Tag: Nick Clayton

Clemson’s rotation still in flux ahead of another key series

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 …

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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Lee addresses Clemson’s pitching situation after latest shakeup

Who will fill in as the midweek starters for Clemson’s baseball team this week? And will the Tigers stick with the same rotation in yet another pivotal ACC series at Louisville this weekend? Those are questions Clemson coach Monte Lee and his staff …

Who will fill in as the midweek starters for Clemson’s baseball team this week? And will the Tigers stick with the same rotation in yet another pivotal ACC series at Louisville this weekend?

Those are questions Clemson coach Monte Lee and his staff find themselves needing to answer after their latest alteration on the mound. A day after changing his Saturday starter for the second straight week, Lee started freshman Billy Barlow in place of Nick Clayton for the Tigers’ series finale Sunday.

With the help of six relievers, Clemson rallied to beat the Seminoles to win its second straight ACC series after dropping the first four. But the decision to start Barlow, the Tigers’ usual midweek starter, means Clemson will have to turn elsewhere for their next game Tuesday against Presbyterian at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Clemson has another game at home Wednesday against No. 25 Wofford, so the Tigers will need a couple of fresh arms to help them get through the midweek. Clayton, who last pitched an inning of relief Wednesday in Clemson’s win over East Tennessee State, is a candidate to start. So is Nick Hoffman, who began the season in the weekend rotation but has made his last four appearances in relief.

But they’re not the only ones. While most of their appearances have come out of the bullpen, freshman Casey Tallent and sophomore Ricky Williams have each started a game this season. Williams (0.87 earned run average) has allowed just one earned run in 10 ⅓ innings while Tallent (2.37), who got his first career start against ETSU last week, has held opposing batters to a .224 average in 19 innings.

Lee said following Sunday’s game he and his staff will talk it over before making a decision at some point today.

“We have options between Ricky Williams, Clayton, Tallent,” Lee said. “So we’ll talk it over as a staff and try to figure out how to piece 18 innings there together in the middle of the week.”

As for the weekend, Lee said he will take the same approach when deciding whether or not he’ll keep the back end of the rotation the same against Louisville, which begins the week tied with Notre Dame atop the ACC’s Atlantic Division standings.

Sophomore right-hander Mack Anglin (3.24) has been the constant for Clemson all season in the Friday night spot, but the rest of the weekend has been a bugaboo for most of the season. Clemson had not had a Saturday or Sunday starter work past the fourth inning since its ACC-opening series against Miami until Gilbert did so this past Saturday. In his first start of the season, Gilbert limited FSU to three runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings.

On Sunday, Barlow yielded three runs in the first inning before settling in to get through the first 3 ⅔ frames on 82 pitches. Asked if Barlow has earned another weekend start against the Cardinals, Lee was non-committal.

“He’s not going to be available in the middle of the week, so it certainly makes sense to potentially start him again next weekend,” Lee said. “But obviously we’ll discuss that as a staff before we make any sort of decision on what we’re going to do there.”

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Clemson’s offense breaks out, pitching concerns still linger midway through ACC slate

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 …

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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Change coming to Clemson’s weekend rotation?

On the surface, the moves were strange. Freshman right-hander Billy Barlow got the midweek start for Clemson against USC Upstate just like he has all season. Barlow had lasted at least four innings all but two of his previous seven midweek starts, …

On the surface, the moves were strange.

Freshman right-hander Billy Barlow got the midweek start for Clemson against USC Upstate just like he has all season. Barlow had lasted at least four innings all but two of his previous seven midweek starts, and the two that were cut short were because he got tagged early in the Tigers’ losses to Georgia State and Coastal Carolina.

But Barlow needed just three innings to strike out four Spartans on Tuesday at Fluor Field, scattering four hits and allowing just one earned run in those frames. Yet after 58 pitches, Barlow’s night was done. Clemson coach Monte Lee went to the bullpen, where fellow freshmen Casey Tallent, Austin Gordon and Rocco Reid combined for four innings of shutout relief.

Then Lee gave the ball to Nick Hoffman, who has been a part of the Tigers’ weekend rotation all season and made his latest (albeit brief) start three days earlier at Notre Dame. But the sophomore right-hander came on to work the eighth inning Tuesday, facing just one batter over the minimum in his first relief appearance of the season.

Having a quick hook for his usual midweek starter as well as bringing Hoffman on in relief during the latter stages of a blowout win for Clemson (20-12, 2-9 ACC) appeared to be odd decisions by Lee until he explained afterward that he’s considering a change to Clemson’s weekend rotation.

“I would say that’s a discussion we’ll have (Wednesday) in regards to the weekend,” said Lee, whose team will head to No. 23 Wake Forest starting Friday still searching for its first ACC series win. “We’ll hopefully solidify things (Wednesday) in the office as far as what we’re going to do Saturday and Sunday.”

Mack Anglin (3.66 earned run average) is entrenched as Clemson’s Friday starter, but Hoffman has seen his ERA balloon to 5.66 as the Saturday starter. Hoffman has allowed 12 earned runs in his last three starts, none of which have lasted more than four innings. Things also haven’t gone all that well for the Tigers’ other weekend starter, Nick Clayton, who’s got a 5.06 ERA and walked five batters in just three innings his last time out against the Fighting Irish.

