Clemson baseball swept their way through the Steel City this past weekend and won all three games against the Pitt Panthers to gain a little bit of momentum going into the ACC Tournament.
The Tigers were afforded the #5 seed in the tournament and earned a bye into the second round and were awaiting the winner between the 12 seed Virginia Tech and 13 seed Stanford.
Virginia Tech got a good outing from their starting pitcher Jake Marciano and just enough offense to outlast the Stanford Cardinal 7-4.
The Tigers will play Virginia Tech in the 2nd round of the Tournament on Wednesday at 1pm at Durham Bulls Baseball Park in Durham, North Carolina.
Virginia Tech comes into the game at 31-24 overall, 12-18 in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season.
Clemson and Virginia Tech have played 91 times all time. Clemson leads the all-time series 53-26-2. Virginia Tech leads all-time in the ACC Tournament 2-1.
Here is your preview of Clemson’s 2nd Round ACC Tournament foe, the Virginia Tech Hokies.
Clemson Briefly
Clemson closed the regular season with 41 wins and 15 losses. 18-12 in the ACC. The Tigers are ranked as high as #12 in the Perfect Game and USA Today polls.
The Tigers are hitting .276 as a team through 56 games (172nd nationally).
As a team, the Tigers have 97 doubles (T-143rd), 9 triples (T-168th) and 66 home runs (T-85th).
On the mound, the Tigers pitching staff touts a 4.91 ERA (63rd nationally). The staff has struck out 527 batters over 487.1 innings for an average of 9.7 per 9 innings (26th) and walked 211 through 56 games which is 3.9 per 9 innings.
Opponents are hitting .248 against the Tigers pitching staff.
Here is a look at the Virginia Tech Hokies:
Virginia Tech Hokies
Head Coach – John Szefc (8th Season)
2025 Record: 31-24 (12-18 ACC)
Wins: Bucknell (x2), ETSU (x2), UNC-Greensboro (x2), James Madison (x2), Indiana State, Kent State, Norfolk State (x2), Georgia Tech, NC State, VCU (x2), Louisville (x2), Radford, Wake Forest (x3), Notre Dame (x2), Troy, North Carolina, Duke, Mercer (x2), Virginia, Stanford (ACC Tournament)
Losses: Bucknell, UNC-Greensboro, East Carolina, Georgia Tech (x2), NC State (x2), Louisville, Radford, Notre Dame, Florida State (x3), North Carolina (x2), Duke (x2), Liberty (x2), Pitt (x3), Virginia (x2)
Here are the probable starting lineup for Virginia Tech and their 2025 stats to date:
Position Players
| Name (#) | Year | Position | 2025 Stats |
| Ben Watson (10) | Graduate | LF | .312; 15 2B, 7 HR, 34 RBI; 3-5 SB |
| Clay Grady (9) | Junior | SS | .263; 14 2B, 2 3B, 23 RBI; 7-10 SB |
| Sam Tackett (2) | RS Senior | 1B | .317; 10 2B, 14 HR, 44 RBI; 12-14 SB |
| David McCann (5) | Sophomore | DH | .278; 12 2B, 3B, 11 HR, 27 RBI; 3-5 SB |
| Henry Cooke (7) | Junior | C | .270; 9 2B, 7 HR, 31 RBI; 1-1 SB |
| Jackson Cherry (28) | Graduate | RF | .278; 5 2B, 4 HR, 23 RBI |
| Jared Davis (11) | Junior | 2B | .289; 14 2B, 3B, 9 HR, 44 RBI; 14-19 SB |
| Cam Pittman (15) | Senior | CF | .267; 2 HR, 13 RBI; 3-3 SB |
| Hudson Lutterman (18) | Freshman | 3B | .210; 10 2B, 4 HR, 22 RBI; 1-1 SB |
Offensively, the Hokies are led by Senior first baseman Sam Tackett. Tackett is leading the team in batting average (.317) home runs (14), tied for the team lead in RBIs (44), and is on top in OPS (1.026). Tackett also adds 12 of 14 stolen bases to his arsenal.
Sophomore DH David McCann is second on the team with 11 home runs.
Junior second baseman Jared Davis grinds out each of his at-bats, is tied with Tackett with 44 runs batted in, and leads the team with 14 stolen bases.
Virginia Tech is hitting .271 as a team (211th nationally). They have hit 118 doubles (T-28th), 8 triples (T-199th) and 72 home runs as a team (T-62nd).
Probable Starter(s) for Virginia Tech
| NAME (#) | Year | Hand | 2025 Stats |
| Brett Renfrow (17) | Sophomore | RHP | 3-6; 3.41 ERA, 14 app, 68.2 IP, 74 K, 32 BB; OppBA: .263 |
| Logan Eisenreich (51) | Freshman | RHP | 1-1; 4.88 ERA, 11 app, 24.0 IP, 32 K, 28 BB; OppBA: .212 |
| Chase Swift (35) | Freshman | LHP | 1-3; 3.86 ERA, 14 app, 29.1 IP, 47 K, 13 BB; OppBA: .230 |
The Virginia Tech pitching staff has a 5.20 staff ERA (177th nationally), having struck out 567 opponent hitters for an average of 10.7 per 9 innings (102nd) while walking 262 or 5.0 per 9 innings.
The staff has given up 53 home runs as a staff through 55 games. Opponents are hitting .267 against the Hokies pitching staff.
Both teams have not announced starters for Wednesday afternoon’s game. It is my guess that Virginia Tech will throw Sophomore righty Brett Renfrow, the regular “Friday night starter”.
Clemson will likely go with Aidan Knaak on normal rest.
Summary
The Tigers were able to sweep Pitt and made each of the three games “laughers” early. The bats seemingly woke up against the Panthers and made this past weekend really fun.
The fans are starting to believe again, and rightfully so.
Coach Bakich said the team has what it takes to make a run. Pitching depth may be tested this week if the Tigers continue to win.
At this point, it is likely that the Tigers will host a regional, however, winning a couple of games in the tournament would all but solidify that.
***Statistics Graphics credit: Marty Coleman***
