Clemson’s ACC baseball season got a much-needed jolt over the weekend, but do the Tigers have enough pitching to make a postseason push in the last month of the season?
That’s still the most pressing question facing the Tigers with the first half of the conference slate in the books. Clemson (22-13, 4-10 ACC) ended it on perhaps its highest note of the season so far, taking two out of three at No. 23 Wake Forest for its first league series win.
“Really proud of our guys, the way that we fought and the way that we swung the bats (Sunday),” Clemson coach Monte Lee said.
Those bats nearly carried the Tigers to a sweep. Clemson combined to score 19 runs over the final two games of the series with Max Wagner and Caden Grice providing most of the fireworks in the series finale.
Tabbed as a preseason All-American by some publications, Grice (.245 average, six HR, 21 RBIs) has struggled to find a rhythm at the plate for much of the season. But the Tigers’ power-hitting sophomore launched two home runs Saturday and drove in three runs. Meanwhile, Wagner continued his power surge with another homer – his 11th of the season – and four RBIs in Clemson’s 10-8 win.
“That one felt really good all around,” Grice said of the offense’s performance Sunday. “We had 13 hits and scored 10 runs. On offense, you really couldn’t ask for a better day than that.”
Yet the Tigers had one less than 24 hours earlier when the lineup pounded out 15 hits to rally from a 9-2 deficit in Saturday’s game. Clemson plated five runs in the seven and eighth innings to send it to extras before Wake Forest notched a 12-9 victory in 10 innings.
The Tigers could have used a win there, too, since there’s still plenty of work to do if Clemson hopes to not only avoid missing an NCAA regional for the second straight season but also being left out of the ACC Tournament, which is limited to 12 teams (highest conference winning percentages regardless of division). Since that 14-0 start, Clemson is just 8-13 in its last 21 games with series losses to Miami, Pittsburgh, North Carolina State and Notre Dame. Clemson has the second-worst record of any ACC team in league play and is just one game in the win column above Boston College – a team that’s lost 15 of its first 18 ACC games – at the bottom of the Atlantic Division standings.
In other words, Clemson, which sits at No. 46 in the latest RPI rankings, needs to start racking up wins in a hurry if it wants to be part of any postseason, which means the Tigers need to get something figured out on the mound Saturday and Sunday.
Mack Anglin (3.18 earned run average) helped Clemson get off on the right foot against Wake Forest in Friday’s series opener with another strong outing. The sophomore right-hander hurled six scoreless innings to combine with Geoffrey Gilbert for a 1-0 shutout, but it’s the remainder of the weekend that’s been problematic for the Tigers’ rotation.
Nick Hoffman and Nick Clayton, the Tigers’ usual Saturday and Sunday starters, both have ERAs north of 5 on the season. And neither has been working deep into games, putting plenty of stress on the Tigers’ bullpen.
The relievers answered the bell Sunday after Clayton lasted just one inning, his third straight start working fewer than four frames. Clemson faced a 3-0 deficit once Clayton’s day was done, but five Tiger relievers held Wake Forest’s offense at bay long enough for the offense to help out. Lee called Jackson Lindley the “MVP” of the day after the right-hander held the Demon Deacons scoreless over the final 2 ⅓ innings to preserve the win.
“I just tried to go out there and be the biggest competitor on the field,” said Lindley, who didn’t allow a hit and struck out three. “Go out there and be aggressive, throw strikes and put myself in a good place to win.”
Lee didn’t stick with the same two starters for the series’ final two games. After hinting that a change to the rotation could be coming earlier in the week, Lee gave freshman Jay Dill his first career start in place of Hoffman on Saturday. But the bullpen was taxed for nine innings after the young right-hander gave up seven earned runs in Wake Forest’s first-at bat. The Demon Deacons combined to score 13 runs in the first four innings of the series’ last two games.
Clemson’s team ERA now sits at 4.45 on the season, though that’s tame compared to how the Tigers’ arms have collectively performed against ACC competition. Clemson has a 6.31 ERA in league play, fourth-highest in the conference.
It won’t get any easier for the Tigers either. Next up is a road trip Tuesday to take on No. 14 Georgia followed by another midweek game Wednesday against East Tennessee State. Then Clemson will host Florida State, winners of four straight, beginning Friday.
With series against No. 11 Virginia, Georgia Tech and Boston College still on the schedule, too, Lee could make more tweaks on the mound. He recently mentioned midweek starter Billy Barlow (4.40 ERA in 10 appearances) and fellow freshman Casey Tallent (2.70 in 16 ⅔ innings of relief) as viable candidates to potentially get a start on the weekend.
Clemson doesn’t have any more time to waste.
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