Clemson Baseball News – Page 6

Chase Burns strikes out career-high 16 as Wake Forest downs Clemson in series opener

The Clemson Tigers struck out 16 times against Wake Forest right-hander Chase Burns, who set a new career-high in strikeouts.

Chase Burns showed why he’s the most dominant pitcher in college baseball.

Burns struck out a career-high 16 batters, and No. 12 Wake Forest downed No. 2 Clemson, 4-2, in the opener of a three-game series in ACC play Friday at David F. Couch Ballpark in Winston-Salem.

Burns entered the day leading all of NCAA Division I pitchers with 140 strikeouts in 12 starts. He added to that total against a Clemson team that had averaged 8.3 runs per game.

The right-hander twirled seven innings of two-hit ball. His only blemish was a solo home run by Jacob Hinderleider in the fourth inning. Burns lowered his ERA to 2.85 on the season.

With Burns showing signs of fatigue in the seventh inning after issuing a two-out walk to Jack Crighton, Wake Forest coach Tom Walter paid a visit to the mound. When Walter headed back to the dugout, without his ace pitcher in tow, he received a loud ovation from the home crowd.

Burns rewarded Walter’s faith when he struck out Nolan Nawrocki swinging on his 101st pitch of the night to notch his single-game career-high in strikeouts. Burns improved his record to 10-1. He struck out the side twice, in the third and sixth innings. He also recorded all three outs via the strikeout in the fourth, sandwiched around Hinderleider’s home run.

Wake Forest got a solo home run from Jack Winnay in the second inning off Clemson starter Ethan Darden for a 1-0 lead. In the fourth, Antonio Morales made Darden pay for issuing back-to-back walks, clearing the bases with a three-run homer to put the Demon Deacons ahead 4-1.

By the eighth inning, after Burns’ spectacular night had ended, Clemson’s bats were able to breathe a bit. Facing left-hander Zach Johnston, Blake Wright cut the lead to 4-2 after slapping a run-scoring single through the right side — one of three straight singles by Tigers hitters.

Clemson wouldn’t get any closer. With the tying run on base, Cam Cannarella swung through a breaking ball well up and in for the second out. After Walter went to his bullpen, right-hander Cole Roland struck out Jimmy Obertop on three pitches to end the threat.

Roland returned to pitch the ninth and faced the minimum when he retired Nawrocki on a fly ball to shallow right for the final out. Roland notched his fifth save of the season.

Darden (5-3) suffered the loss for Clemson, allowing all four Wake Forest runs on six hits in seven innings. The left-hander struck out four and walked three. Hinderleider (2-for-4) led the Tigers at the plate with two hits, including his 12th home run.

Clemson fell to 37-11 overall and 17-8 in conference play. Wake Forest improved to 34-16 overall and 13-12 in the ACC. The Deacs have won seven straight contests.

Game 2 of the series is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday. Left-hander Tristan Smith will start for the Tigers and face Wake Forest right-hander David Falco. The game can be seen on ACC Network.

Series preview ahead of No. 2 Clemson baseball visiting No. 12 Wake Forest

A complete series preview as No. 2 Clemson heads to No. 12 Wake Forest in ACC baseball action.

Two of the ACC’s best baseball teams will square off this weekend in Winston-Salem when Clemson heads to Wake Forest.

Wake Forest Outlook

The Tigers (37-10 overall, 17-7 conference) will face a Demon Deacons (33-16, 12-12) team that entered the year as a preseason No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll and other various Top 25 rankings — the first time in school history that had happened.

Things didn’t go quite as according to plan for coach Tom Walter’s team early on. Wake Forest struggled right out of the gate in conference play, losing three of their first four weekend series, including a three-game sweep to North Carolina that dropped them to 2-7 in ACC play. They’ve since turned things around, losing only one conference series (at Notre Dame two weeks earlier).

