With time running out for Clemson to make a move for the postseason, the Tigers’ search for dependable weekend pitching behind Mack Anglin continues.
Clemson coach Monte Lee has yet to decide who will get the ball in the Tigers’ final two games against No. 21 Georgia Tech (27-18, 12-12 ACC) this weekend. Anglin, the one constant in Clemson’s weekend rotation throughout the season with a 3.62 earned run average, will get his usual Friday start in the series opener at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, but Clemson has given the TBA (to be announced) designation for its Saturday and Sunday starters.
Getting depth out of its other weekend starters has been an issue all season for the Tigers, who began the week with a team ERA of 4.45 after giving up 35 runs against Louisville last weekend, including 18 in the Cardinals’ sweep-clinching victory Sunday. Those three losses dropped Clemson (28-17 overall) to 6-14 in ACC play, the second-worst record in the conference.
There are just three weekends left in the regular season, which could be the extent of Clemson’s season if the Tigers aren’t able to put a run together late. Clemson needs to finish with one of the top 12 winning percentages in league play in order to qualify for the ACC Tournament. Duke and North Carolina, which each own a .381 conference winning percentage, would be the final two teams in the tournament if it started today.
Any charge Clemson hopes to make, though, has to start with improvement on the mound.
Freshman right-hander Billy Barlow lasted just 1 ⅔ innings in the series finale against Louisville, allowing five runs (three earned) on three hits with three walks. Barlow, who’s spent much of the season as a midweek starter, moved into the rotation the week before in place of sophomore Nick Clayton, who’s got a 5.97 ERA on the season and hasn’t lasted longer than the fourth inning in any of his last four starts.
Barlow has pitched just 5 ⅓ innings in his first two weekend starts combined. Meanwhile, reliever-turned-starter Geoffrey Gilbert didn’t last long in his second straight weekend starter, yielding six earned runs on four hits and issuing three walks in just 1 ⅓ innings Saturday in the Tigers’ 10-8 loss.
Gilbert was better in his first start against Florida State the previous week, working into the fifth inning and giving up just three earned runs on four hits. His first 13 appearances this season came out of the bullpen before Lee started the sophomore right-hander instead of freshman Jay Dill, who had replaced Nick Hoffman (5.59 ERA) as the Saturday starter against Wake Forest on April 16. But Dill recorded just one out and allowed seven earned runs before getting pulled from that game, prompting Lee to switch it up again a couple of weeks ago.
While Lee could ultimately choose to stick with Gilbert and Barlow or move Hoffman and Clayton back into the rotation, they aren’t the only options.
Lee has mentioned another freshman, Casey Tallent, as someone who could get a crack at a weekend start. Tallent (2.74 ERA) has yielded just seven earned runs in 23 innings this season and didn’t allow an earned run in 2 ⅓ innings in his lone start so far against East Tennessee State on April 20. There’s also sophomore Ricky Williams (1.59), who’s made just seven appearances all season but held Presbyterian to two runs on five hits in 6 ⅔ innings his last time out on April 26.
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