I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m ready for this little bout of losing and adversity to stop. After losing the series to Florida State last weekend, the Clemson baseball team dropped its season series with Coastal Carolina on Tuesday night in Conway.
Granted, both of the opponents over the last four games (7 really) have been highly ranked, but so have the Tigers.
The Tigers were handled twice by Chanticleer pitchers, only mustering 3 runs, after scoring only 2 runs in their previous meeting in late March.
The Tigers will conclude their home regular season this weekend as the Duke Blue Devils bring their Ivy League-filled transfers roster to Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
The ACC series starts Friday night at at 6PM. Saturday’s Game 2 will be played at 2PM followed by the Mother’s (Senior) Day finale starting at 1PM.
And if there’s anything my mother wants more than a Clemson baseball series victory, I’m not sure what it is!
Duke comes into the series at 33-15 overall, 14-10 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Clemson and Duke have played 213 times all time. Clemson leads the all-time series 133-78-2. That record includes Clemson leading the series at home 69-33-1.
Here is your preview of Clemson’s home series against the Duke Blue Devils.
Clemson Briefly:
Clemson enters the weekend with 37 wins and 13 losses. 14-10 in the ACC.
The Tigers are hitting .270 as a team through 50 games (196th nationally).
As a team, the Tigers have 81 doubles (T-165th), 8 triples (T-168th) and 58 home runs (82nd).
On the mound, the Tigers pitching staff touts a 4.96 ERA (71st nationally). The staff has struck out 465 batters over 433.1 innings for an average of 9.7 per 9 innings (31st) and walked 180 through 50 games which is still 3.7 per 9 innings.
Opponents are hitting .247 against the Tigers pitching staff, up from .246 on Tuesday night.
Here is a look at the Duke Blue Devils:
Duke Blue Devils
Head Coach – Chris Pollard (13th Season)
2025 Record: 33-15 (14-10 ACC)
Wins: Cincinnati, UNC-Wilmington, Cornell (x2), Northwestern (x3), North Carolina A&T, Cal (x2), George Mason (x2), UConn, Virginia (x3), East Carolina, NC State (x2), Davidson, North Carolina, William & Mary, Campbell, Miami, Appalachian State, Pitt (x3), Virginia Tech (x2), Radford (x2), Queens
Losses: Cincinnati (x2), Cornell, Campbell, Liberty, Cal, Stanford (x3), NC State, North Carolina (x2), Miami (x2), Virginia Tech
Here are the probable starting lineup for Duke and their 2025 stats to date:
Position Players:
| Name (#) | Year | Position | 2025 Stats |
| Wallace Clark (7) | Senior | SS | .298; 11 2B, 6 HR, 29 RBI; 5-6 SB |
| AJ Gracia (29) | Sophomore | CF | .280; 8 2B, 3B, 8 HR, 42 RBI; 7-8 SB |
| Ben Miller (34) | Graduate | 3B | .335; 11 2B, 18 HR, 56 RBI |
| Jake Hyde (16) | Graduate | 1B | .305; 11 2B, 2 3B, 8 HR, 51 RBI |
| Tyler Albright (40) | Junior | RF | .320; 9 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 38 RBI; 12-12 SB |
| Ben Rounds (8) | Graduate | LF | .323; 12 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR, 32 RBI; 4-6 SB |
| Sam Harris (18) | Sophomore | DH | .307; 4 2B, 8 HR, 29 RBI |
| Macon Winslow (6) | Sophomore | C | .273; 10 2B, 3B, 5 HR, 39 RBI; 3-3 SB |
| Jake Berger (23) | Graduate | 2B | .247; 11 2B, 3B, 5 HR, 35 RBI; 3-3 SB |
Offensively, the Blue Devils are led by Grad transfer from Penn, third baseman Ben Miller. Miller is leading the team in multiple categories, average (.335), hits (64), home runs (18), RBIs (56), and OPS (1.089).
Junior Right fielder Tyler Albright leads the team with 12 steals, while hitting .320 and adding 7 long balls
Grad transfer from Georgetown Jake Hyde adds 8 home runs and 51 RBIs for this power-hitting lineup.
Duke is hitting .291 as a team (85th nationally). They have hit 94 doubles (T-80th), 12 triples (T-67th) and 83 home runs as a team (15th).
Every regular in Duke’s lineup has at least 5 home runs on the season.
Expected Starters for Duke
| NAME (#) | Year | Hand | 2025 Stats |
| Owen Proksch (9) | Junior | LHP | 2-1; 3.21 ERA; 14 App, 42 IP; 61 K, 18 BB; OppBA: .177 |
| Andrew Healy (2) | Junior | LHP | 3-3; 6.53 ERA; 12 App, 41.1 IP; 36 K, 17 BB; OppBA: .255 |
| Henry Zatkowski (12) | Freshman | LHP | 4-1; 5.18 ERA; 16 App, 41.2 IP; 41 K, 7 BB; OppBA: .271 |
The Duke pitching staff has a 4.62 staff ERA (43rd nationally), having struck out 441 opponent hitters for an average of 9.4 per 9 innings (46th) while walking 171 or 3.6 per 9 innings.
The staff has given up 61 home runs as a staff through 48 games. Opponents are hitting .238 against the Blue Devils pitching staff.
Both teams have not announced any starters for the weekend series. Based on previous weeks rotations, it is expected that Duke will throw three lefties. In which order they will throw is anyone’s guess, but I would expect it to be Proksch on Friday, Healy on Saturday and Zatkowski on Sunday. Those are subject to change.
It is also the expectation that Clemson will throw Aidan Knaak on Friday, Drew Titsworth on Saturday and BJ Bailey on Sunday, unless Coach Bakich likes Talan Bell in that spot with no more midweek games remaining.
Summary
Not the best time of the season to go on a little bit of a losing skid. The Tigers have been highly ranked due to the winning and the strength of schedule all season long.
It was a foregone conclusion that the Tigers would be a top 8 seed in the NCAA tournament with the prospects of hosting a regional and super regional should they win the regional. Some of those hopes are fleeting as the losing continues.
Duke revamped their lineup with a slew of transfers, mostly from Ivy League Schools, and continue to hit the long ball. This team can beat you with home runs. The pitching staff is pretty strong as well, and the Tigers will likely see a lot of lefties to start games this weekend.
Friend Marty Coleman (@seldomusedres on X) implored me to bring home a win on Tuesday night, I was unable to oblige. I don’t like when I can’t come through for friends. The Tigers need this series. I think they get it.
As always…
Go Tigers!
***Statistics Graphics credit: Marty Coleman***