Wake Forest enters this weekend having won six straight games to climb to No. 12 in D1Baseball’s Top 25 poll. They scored a season-high 24 runs in a 24-7 midweek victory over North Carolina A&T on Wednesday.

Seaver King (.332) and Jake Reinisch (.326) are a big reason for the team’s recent turnaround. They lead Wake Forest in hitting and have combined for 31 home runs and 123 RBIs. After missing a few games due to injury, first baseman Nick Kurtz has shown no drop in production, batting .319 with a team-high 19 home runs. As a team, the Demon Deacons have averaged 8.6 runs per game.

Clemson Outlook

Despite a few hiccups, Clemson has (generally) kept rolling along in ACC play. The Tigers have won all but one of eight series in conference action. The bullpen has been a concern of late with the team coughing up big leads in recent contests against Georgia Tech and Charlotte.

The bullpen squandered a pair of five-run leads last Friday in the second game of a doubleheader split against Georgia Tech that spoiled a seven-RBI game for senior slugger Blake Wright. On Tuesday against Charlotte, the Tigers blew a 9-2 lead and needed a four-run ninth inning rally to down the 49ers in midweek play, 14-12.

Clemson’s 4.24 ERA as a pitching staff is third in the ACC behind North Carolina and Duke. Freshman right-hander Aidan Knaak has yet to lose a game, going 4-0 with a team-best 2.57 ERA through 11 starts.

Left-hander Tristan Smith has struggled since returning to the rotation after being out a month with an ankle injury. He has allowed 10 runs (six earned) in eight innings in his three starts since the injury. Fellow southpaw Ethan Darden had an impressive bounce-back against Georgia Tech, going six innings and allowing three runs for a quality start his last time out.

At the plate, Wright has played in all 47 games and leads the Tigers in hitting with a .332/.367/.673 slash line. The senior second baseman and reigning ACC Player of the Week also leads the team with 19 home runs and 65 RBIs. Jimmy Obertop has 16 homers and 38 RBIs while batting .301, and Jacob Hinderleider recently became the third Tigers player to reach double figures in home runs with 11 for the season.

Alden Mathes (.332) and Hinderleider (.331) are practically tied with Wright for the team lead in hitting. Center fielder Cam Cannarella has come on strong of late and is up to .328 with a team-high 15 doubles. Clemson is batting .298 as a team while averaging 8.3 runs per game.

Pitching Matchups

Darden will start Friday’s opener against Wake Forest’s Chase Burns. A transfer from Tennessee, Burns has been one of the top pitchers in the nation this season. He is 9-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 12 starts. Burns leads all of Division I baseball with 140 strikeouts in 75 innings pitched.

In his last start (against Western Carolina on May 4), Burns tossed six no-hit innings and struck out 13 of the 20 batters he faced to earn ACC Pitcher of the Week honors for the fourth time this season. The right-hander has struck out 10 or more batters in nine of his 12 starts this season and is the No. 7 overall 2024 MLB Draft prospect as ranked by MLB.com.

Smith will face Wake Forest right-hander David Falco (2-2, 4.85 ERA) in Game 2 Saturday with Knaak starting Sunday’s finale against left-hander Josh Hartle (6-2, 5.40).

Series History

Clemson leads the all-time head to head series, 142-63-1. The Tigers were swept by Wake Forest a season ago when the two teams met at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Where to Watch/Stream/Listen

Here’s how Clemsons fans can watch, stream, and listen to this weekend’s series against Wake Forest.

When: May 10-12

Where: David F. Couch Ballpark

Start Times (ET)

Friday, 6 p.m.

Saturday, 4 p.m.

Sunday, 12 p.m.