Meanwhile, Wake Forest, which has won five straight games and nine of its last 10, enters the weekend hitting .321 as a team, the fourth-highest clip in the ACC.

“We know we’re going into a tough place to play against a really good club,” Lee said. “We need to pitch, defend and put together good at-bats.”

As for who could move into the rotation against the Demon Deacons (26-7, 9-6) this weekend, Lee said Barlow and Tallent are the most likely candidates. Lee said he had a tentative plan for the freshmen duo to throw five or six innings Tuesday in order to get one last look at both before making a final decision while also keeping their pitch counts low enough to where both could still be available against Wake Forest if that’s the route Lee decides to go.

He also wanted to see Hoffman out of the bullpen again in case Lee decides to move him back there, a role in which Hoffman had success last season. Hoffman posted a 3.83 ERA in 49 1/3 innings a season ago with 13 of his 17 appearances coming in relief.

Barlow and Tallent didn’t hurt their chances of moving into the rotation, combining for five innings of two-run ball. Tallent pitched the fourth and fifth innings without yielding a hit and struck out three, dropping his ERA to 2.57 in 14 innings this season. His longest outing to this point is three innings against Coastal Carolina on March 22 when the right-hander allowed two runs and struck out five.

Barlow has yielded three runs or fewer in seven of his eight midweek starts with the five first-inning runs he gave up to Coastal Carolina being the outlier that has his ERA sitting above 4 for the time being. But Barlow has allowed just four earned runs in his last 12 innings, which includes five innings of one-run ball in Clemson’s win over a top-25 Georgia team last week.

“Barlow has been very good for us,” Lee said. “He’s got a good enough fastball to where he can beat anybody with his fastball because of the amount of sink and run he has on his fastball. Tallent is another guy that’s thrown outstanding here lately. He’s a true three-pitch mix guy. And that’s what we like to see with a guy that we’re going to potentially start. Both of those guys could be candidates to start this weekend.

“We look for guys that can get through a lineup twice and have a three-pitch mix.”

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Bats come alive as Clemson crushes Miami to end skid

Clemson (15-4, 1-2 ACC) was able to put its offensive woes to bed Sunday as the Tigers earned their first conference win of the season. Behind the offensive prowess of Benjamin Blackwell, who Clemson manager Monte Lee placed in the leadoff spot for …

Clemson (15-4, 1-2 ACC) was able to put its offensive woes to bed Sunday as the Tigers earned their first conference win of the season.

Behind the offensive prowess of Benjamin Blackwell, who Clemson manager Monte Lee placed in the leadoff spot for the weekend series, the Tigers pounded out 20 hits in a 20-5 victory over Miami.

During a recent four-game skid, Clemson was outscored 26-9 by its opponents. While the Tigers were finally able to bat the baseball around the yard during Sunday’s win, they got all the offense they needed out of the University of Dayton transfer.

After taking an 0-for in Saturday’s 4-1 loss, Blackwell drilled the first pitch he saw in the home half of the first into the Chapman Grandstands (395-feet). His second home run of the season was 103 mph off the bat.

Blackwell later punched a two-run single into right-field, which helped cap off a six-run third inning. He finished Sunday’s contest 4-for-6 with five RBIs.

Clemson also out got a solid outing out Sunday’s starter, Nick Clayton, who settled in after a shaky first inning, in which he issued two walks.

The sophomore right-hander out of York (S.C.) had his best start to date, as he pitched into the fifth inning for the first time this season. Clayton pitched in and out jams — only managing two clean innings — but pitched well enough to place his team in a position to win.

In his sixth career start, Clayton allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits with two strikeouts and three walks in 4 2/3 innings pitched.

Clayton ran into trouble in the top of the fourth, as Miami was threatening with runners on the corners and one out. After a meeting with Clemson pitching coach Andrew See, Clayton surrendered an RBI groundout and got out of the jam.

He faced the same trouble in the next inning, as the Hurricanes again had runners on the corners. After giving up an RBI groundout and issuing the third walk of his outing, Ryan Lindley was summoned out of the bullpen to replace Clayton and put Miami’s rally to rest.

Lindley pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings and was relieved for freshman Rocco Reid, who surrendered a three-run home run to Hurricanes’ third baseman Yohandy Morales.

Max Wagner (5) and Tyler Corbitt (2) each added two-run home runs of their own to left field in back-to-back-innings to help continue Clemson’s offensive explosion.

Wagner and Corbitt combined for 8 RBIs and had four apiece.

Those runs were necessary to provide some cushion, but the Tigers didn’t stop there. Clemson continued to pile on runs as it cruised to a much-needed victory in the later innings, behind a couple of errors, an RBI groundout, Dylan Brewer’s (2) two-run home run and Corbitt’s second home run of the game.

After a shaky outing from Reid, Ty Olenchuk and Ryan Ammons combined for two scoreless innings out of the pen to but the bow on Clemson’s blowout win.

