Clemson’s baseball team began the weekend on the outside looking in when it comes to the postseason picture.
That could change by the end of today.
The Tigers (30-17, 8-14 ACC) will go for their first ACC sweep of the season when they host Georgia Tech at 1 p.m. in the teams’ series finale at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Clemson has put itself in position for a perfect weekend by outscoring the Yellow Jackets 21-12 so far, something Clemson coach Monte Lee said the Tigers need at this point.
“Every game is a playoff game for us. That’s the bottom line,” Lee said. “It’s great to win the series, but winning a series doesn’t matter for us right now. Every game counts for us. Hopefully we can put together a good game (Sunday).”
Now would be a good time for Clemson to pull off its first sweep of an ACC foe since beating Louisville in three games at home April 30-May 2 of last year. The Tigers began the weekend trailing Duke and North Carolina for the 12th and final spot in the ACC Tournament, but Clemson could move up depending on today’s results.
Clemson and Duke begin the day with identical records in the league. Duke is scheduled to play a doubleheader against Pittsburgh beginning at 11 a.m. after Friday’s game was postponed. UNC, one game ahead of both teams for the time being at 9-13 in league play, will also play a twinbill against North Carolina State starting at the same time.
Since the 12 teams for the conference tournament are determined by the highest conference winning percentages, a Clemson win coupled with a Pitt sweep would move the Tigers ahead of Duke for the final spot in the tournament. If Clemson wins and Duke and UNC both get swept, the Tigers would jump both in the pecking order since their league winning percentage would also be higher than the Tar Heels’ (Clemson would be 9-14 in league play in that scenario, UNC 9-15).
Clemson could still move ahead of Duke with a loss today if the Blue Devils were to drop both games to Pitt. Otherwise, the best the Tigers could do if they fall to Georgia Tech is stay half a game back of the Blue Devils for the final tournament spot.
And time to make a move is running out. The Tigers have just six conference games left after today (series against Virginia and Boston College), so they would rather keep handling its business.
“Every game is big,” said sophomore Caden Grice, who launched a pair of home runs in Clemson’s 12-9 win Saturday. “Like coach said, every game is a playoff game. We’ve just got to keep fighting and come out every single day ready to compete.”
Clemson will send freshman right-hander Billy Barlow (1-2, 5.18 earned run average) to the mound today for his third straight weekend start. He will be opposed by Tech right-hander Chance Huff (3-3, 6.88).
“I don’t think we take any pressure on ourselves,” pitcher Geoffrey Gilbert said. “We just have to win a baseball game. We’ve done a lot of that this year. It’s nothing that’s anything new to us.”
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