Broadcast Info

Live Video Stream: ACC Network Extra (Friday), ESPN+

TV: ACC Network (Saturday), ESPN2 (Sunday)

Radio: Clemson Athletic Network | TuneIn App

Broadcast Teams

ACC Network Extra (Friday): Stan Cotten, Lary Sorensen

ACC Network (Saturday), ESPN2 (Sunday): Clay Matvick, Kyle Peterson

Clemson Radio: Don Munson, Bob Mahony

SEC team jumps past Clemson baseball in new postseason projections

A look at where the Clemson Tigers baseball team is projected in the latest Field of 64 projections.

The Clemson baseball team appears to be on solid footing as it heads into the stretch run of the season.

The Tigers won their seventh of eight series in conference play over the past weekend when they took two of three from a hot-hitting Georgia Tech team. Coach Erik Bakich’s club followed that up with a wild 14-12 win over Charlotte in non-conference play Tuesday night.

When both Texas A&M and Arkansas — previously ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively — dropped their weekend series, it allowed Clemson to vault past both teams to No. 2 in the new D1Baseball Top 25 poll this week. Tennessee moved to No. 1 in every major poll, including the USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll.

But the Volunteers weren’t the SEC team that jumped past the Tigers for a higher national seed in the new Field of 64 projections for the 2024 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament from both On3 and Baseball America. That was Kentucky, which took two of three against Arkansas on Sunday.

In Baseball America’s latest postseason outlook, the Wildcats are the new projected No. 1 national seed for the tournament. Clemson stayed as the No. 3 seed in BA’s projections, one spot behind Texas A&M. Baseball America forecasts the Tigers to host UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro and Army in a four-team, double-elimination Clemson Regional to kick off the tournament.

On3 kept the Tigers as a No. 3 seed in their projections as well. But like Baseball America, On3 also moved Kentucky past Clemson in its latest postseason outlook.

Still, On3’s Jonathan Wagner notes that Clemson is “in the driver’s seat” with two weekends remaining in the regular season.

Per Wagner:

“Clemson prevailed over the weekend in a series win over Georgia Tech, putting them at 17 ACC wins and tied at the top of the league standings. The Tigers are 36-10 overall and No. 4 in RPI, and have a legitimate chance to finish as one of the top three seeds. This weekend at Wake Forest is massive, but Clemson looks to be in the driver’s seat for a top four or five seed at the least. Also in the Clemson Regional is San Diego, Charleston and Presbyterian.”

The final field of 64 that will make up the NCAA Tournament and compete for a berth in the College World Series in Omaha will be unveiled on Selection Monday, May 27 at noon EDT.

The Tigers’ three-game weekend set in Winston-Salem begins Friday with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. EDT. The game can be seen on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).

Clemson’s Blake Wright earns ACC Player of the Week honors

Clemson Baseball: Blake Wright was 6-for-11 (.545) with three homers, a double, 11 RBIs, six runs, a 1.455 slugging percentage, walk, two hit-by-pitches, a .600 on-base percentage and no errors in eight chances at third base.

CLEMSON, S.C. – Senior infielder Blake Wright (Belleair, Fla.) was named ACC Player-of-the-Week, announced Monday by the league office. He joined Wake Forest’s Chase Burns, who was named ACC Pitcher-of-the-Week, in receiving conference accolades. ACC baseball weekly honors are determined by a vote of a select media panel and are announced on Mondays throughout the regular season.

It marked his second ACC Player-of-the-Week honor in 2024, as he received the accolade on March 25.

In only three games on the week, all in a series win against Georgia Tech, Wright was 6-for-11 (.545) with three homers, a double, 11 RBIs, six runs, a 1.455 slugging percentage, walk, two hit-by-pitches, a .600 on-base percentage and no errors in eight chances at third base.

He went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs in the first game of a doubleheader on Friday, then went 4-for-5 with two homers and a career-high seven RBIs in the second game of a doubleheader on Friday. Nine of his 10 RBIs on the day were two-out RBIs.

On the season, he is hitting .335 with 55 runs, eight doubles, two triples, 19 homers and 65 RBIs in 46 games.

