennett again, although not official as of yet. Presbyterian has used both Hollister and Marroquin in their mid-weeks so far this season with mixed results.
The Blue Hose pitching staff owns a 5.12 staff ERA (115th nationally), have struck out 90 opponent hitters while walking 63. They have given up 7 home runs as a staff through those 12 games.
SUMMARY
Clemson swept the biggest series of the season so far, at least in the fans minds. Midweeks are where strange things tend to happen.
USC Upstate has caused our Tigers fits in the past, and the team coming into Greenville on Tuesday has all the makings offensively to do so again. However, this is a great opportunity for the Clemson bats to wake up a little bit and string together hits. They may have to in order to match the offensive output of the Spartans.
Wednesday’s hitters for Presbyterian seem to be a little lighter hitting team, or at least comparatively speaking. But yet again, baseball is a funny sport.
The crowds have been awesome all season long. Midweeks are important. Get out there, get loud, and cheer on this really fun team as they start to put it all together!
