Two big midweek wins for the Clemson baseball team. First against USC Upstate on Tuesday and Presbyterian on Wednesday. The Tigers keep rolling along, having won 10 straight games heading into the weekend.
The Tigers will welcome the Davidson University Wildcats of the Atlantic 10 Conference to Doug Kingsmore Stadium for a three game series starting on Friday and concluding on Sunday afternoon.
Upstate was scary on paper, having the 2nd best hitting team in the country, and the Tigers pitching staff shut them out. Presbyterian, who had a decent pitching staff took the early lead against the Tigers before Clemson scored 11 runs.
Clemson is 1-0 all-time against Davidson, having won 19-0 in 2011.
Here is your preview of both Clemson’s out of conference, weekend series against the Davidson Wildcats.
Clemson Briefly:
Clemson enters the weekend with 12 wins and 1 loss, having won both of their midweek games this week.
The Tigers are hitting .293 as a team through 13 games (84th nationally). They’re led in that category by Dominic Listi (.405). Jarren Purify is hitting .400. They have added 25 doubles, 3 triples and 12 home runs as a team. Five Tigers have double digit RBIs already.
On the mound, the Tigers pitching staff touts a 3.90 ERA (62nd nationally). The staff has struck out 133 batters and walked 42 in the early part. Control was a big issue for the early part of the season, but only 4 walks allowed over the last two games is a huge improvement as a staff.
Opponents are hitting .215 against the Tigers.
Here is a look at the Davidson Wildcats through their first 11 games of the season:
Davidson Wildcats
Head Coach – Rucker Taylor (7th Season)
2025 Record: 4-7
Wins: Bryant, Bucknell, Lafayette (x2)
Losses: Bryant, Gardner-Webb, Bucknell (x2), Wofford, Lafayette, South Carolina
Here are the probable starting lineup for Davidson and their 2025 stats:
Position Players:
| Name (#) | Year | Position | 2024 Stats |
| Noah Jouras (5) | Sr. | C/DH | .250; 3 2B, 3B, 4 RBI |
| Jamie Daly (12) | Fr. | CF | .395; 5 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI |
| Eli Putnam (11) | R-Jr. | 1B | .250; 2B, 3 RBI |
| Michael O’Shaughnessy (10) | Jr. | 3B | .273; 3 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI |
| Cider Canon (29) | Soph. | RF | .267; 2B, HR, 2 RBI |
| Jack Cotrone (25) | Sr. | SS | .361; 3 2B, 2 HR, 11 RBI |
| Forrest Lietz (13) | Soph. | LF | .194; 3 2B, 2 RBI |
| Will Brooks (23) | Fr. | C | .211; 2 2B, 4 RBI |
| Cooper Collins (8) | Fr. | 2B | .278; 2B, 3B, 5 RBI |
Offensively, the Wildcats are not particularly impressive. They are led by Freshman Center Fielder Jamie Daly. The Evans, Georgia native touts a .395 average and already has 3 home runs in his first 38 at-bats. An impressive start to a collegiate career. Senior Shortstop Jack Cotrone (.361) is tied with Daly for the team lead in RBIs with 11.
The Wildcats are hitting .266 as a team (159th nationally). They have hit 26 doubles, 2 triples and 8 home runs as a team. They do not run a ton, only 8 steals in 12 attempts.
Weekend Starting Rotation for Davidson:
| NAME (#) | Year | Hand | 2025 Stats |
| Wilson Perkins (39) | R-Jr. | RHP | 1-2; 7.71 ERA, 16.1 IP, 18 K, 4 BB; OppBA: .343 |
| Isaac Fix (15) | Sr. | LHP | 1-0; 2.35 ERA, 15.1 IP, 8 K, 6 BB; OppBA: .212 |
| ***Matt Weber (28) | R-Jr. | LHP | 1-0; 9.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 8 K, 4 BB; OppBA: .342 |
NOTE: Davidson has announced Sunday’s starter as TBA, so the above is the best guess.
The Wildcats pitching staff owns a 6.26 staff ERA (164th nationally), have struck out 77 opponent hitters while walking 45. They have given up only 7 home runs as a staff through those 11 games.
Clemson will counter with the same weekend rotation as expected, with Aidan Knaak going on Friday, Ethan Darden on Saturday and Justin LeGuernic rounding out the weekend.
SUMMARY
The Tigers have been rolling of late, winning games a lot of different ways. An over-matched team will come into Doug Kingsmore Stadium this weekend and the Tigers need to play well to win the series.
This team is a lot of fun to watch, and the weather is starting to warm up. I fully expect the bats to start warming up as well. This weekend is a perfect weekend to get the entire lineup rolling.
As always…
Go Tigers!