–via Clemson Athletic Communications

New college baseball team surges to No. 1 in latest Top 25 polls

Clemson Baseball: A new No. 1 team is atop two of the major Top 25 college baseball polls for Monday, May 6. Is it the Clemson Tigers?

There’s a new No. 1 team in the nation in two of the major Top 25 college baseball polls, released Monday, May 6.

Tennessee (39-9 overall) moved into the top spot in the new D1Baseball and Baseball America Top 25 rankings after spending the past three weeks at No. 3.

Texas A&M (40-8), which had spent three weeks at No. 1, dropped two of three at LSU over the weekend in Baton Rouge. Previously second-ranked Arkansas (40-9) also dropped two of three in a Top 10 matchup against Kentucky in Lexington.

That allowed the Volunteers to move up to No. 1 for the first time all season after taking two of three from Florida in Gainesville.

Where does Clemson rank amid all the changes at the top? It depends on the rankings. The Tigers (36-10 overall) moved up two spots to land at No. 2 in D1Baseball’s poll but stayed at No. 4 in Baseball America’s rankings.

Texas A&M fell to No. 3 in D1Baseball’s poll, but the Aggies fell only one spot to land at No. 2 and finish ahead of Clemson in Baseball America’s new rankings. Arkansas also finished ahead of the Tigers for third in Baseball America’s Top 25, while the Razorbacks dropped from second to fifth in D1Baseball’s poll.

Kentucky (35-10) moved to No. 4 in D1Baseball’s poll after its big series win against Arkansas. The Wildcats were ranked sixth by Baseball America.

Florida State (35-10) rounded out Baseball America’s top five while D1Baseball ranked the Seminoles further down at No. 8. FSU played only two games this past week, splitting a pair of contests with NC State due to rain and poor field conditions in Tallahassee.

For Clemson, it’s the second straight week that coach Erik Bakich’s club has been on the rise in D1Baseball’s poll. The Tigers had moved up to No. 4 in the rankings last week.

Aside from Clemson and Florida State, the ACC had five other schools place in the Top 25 in Duke, Virginia, North Carolina, Wake Forest and NC State.

Baseball America ranked North Carolina the highest of those five teams at No. 7, while D1Baseball gave Duke the higher ranking at No. 9.

The ACC tied with the SEC for the most schools ranked of any conference with seven apiece. All told, the SEC took four of the first five spots in D1Baseball’s poll while the ACC took six of the first 12 spots.

Clemson travels to Truist Field to face the Charlotte 49ers in midweek action Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. EDT.

No. 4 Clemson downs Georgia Tech for another ACC series win

Clemson Baseball: Billy Barlow was outstanding in relief, Cam Cannarella stayed hot at the plate, and Jacob Hinderleider hit a three-run home run to lift the fourth-ranked Tigers past Georgia Tech, 9-3, Sunday.

Jacob Hinderleider hit a three-run home run, and Clemson pitching held a hot-hitting Georgia Tech team to just five hits in a 9-3 Tigers victory over the Yellow Jackets Sunday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

It was another series victory for the fourth-ranked Tigers (36-10 overall, 17-7 conference), who won their seventh of eight weekend series in ACC play.

After a solo home run from Payton Green gave Georgia Tech a 1-0 lead in the second inning, Clemson answered in the bottom of the inning. Cam Cannarella drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. Jimmy Obertop and Tristan Bissetta then followed with back-to-back RBI doubles to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.

Cannarella stepped back to the plate in the third inning and brought in Clemson’s third run with a two-out triple down the right field line to score Blake Wright.

The Tigers then erupted for four runs in the fourth inning. They started with three straight singles off Georgia Tech starter Tate McKee, with Nolan Nawrocki singling home a run to make it 4-1. Two outs later, Hinderleider cleared the bases with a three-run bomb to left that brought the score to 7-1. It was Hinderleider’s 10th home run of the season.

