No mid-week game(s) this week for Clemson baseball, and it probably comes at a good time of the season. The Tigers have been playing upwards of 5 games in a week the last few weeks, and the break was probably welcomed for some of the arms on the pitching staff.
It was a successful weekend last weekend. Friday was complete domination from Aidan Knaak, Saturday was a high-scoring affair, and the Tigers dropped Sunday’s contest although continued to fight up until the very end.
The Tigers will close their current home stand with three games against Louisville starting on Thursday night in Dough Kingsmore Stadium.
Thursday’s series opener will be at 7PM, while Friday’s game was just moved to a 5PM start and Saturday’s series finale will begin at 1PM.
Louisville comes into the series at 27-9, 9-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and ranked as highly as #17 by Baseball America and D1Baseball.com.
Clemson and the Cardinals have played 38 times all time, including that hotly contested series a season ago in Louisville, Kentucky. The Tigers lead the all-time series 23-15.
Here is your preview of Clemson’s weekend series against the Louisville Cardinalsl.
Clemson Briefly:
Clemson enters the weekend with 33 wins and 6 losses. 11-4 in the ACC. Currently 2nd in the conference behind Georgia Tech, whom the Tigers beat 2 games to 1 earlier in the season.
The Tigers are hitting .284 as a team through 39 games (121st nationally).
As a team, the Tigers have 64 doubles (T-150th), 6 triples (T-162nd) and 44 home runs (T-72nd).
On the mound, the Tigers pitching staff touts a 4.53 ERA (45th nationally). The staff has struck out 383 batters over 336 innings for an average of 10.3 per 9 innings (23rd) and walked 147 through 39 games.
Opponents are hitting .227 against the Tigers pitching staff.
Here is a look at the Louisville Cardinals:
Louisville Cardinals
Head Coach – Dan McDonnell (19th Season)
2025 Record: 27-9 (9-6 ACC)
Wins: Texas, Arizona, Western Michigan (x3), Butler, St. John’s (x2), Morehead State, Illinois-Chicago (x3), Lipscomb, Oakland, North Carolina (x2), Northern Kentucky, Virginia Tech, Cal (x2), Indiana, Boston College (x3), Kentucky, NC State, Western Kentucky
Losses: Oklahoma State, St. John’s, North Carolina, Virginia Tech (x2), Cincinnati, Cal, NC State (x2)
Here are the probable starting lineup, plus some extras for Louisville and their 2025 stats:
Position Players:
| Name (#) | Year | Position | 2025 Stats |
| Lucas Moore (53) | Soph. | CF | .374; 6 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 25 RBI; 27-27 SB |
| Zion Rose (32) | Soph. | DH | .356; 13 2B, 3B, 6 HR, 44 RBI; 14-15 SB |
| Garret Pike (2) | Sr. | RF | .328; 15 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 31 RBI; 8-8 SB |
| Jake Munroe (20) | Jr. | 3B | .371; 6 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 39 RBI |
| Eddie King, Jr. (42) | Sr. | LF | .358; 9 2B, 3B, 6 HR, 31 RBI |
| Tague Davis (13) | Fr. | 1B | .304; 3 2B, 14 HR, 36 RBI |
| Kamau Neighbors (5) | Sr. | 2B | .250; 3 2B, 10 RBI; 5-6 SB |
| Tagger Tyson (36) | Soph. | C | .333; 8 2B, 3B, HR, 11 RBI |
| Tanner Shiver (4) | Sr. | SS | .267; HR, 4 RBI |
| Players to Know | |||
| Alex Alicea (0) | Soph. | 2B | .319; 7 2B, 3 3B, HR, 18 RBI; 17-21 SB |
| Bayram Hot (27) | Jr. | Inf. | .317; 2 2B, HR, 13 RBI |
***Alex Alicea was a starter at 2nd Base for most of the season. He has not played since last Friday’s game against NC State. Educated Guess thinks he may be hurt.***
Offensively, the Cardinals are led by Lucas Moore in the leadoff spot. Leading the team with a .374 average and has 27 stolen bases. A perfect 27-27 in that category. He is an absolute weapon at the top of the lineup.
Coach Dan McDonnell coached teams like to stress their opponents defense, whether it’s playing small ball or being aggressive on the base paths. This team is no different.
Freshman 1st Baseman Tague Davis leads the team with 14 home runs, and Sophomore DH Zion Rose leads with 44 runs batted in.
Along with Moore, Rose is 14-15 in stolen bases, and regular 2nd Baseman Alex Alicea is 17-21.
The Cardinals are hitting .327 as a team (9th nationally). They have hit 81 doubles (T-28th), 12 triples (T-31st) and 47 home runs as a team (T-58th).
As a team, Louisville is 82-91 in the stolen base department, tied for 25th most.
Expected Pitching Rotation for Louisville:
| NAME (#) | Year | Hand | 2025 Stats |
| Patrick Forbes (1) | Jr. | RHP | 2-1; 4.36 ERA, 9 App, 43.1 IP; 69 K, 21 BB; OppBA: .221 |
| Ethan Eberle (51) | Fr. | LHP | 3-0; 5.21 ERA, 10 App, 19 IP; 15 K, 9 BB; OppBA: .267 |
| Peter Michael (29) | Jr. | RHP | 4-2; 3.63 ERA, 9 App, 39.2 IP; 41 K, 22 BB; OppBA: .217 |
The Louisville pitching staff touts a 5.27 staff ERA (92nd nationally), having struck out 327 opponent hitters for an average of 9.6 per 9 innings (42nd) while walking 194 or 5.7 per 9 innings. They have given up 40 home runs as a staff through 36 games.
As of Wednesday evening, no starters have been announced for either team, a common theme recently. One could deduce that Clemson will throw Sophomore Aidan Knaak on Thursday, Ethan Darden on Friday and BJ Bailey on Sunday.
Summary
Coach Dan McDonnell is one of the best college baseball coaches in the country. The saying goes, a team takes on the identity of their coach, and this Louisville team is just that. Scrappy, looking to battle offensively, and fundamentally sound and hard throwing arms defensively.
This is a good Louisville team and after last year’s near bench clearing brawl and big comeback by the Cardinals, this one could get chippy early.
Louisville has 8 of their 9 regular starters all hitting above .300 on the season. Now batting average isn’t the stat that it once was, but it does tell a bit of the story. This team can hit.
The two teams do have just two common opponents so far this season and they both came in the opening series in Texas: Oklahoma State and Arizona. Clemson is 2-0 in those games while Louisville is 1-1 against the same opponents.
You know the end of the season is near when the weekend series shifts to Thursday starts. Only a few more (regular season) games left at the Doug. So get out there, be loud, and make it as uncomfortable as possible for the Cardinals.
