Clemson baseball is going through some struggles. It’s not the best time of year for the team to deal with some doldrums, but here we are.
Coach Bakich said, ‘We are still trying to get out of our funk. It’s not going to be smooth, it is not going to be a straight line.”
The Tigers were handled twice by Duke last weekend, a team that could flat-out hit and feasted on Saturday and Sunday against Clemson pitching.
The Tigers will conclude their regular season schedule starting on Thursday night in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania against the Pitt Panthers.
The ACC series starts Thursday night at at 6PM. Friday’s Game 2 will be played at 3PM followed by the Saturday finale starting at 1PM. All games will be played at Charles L. Cost Field.
Pitt comes into the series at 27-23 overall, 10-17 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Clemson and Pitt have played only 14 times all time. Clemson leads the all-time series 9-5. That record includes Clemson leading 5-3 in games at Pitt.
Here is your preview of Clemson’s road series finale against the Pitt Panthers.
Clemson Briefly
Clemson enters the weekend with 38 wins and 15 losses. 15-12 in the ACC. The Tigers are still ranked as high as #9 in the National College Baseball Writers Association Poll (NCBWA).
The Tigers are hitting .270 as a team through 53 games (198th nationally).
As a team, the Tigers have 87 doubles (T-168th), 8 triples (T-185th) and 60 home runs (93rd).
On the mound, the Tigers pitching staff touts a 5.02 ERA (71st nationally). The staff has struck out 500 batters over 460.1 innings for an average of 9.8 per 9 innings (26th) and walked 180 through 53 games which is 3.5 per 9 innings.
Opponents are hitting .251 against the Tigers pitching staff.
Here is a look at the Pitt Panthers:
Pitt Panthers
Head Coach – Mike Bell (7th Season)
2025 Record: 33-15 (14-10 ACC)
Wins: Eastern Michigan (x3), Monmouth (x2), UNC-Greensboro (x2), UNC-Asheville, ETSU, Youngstown State, Georgia Tech, Akron (x2), Kent State, NC State, Penn State (x2), Boston College, Miami, Virginia, Mercyhurst, North Carolina, Virginia Tech (x3), West Virginia, Wake Forest
Losses: Monmouth, Bucknell, UNC-Greensboro, ETSU (x2), Georgia Tech (x2), NC State (x2), Boston College (x2), West Virginia, Miami (x2), Virginia (x2), Duke (x3), North Carolina (x2), Wake Forest (x2)
Here are the probable starting lineup for Pitt and their 2025 stats to date:
Position Players
| Name (#) | Year | Position | 2025 Stats |
| David Pedanou (1) | Senior | CF | .278; 2 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 19 RBI; 20-20 SB |
| Caden Dulin (8) | Junior | 2B | .341; 13 2B, 4 HR, 28 RBI; 2-2 SB |
| Luke Cantwell (33) | Senior | 1B | .348; 18 2B, 3B, 5 HR, 43 RBI; 6-6 RBI |
| Ryan Zuckerman (14) | Sophomore | 3B | .312; 15 2B, 3B, 12 HR, 46 RBI; 3-4 SB |
| AJ Nessler (3) | Junior | LF | .333; 10 2B, 3B, 5 HR, 43 RBI; 8-10 SB |
| Sebastian Pisacreta (18) | Sophomore | C | .252; 8 2B, 8 HR, 30 RBI |
| Lorenzo Carrier (23) | RS Junior | RF | .270; 4 2B, 6 HR, 28 RBI; 2-2 SB |
| Jayden Melendez (35) | Senior | DH | .216; 6 2B, 5 HR, 27 RBI |
| Jake Kendro (4) | Junior | SS | .200; 7 2B, HR, 12 RBI; 3-3 SB |
Offensively, the Pathers are led by Sophomore third baseman Ryan Zuckerman. Zuckerman is leading the team in home runs (12) and RBIs (43), and OPS (1.076).
Senior 1st baseman Luke Cantwell leads the team in average (.348).
Leadoff hitter, center fielder David Pedanou leads the team and is a perfect 20 for 20 in stolen bases. .
Duke is hitting .276 as a team (165th nationally). They have hit 91 doubles (T-142nd), 6 triples (T-237th) and 54 home runs as a team (126th).
Probable Staters for Pitt
| NAME (#) | Year | Hand | 2025 Stats |
| Patrick Gardner (11) | Senior | LHP | 4-4; 7.59 ERA; 13 App, 61.2 IP, 45 K, 25 BB; OppBA: .285 |
| Kyle Demi (31) | Senior | RHP | 0-2; 6.06 ERA; 18 App, 32.2 IP, 41 K, 10 BB; OppBA: .254 |
| Ryan Reed (40) | Junior | LHP | 5-4; 4.66 ERA; 13 App, 67.2, 65 K, 24 BB; OppBA: .284 |
| Drew Lafferty (32) | RS Sophomore | RHP | 4-2; 6.18 ERA; 14 App, 51 IP, 34 K, 25 BB; OppBA: .291 |
The Pitt pitching staff has a 6.32 staff ERA (177th nationally), having struck out 412 opponent hitters for an average of 8.6 per 9 innings (102nd) while walking 221 or 4.6 per 9 innings.
The staff has given up 69 home runs as a staff through 50 games. Opponents are hitting .286 against the Blue Devils pitching staff.
Both teams have announced starters for the Thursday series opener; Aidan Knaak for the Tigers and Patrick Gardner for the Panthers. Clemson has announced Drew Titsworth for Friday’s game 2 while Pitt has announced TBA for both Game’s 2 and 3. Clemson has not announced a game 3 starter.
There is also the expectation that Clemson will throw BJ Bailey on Sunday, unless Coach Bakich likes Talan Bell as he did last weekend against Duke.
Summary
Let’s get a series win this weekend. Gain a little momentum going into the conference tournament and cement a regional host.
Outside of Knaak, and a few bullpen arms, pitching has struggled in the last half of the season.
Pitt has only won 1 ACC series, but has played better as of late, and a relatively good 13-7 record at home.
I was wrong last week predicting a home series victory. Instead of shying away from another one, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the Tigers are able to wake up the bats a little bit, against a very hittable Pitt pitching staff.
Coach Bakich put it perfectly, and I, for one, have bought in: “We just got to fight our way through it. We’re going to get hot. We’re going to get hot. We’re going to make our run, and it is going to be awesome. It will be epic.”
***Statistics Graphics credit: Marty Coleman***
