What a game between two really good baseball teams on Thursday night. Thankfully, the “good guys” won as Clemson beat NC State in the quarterfinals of the ACC Baseball Tournament.
Drew Titsworth was extremely steady on the mound during the back and forth affair, before handing the ball to BJ Bailey and ultimately Lucas Mahlstedt, who was spectacular in relief.
Cam Canarella led the offense with 4 hits. Jacob Jarrell hit an absolute missile to centerfield late in the game. Jack Crighton had three hits and Andrew Ciufo added two.
ESPN showed a stat that the Tigers had more hits last night against the woofers than they did over the course of three games in late April.
The Tigers will now play the 1st seeded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the semi-final round of the Tournament on Saturday afternoon at 1pm EST at Durham Bulls Baseball Park in Durham, North Carolina.
Georgia Tech comes into the game at 40-16 overall, 19-11 in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season. Clemson took two of three in Atlanta during the regular season.
Georgia Tech did outscore the Tigers in those three games, despite losing the series 28-15. The series did include an 18-2 Georgia Tech win which skews that number tremendously.
Here is your preview of Clemson’s Semi-Final Round ACC Tournament foe, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Clemson Briefly
With the quarterfinal win against NC State, the Tigers now have 43 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.
Cam Cannarella has boosted his batting average over 30 points over the past three weeks and is now hitting a team-leading .343.
Jack Crighton (.304) and Dom Listi (.303) are the other two Tigers hitting over .300.
Catcher Jacob Jarrell leads the team with 14 home runs, followed closely by Colin Priest (11) and Josh Paino (10).
Jarren Purify leads the team with 26 stolen bases in 30 attempts.
The Tigers are hitting .279 as a team through 58 games (170th nationally).
As a team, the Tigers have 100 doubles (T-129th), 10 triples (T-147th) and 68 home runs (T-81st).
On the mound, the Tigers pitching staff touts a 4.86 ERA (59th nationally). The staff has struck out 544 batters over 487.1 innings for an average of 9.7 per 9 innings (25th) and walked 217 through 58 games which is 3.8 per 9 innings.
Opponents are hitting .248 against the Tigers pitching staff.
Here is a look at the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets:
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Head Coach – Danny Hall (38th and Final Season)
2025 Record: 40-16 (19-11 ACC)
Wins: Old Dominion (x3), Georgia Southern (x2), Marshall (x2), West Georgia, Western Michigan (x3), Kennesaw State (x2), Virginia Tech (x2), Georgia State, Pitt (x2), Gardner-Webb, Notre Dame (x3), CLEMSON, Mercer (x2), Stanford (x3), Cal (x3 & ACC Tournament Quarters), Virginia, Western Carolina (x3), Louisville (x2), Duke (x2)
Losses: Marshall (x2), Virginia Tech, Pitt, CLEMSON (x2), Auburn (x2), Georgia, Miami (x3), Virginia (x2), Louisville, Duke
Here are the probable starting lineup for Georgia Tech and their 2025 stats to date:
Position Players
| Name (#) | Year | Position | 2025 Stats – (Clemson Series ‘25) |
| Drew Burress (8) | Sophomore | CF | .346; 23 2B, 3B, 18 HR, 61 RBI; 10-11 SB (6-11 HR, 3 RBI) |
| Kent Schmidt (10) | Sophomore | 1B | .397; 16 2B, 3 HR, 40 RBI; 4-4 SB (DNP vs. Clemson) |
| Kyle Lodise (2) | Junior | SS | .328; 20 2B, 3 3B, 15 HR, 58 RBI; 12-12 SB (6-13; 3 HR, 7 RBI) |
| Alex Hernandez (4) | Freshman | RF | .336; 11 2B, 2 3B, 14 HR, 61 RBI; 5-6 SB (3-11, RBI) |
| Vahn Lackey (25) | Sophomore | C | .350; 13 2B, 3B, 5 HR, 37 RBI; 17-20 SB (3-11, RBI) |
| Caleb Daniel (6) | Freshman | LF | .326; 15 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR, 29 RBI; 4-4 SB (2-11, RBI) |
| Carson Kerce (3) | Sophomore | 3B | .322; 18 2B, 4 HR, 38 RBI; 6-9 SB (5-12, 2 RBI) |
| Will Baker (7) | Freshman | 2B | .269; 5 2B, 6 HR, 25 RBI (0-5) |
| Drew Rogers (34) | Freshman | DH | .264; 2 2B, 3B, 5 HR, 16 RBI; |
In the regular season series against the Tigers, the Jackets were led offensively by All-American, Golden Spikes Award favorite Drew Burress. The sophomore center fielder may be the best player in the nation. He’s hitting .346 with 18 home runs and 61 RBIs. Burress is one of the scariest hitters in the nation for opposing pitchers.
Sophomore Catcher Vahn Lackey is hitting .350 and has a team-leading 17 stolen bases. A heck of a feat for an everyday catcher.
Junior shortstop Kyle Lodise has 15 home runs for the Jackets and freshman right fielder Alex Hernandez is next with 14 and tied with Burress with 61 RBIs.
Georgia Tech is hitting .316 as a team (97th nationally). They have hit 141 doubles (T-77th), 12 triples (T-248th) and 85 home runs as a team (T-98th).
Probable Starter for Georgia Tech
| NAME (#) | Year | Hand | 2025 Stats – (against Clemson ‘25) |
| Brady Jones (99) | Junior | RHP | 7-2; 3.80 ERA, 14 app, 64 IP, 68 K, 35 BB; OppBA: .227 (5 IP, 3 H, R, 6 K, 4 BB; OppBA: .176) |
The Georgia Tech pitching staff has a 4.63 staff ERA (40th nationally), having struck out 489 opponent hitters for an average of 9.3 per 9 innings (51st) while walking 228 or 4.3 per 9 innings.
The staff has given up 59 home runs as a staff through 56 games. Opponents are hitting .263 against the Jackets pitching staff.
Clemson will likely go with Freshman Talan Bell.
Summary
The Tigers played a solid series against the highly-powered Yellow Jackets offense earlier in the season. Georgia Tech did explode in game 2 of that series for 18 runs against the Tigers, making it a complete laugher of a game.
The Tigers won the series, and at the end of the day, that is all that matters.
Georgia Tech offers a heck of a challenge for the Tigers in a one-game sample, especially because the Tigers pitching depth will be challenged. The good news for the Tigers is that they’ve only used 5 pitchers through 2 games. The bad news is the arms that were used are arguably 4 of the Tigers best.
I believe Talan Bell will get the ball for the Tigers, and he did not throw against the Jackets in the regular season.
Hoping that the bats stay hot against a probable pitcher from the Jackets that the Tigers struggled with in the regular season.
This game has the chance to be a great one.