Clemson never looked back, tacking on single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Cannarella doubled and scored on an RBI sacrifice fly from Jack Crighton in the fifth before Wright tacked on to the lead with a sac fly that scored Jarren Purify in the sixth for a 9-1 lead.

Clemson pitching held Georgia Tech to just five hits Sunday. Aidan Knaak looked a bit rusty in spots in his first start in two weeks after being held out of the rotation a week earlier at Louisville. He allowed a run on two hits and three walks in four innings of a no-decision. Knaak struck out seven and left after throwing 78 pitches, 48 for strikes.

Billy Barlow, Clemson’s regular midweek starter, took over for Knaak in the fifth and pitched four scoreless innings before allowing a bloop single to Green, followed by a Parker Brosius two-run home run.

Barlow (5-1) surrendered just those two runs on three hits to 17 batters faced to earn the win. He struck out three and walked one. Freshman left-hander Jacob McGovern retired all three batters he faced on 11 pitches in his fifth relief appearance of the season.

McKee (4-4) suffered the loss for Georgia Tech (28-17, 12-12). His final line was six runs allowed in 3 1/3 innings.

Clemson tallied eight hits with Cannarella and Bissetta each finishing 2-for-3.

NEXT UP

The Tigers will travel to Truist Field, the site of this year’s ACC Baseball Tournament, to face Charlotte in midweek play Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. EDT. The game can be seen on ESPN+. Clemson will then head to Winston-Salem for its next weekend series at No. 15 Wake Forest beginning Friday.

Schedule changes for Clemson baseball weekend series vs. Georgia Tech

Clemson Baseball — Tigers and Georgia Tech will play a doubleheader Friday due to the threat of inclement weather.

CLEMSON, S.C. – Due to forecasted inclement weather this weekend, the series between Georgia Tech and Clemson at Doug Kingsmore Stadium now has the following schedule.

• Game 1 – Friday at Noon
• Game 2 – Friday (approximately 60 minutes after Game 1 concludes, weather permitting)
• Game 3 – Sunday, 1 p.m. (as previously scheduled)

Live video for all three games is available on ACC Network Extra. Both contests on Friday are also still scheduled as nine-inning games.

Tickets for Friday’s originally scheduled game are valid for the second game of Friday’s doubleheader, while tickets for Saturday’s originally scheduled game are valid for the first game of Friday’s doubleheader. The stadium will be cleared in between games on Friday.

Log on to ClemsonTigers.com and follow @ClemsonBaseball for updates.

–via Clemson Athletic Communications

Is Clemson up or down in new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll?

Clemson Baseball: Here’s a look at where the Clemson Tigers are ranked in this week’s USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll for the week of April 29.

Coach Erik Bakich’s Clemson Tigers are coming off a 2-2 week that included tough losses at No. 18 Georgia and at unranked Louisville.

Where do those two losses leave the Tigers in the new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll? The same spot as last week, it turns out.

Clemson (34-9 overall) stayed at No. 4 in the new coaches poll, released Monday, April 29. It’s the same ranking the team holds in Baseball America’s new Top 25 and D1Baseball’s new poll. The Tigers moved up one spot in D1Baseball’s poll this week from No. 5.

The top four of the coaches poll, compiled by 31 head coaches at Division I schools, remained the same as last week. For the third consecutive week, Texas A&M (38-6 overall) stayed at No. 1, Arkansas (37-7) held at No. 2, and Tennessee (37-7) remained at No. 3.

The only change in the top five was at No. 5, where East Carolina (35-8) jumped two spots after outscoring Memphis 36-6 over the weekend in a three-game sweep in the American Athletic Conference. East Carolina leads the AAC standings by two games over UTSA.

Other ACC schools ranked in the top 10 of this week’s coaches poll are No. 6 Florida State, No. 9 Duke, and No. 10 Virginia. The ACC has seven total teams ranked in the Top 25, which also includes No. 12 North Carolina, No. 15 Wake Forest, and No. 20 NC State.

