The Clemson baseball team won yet another series to start the year, however this time with the visiting Notre Dame Fighting Irish snuck out a win on Sunday.
The Tigers have another multi-game midweek series this week with the Citadel Bulldogs. The Tigers have had a strong start to the year having won 17 of their last 18 games and sit at 19-2 on the season.
The Citadel comes into DKS for the two game set with a record of 11-9.
Clemson and the Citadel have played 104 times across 125 years. The Tigers have a 86-18 record all-time against the Bulldogs and are 49-7 at home.
The Bulldogs are led by former Clemson captain and All-ACC Shortstop Russell Triplett who is in his first season in Charleston after leading Newberry for 14 seasons.
Here is your preview of Clemson’s midweek series with the Citadel Bulldogs.
Clemson Briefly:
Clemson enters the weekend with 19 wins and 2 losses. Winners of 17 of the last 18 games, and 14-1 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
The Tigers are hitting .295 as a team through 21 games (80th nationally). They’re still led in that category by Jarren Purify who’s hitting .419. Josh Paino leads the team with 4 home runs followed by Purify, Collin Priest and Luke Gaffney, all with 3 home runs.
As a team, the Tigers have 34 doubles, 5 triples and 22 home runs.
On the mound, the Tigers pitching staff touts a 3.79 ERA (31st nationally). The staff has struck out 225 batters and walked 76 through 21 games.
Opponents are hitting .201 against the Tigers pitching staff.
Here is a look at the Citadel Bulldogs through 20 games of the season:
Citadel Bulldogs
Head Coach – Russell Triplett (1st Season)
2025 Record: 11-9
Wins: Illinois-Chicago (x2), Maine, Presbyterian (x2), Yale (x3), Northwestern (x2), Kennesaw State
Losses: Miami-Ohio (x2), Maine (x2), South Carolina, Northwestern (x2), Charleston Southern, Kennesaw State
Here are the probable starting lineup for the Citadel and their 2025 stats:
Position Players:
| Name (#) | Year | Position | 2024 Stats |
| Phillips Daniels (21) | Jr. | DH | .288; 2B, 3B, 8 RBI |
| Travis Elliott (20) | Grad. | 2B | .224; 3 2B, 3B, 13 RBI; 5-7 SB |
| Garrett Dill (8) | Sr. | 1B | .313; 3 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI; 6-7 SB |
| Thomas Rollauer (2) | Sr. | RF | .246; 3 2B, 9 RBI; 8-10 SB |
| Garrett Fulmer (4) | Soph. | C | .231; 2 2B, 3B, HR, 5 RBI |
| TJ Anderson (32) | Jr. | LF | .222; 6 RBI; 2-2 SB |
| Lane Tobin (1) | Sr. | SS | .290; 2 HR, 6 RBI |
| Tyler Christmas (3) | RS Jr. | CF | .200; 4-4 SB |
| Aryan Patel (29) | Jr. | 3B | .188; 2 RBI; 3-3 SB |
Offensively, the Bulldogs are led by senior 1st Baseman, Garrett Dill. Dill is hitting .313 with 2 home runs, which is tied for the lead on the team. He adds a .432 on-base percentage and has 6 stolen bases. The Citadel will run a bunch, led by Senior Outfielder Thomas Rollauer with 8.
The Citadel have only hit 7 homeruns in 21 games. Three players have two each, Dill, Senior Shortstop Lane Tobin, and Junior Outfielder Matthew Lively.
The Irish are hitting .237 as a team (263rd nationally). They have hit 16 doubles, 6 triples and 7 home runs as a team.
Potential Starters for Citadel:
| NAME (#) | Year | Hand | 2025 Stats |
| Ben Brash (7) | Soph. | RHP | 1-3; 7.50 ERA; 18 IP, 7 K, 7 BB; OppBA: .372 |
| ***CJ Van Slooten (33) | Jr. | RHP | 0-0; 2.70 ERA; 6.2 IP, 6 K, 2 BB; OppBA: .231 |
| ***Yates Bland (44) | Jr. | RHP | 1-2; 2.16 ERA; 16.2 IP, 13 K, 6 BB; OppBA: .233 |
| ***Fisher Paulsen (17) | Sr. | LHP | 0-1; 3.27 ERA; 11 IP, 5 K, 4 BB; OppBA: .227 |
*** Both teams have announced TBA for the second game in the series on Wednesday.
The Irish pitching staff owns a 4.42 staff ERA (63rd nationally), have struck out 136 opponent hitters while walking 84. They have given up 12 home runs as a staff through those 21 games.
Clemson will start Freshman Brendon Bennett on Tuesday but have announced TBA for Wednesday. I don’t believe there’s any reason we will not see Noah Samol get his second straight midweek start on Wednesday, but that is unofficial.
Summary
The Tigers lost their first game at home this season, but won the series against Notre Dame. The bats were a little cold initially on Friday, but started to warm up Saturday before getting down early on Sunday and not being able to fight back.
This team is extremely talented and will continue to get better as the season continues, I have no doubt.
