No. 6 Clemson Baseball - Pitt Panthers Preview
The Clemson Baseball team is back on its winning ways. Currently a two game streak after beating Charlotte in the mid-week game. The same Charlotte 49ers that ended Clemson’s season a year ago. The two teams will play again May 7th in Charlotte.
Looking forward to the weekend and the Tigers welcome in the Pittsburgh Panthers to Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Speaking of Doug Kingsmore, they will honor the stadium’s namesake in a ceremony before Saturday afternoon’s game.
This is a series that should get Clemson Baseball back fully on track and start another run of winning weekend series’.
Clemson Briefly:
Clemson is now 30-6, 11-4 in the ACC and still atop the ACC Atlantic division.
Austin Gordon had some struggles getting stretched out before the season. The righty has slotted into the closers role in the past few weeks and has responded admirably.
Andrew Ciufo’s season has come to an end. This space is usually reserved for recent successes, but just wanted to tip the cap to the Georgetown transfer and what he had meant to Team 127. Next man up! But the Tigers will miss his leadership in the middle of the infield.
No Free 90’s: Clemson has a propensity of giving up first inning runs. The immediate look would be to see how many walks come into play. Not many. Clemson pitchers have not allowed many walks in recent memory. In the game Tuesday night, Clemson pitchers only gave up 1 walk and that was Gordon in the 9th.
Here is your preview of the Pitt Panthers:
Pitt Panthers
Head Coach - Mike Bell (6th Season)
Record - 15-19 (4-14 ACC)
Wins against: Maine x3, Washington, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi x2, Oklahoma, California, Akron, Boston College, Kent State, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Duke, St. Bonaventure
Losses against: Maryland, North Carolina x3, Youngstown State, Boston College x2, Virginia x3, Penn State, Virginia Tech x2, Georgia Tech x2, Kent State, Duke x2, West Virginia
Pitching Match Ups:
Friday 6PM: LHP Tristan Smith vs. RHP Ryan Andrade (Pitt)
Saturday 2PM: LHP Ethan Darden vs. RHP Jack Sokol (Pitt)
Sunday 12PM: RHP Aidan Knaak (Clemson) vs. LHP Ryan Reed (Pitt)
Tristan Smith goes on Friday night in his first start back since the Duke series on March 16th. If he is half of what he was before the injury, he’ll be a welcomed addition to the weekend rotation.
Ethan Darden and Aidan Knaak will round out the weekend rotation. Both were exceptional a week ago, but Darden ended up on the losing side of his outing.
Pitt has used the same three pitchers for the better part of the season in the weekend roles. Rhode Island junior transfer righty Ryan Andrade gets the ball Friday night, followed by Auburn transfer righty Jack Sokol on Saturday and lefty Ryan Reed on Sunday.
Here is the best-guess, projected starters for the Pitt Panthers positionally based on previous games, with their season stats as well:
Position Players:
| Luke Cantwell (33) | Junior | 1st Base | .330; 5 2B, 9 HR, 31 RBI |
| Jayden Melendez (35) | Junior | DH/Catcher | .244; 3 2B, 11 HR, 27 RBI |
| Justin Fogel (13) | Senior | Left Field | .299; 6 2B, 3 HR, 24 RBI |
| CJ Funk (8) | Senior | Right Field | .274; 6 2B, 4 HR, 21 RBI |
| Dom Popa (6) | Senior | Centerfield | .326; 8 2B, 3B, 12 RBI |
| Tyler Bischke (1) | Senior | 2nd Base | .298; 10 2B, 2 HR, 25 RBI |
| Josh Spiegel (55) | Graduate | Catcher | .333; 6 2B, 3 HR, 20 RBI |
| Jake Kendro (4) | Sophomore | Shortstop | .309; 2 2B, 7 HR, 19 RBI |
| Ryan Zuckerman (14) | Freshman | 3rd Base | .258; 2B, 7 HR, 21 RBI |
| Turner Grau (21) | Graduate | Outfield | .268; 5 2B, HR, 16 RBI |
Offensively, the Panthers are hitting .287 as a team (102nd nationally), with 54 doubles, 1 triples, 47 home runs and have knocked in 221 runs. Jayden Melendez leads the offense from a power perspective with 11 homeruns and 27 RBIs. Luke Cantwell is hitting .333 from the leadoff position.
STARTING PITCHING
| Ryan Andrade (29) | Junior/RHP | 0-3; 9.96 ERA; 34 IP, 35 K, 26 BB, OppBA: .331 |
| Jack Sokol (43) | Senior/RHP | 3-2; 5.63 ERA, 46.1 IP, 35 K, 20 BB, OppBA: .305 |
| Ryan Reed (40) | Sophomore/LHP | 0-4; 7.34 ERA, 38 IP, 30 K, 20 BB; OppBA: .302 |
Starting pitching seems to be an issue for the Panthers. Obviously ERA and records do not tell the whole story, but on the surface, it looks like there’s a lot to be desired from the Panthers starters.
As a pitching staff, Pitt has a 6.20 ERA, 163rd in the country through 34 games, while opponents are hitting .286 against the Panthers. They’ve surrendered 76 2Bs, 7 3B, and 38 HRs as a staff.
SUMMARY
This Pitt team has beaten some really strong teams, but has yet to win an ACC weekend series having lost at least 2 games in every conference tilt.
Clemson Baseball loves to give up first inning runs and playing from behind. Hopefully this weekend they can reverse that trend and get off to a good start with a solid rotation and strong lineup 1 through 9.
The weather looks a little iffy, so watch Clemson Sports Media for updates about possible time/date changes for the weekend.
And as always…
Go Tigers!