The SEC has the most schools ranked of any conference with nine.

To that end, some big movers in this week’s coaches poll are South Carolina, which jumped seven spots to No. 14 after taking two of three from previously fifth-ranked Kentucky. Mississippi State also jumped seven spots to go from unranked last week to No. 21 this week following a clutch series win at Vanderbilt, which had been ranked No. 8.

Oklahoma State roses six spots to No. 16 after a 4-0 week that included a sweep of BYU in the Big 12. The Cowboys’ bats awoke for 40 runs in the three games against BYU.

Vanderbilt and Oklahoma saw the furthest drops among ranked teams this week. The Commodores slid five spots to No. 13 while the Sooners fell five spots to land at No. 23.

Clemson is back in action Friday when the Tigers welcome Georgia Tech to Doug Kingsmore Stadium in ACC play.

No. 17 Georgia edges No. 4 Clemson 15-inning marathon

Clemson Baseball: Fourth-ranked Tigers fall in 15-inning marathon at No. 17 Georgia.

ATHENS, GA. – Paul Toetz scored on a wild pitch with one out in the 15th inning in No. 17 Georgia’s 4-3 win over No. 4 Clemson at Foley Field on Tuesday night. In a game that lasted five hours and 30 minutes, the Bulldogs improved to 30-10, while the Tigers dropped to 32-8.

The Bulldogs scored an unearned run in the second inning on Toetz’s two-out single, then Blake Wright extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a two-out, two-run triple in the third inning. Cannarella led off the fourth inning with his seventh homer of the year.

In the seventh inning, Corey Collins hit a run-scoring single to cut Clemson’s lead in half, then Collins blooped a one-out single in the ninth inning to tie the score. Alden Mathes’ throw to the plate on the play retired Charlie Condon to extend the game.

In the 15th inning, the Bulldogs took advantage of two walks and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases with one out. Then an errant pitch allowed Toetz to score the walkoff run.

Chandler Marsh (1-0) earned the win, while Chance Fitzgerald (0-1) suffered the loss. Ten Tiger pitchers combined to allow just three earned runs and eight hits, all singles.

The Tigers travel to Louisville for a three-game series, beginning Friday at 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.

–via Clemson Athletic Communications

Clemson “locked up” as top five national seed in new Field of 64 projection

Clemson Baseball: On3 Sports says the Tigers, ranked No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, are all but locked in as a top five national seed.

A 3-1 week that included a non-conference victory over Charlotte and a series win over Pitt in ACC play saw the Clemson Tigers climb two spots to No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll for Week 12.

The Tigers (32-7 overall, 13-5 ACC) also stayed at No. 4 in the NCAA’s RPI rankings. Similar to NET rankings in men’s and women’s basketball, RPI measures not just a team’s won/loss record but its strength of schedule and other factors.

Only Texas A&M, Arkansas, and Kentucky have higher RPI rankings than Clemson. The Aggies and Razorbacks are ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in every major poll.

In On3’s latest Field of 64 projections for the NCAA Division I men’s baseball tournament, Clemson is ranked the third-highest national seed among projected host sites.

Finishing with a top eight national seed would ensure the Tigers of hosting a Super Regional at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, provided the team wins its four-team, double-elimination host site Regional. According to On3’s latest projections, Clemson is a cinch for a top five national seed.

Per On3’s Jonathan Wagner:

“Clemson is in a great position to host as a top three overall seed right now. The Tigers are 32-7 overall, 13-5 in the ACC and sit at No. 4 in RPI. At Wake Forest is their toughest weekend remaining, with Georgia Tech, Boston College and Louisville to round out the year. Clemson is essentially locked up as a top five seed as things currently stand, and they are joined by Mississippi State, Lamar and North Dakota State.”

Clemson resumes conference play Friday when the Tigers travel to Louisville.