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Northeastern gives Tigers first loss of season

Clemson, S.C. – The Tigers suffered their first loss of the season when Northeastern defeated Clemson 5-3 Sunday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Nick Clayton got the start for the Tigers and went 4.1 innings giving up four hits, three runs and …

Clemson, S.C. —  The Tigers suffered their first loss of the season when Northeastern defeated Clemson 5-3 Sunday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Nick Clayton got the start for the Tigers and went 4.1 innings giving up four hits, three runs and one earned runs.

The Huskies jumped to an early lead in the top of the third when they plated one run.

In the fourth inning Northeastern added another run with the help of two Clemson errors.

Clemson answered in the bottom of the fourth.  Tyler Corbitt hit a leadoff single and advanced to third on a wild pitch and error.  Cooper Ingle hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Corbitt.  After four the Huskies led 2-1.

Northeastern extended their lead with three runs in the top of the fifth.

In the bottom of the seventh Max Wagner hit a solo home run to make the score 5-2.  It was Wagner’s fourth home run of the year.

Jonathan French started the bottom of the eighth with a solo home run to right.  With one out Brewer reached on a fielding error and then Corbitt singled for his fourth hit of the day.  Grice beat out a double play ball.  Ingle grounded out and the Tigers stranded two and trailed 5-3.

With the loss the Tigers moved to 14-1 on the season.  Clemson hosts Georgia State Tuesday night at 6 PM.

Clemson’s pitching, particularly in relief, off to strong start

Coming into the 2022 season, Clemson coach Monte Lee pinpointed the mound as the primary area the Tigers’ baseball team needed to improve if they are going to successfully rebound from last season’s disappointment. One weekend is a minuscule sample …

Coming into the 2022 season, Clemson coach Monte Lee pinpointed the mound as the primary area the Tigers’ baseball team needed to improve if they are going to successfully rebound from last season’s disappointment.

One weekend is a minuscule sample size, but Clemson is at least off to a strong start in that regard.

Thirteen pitchers combined to hold Indiana to eight earned runs in 28 innings over the weekend, helping the Tigers start the new campaign with a sweep of a fellow Power Six program. In three games, including a 10-inning finale on Sunday, Clemson limited the Hoosiers to 19 hits while piling up 31 strikeouts.

“You look at the weekend with 28 innings of baseball, we really only had one inning where we struggled to throw strikes. I’ll take that,” said Lee, whose team ranked 10th in the ACC last season with a 5.00 earned run average. “We forced the other team to swing the bat to beat us. I’ll take that.”

Sophomore right-hander Mack Anglin befuddled IU’s lineup for five no-hit innings at the start of a 9-0 win for the Tigers on Friday, but Clemson’s bullpen was just as strong in helping lock down the last two victories. The Tigers’ relievers limited IU to just two runs in 17 ⅓ innings on the weekend.

The bullpen having to log that many innings means not everything was perfect on the bump. Anglin was the only starter to get past the third inning. Nick Clayton couldn’t get out of the second in Saturday’s game before yielding four runs, and Nick Hoffman lasted just three innings in Sunday’s start.

“We need to get deeper into the ball game,” Lee said. “I’m not as concerned about getting hit as I am that we’ve got to be able to make some pitches with runners on base and get a little deeper in the game from the starting pitcher side.”

Hoffman walked three batters before his day was done, part of nine free passes issued by the Tigers on Sunday. But 10 relievers picked up the slack over the final two games to keep IU’s offense at bay.

Clemson faced a four-run deficit before the third inning Saturday, but freshman Casey Tallent and sophomore Geoffrey Gilbert kept IU off the board in the middle innings to give the Tigers a chance to rally and then some. Tallent followed Clayton with 2.1 hitless innings in his collegiate debut while Gilbert allowed just one hit and struck out four in two innings of work.

By that time, Clemson had a nine-run lead in what turned into a 19-4 rout. Austin Gordon, Rocco Reid and freshman Jay Dill combined to throw the last three frames, allowing just one hit and one walk among them.

“We have several guys that are built to start,” Lee said. “Those guys can go long. We can stretch those guys out and get them a time through the lineup if needed. That certainly helps when you’re able to go to those guys early in the game if your starter struggles.”

Things were dicier Sunday with the Hoosiers leading 4-3 after six innings. Jackson Lindley allowed one run in 2 ⅔ innings of relief, and IU scored the go-ahead run in the sixth against Ryan Ammons, who couldn’t get out of the inning.

But Alex Edmondson came on to get the final out of the frame and joined Ty Olenchuck and Dill to throw 3 ⅓ scoreless innings of relief to help the Tigers send the game to extras. In the 10th, Lee turned to first baseman/outfielder Caden Grice, who worked out of a bases-loaded jam after allowing a hit and two walks in his first mound appearance of the season.

“I knew I had the stuff to get us through that inning,” Grice said.

It allowed Clemson to walk it off in the home half of the inning on Bryar Hawkins’ sacrifice fly.

“I thought that was the difference in the game,” Lee said. “With the game being tied like that and us having the last at-bat, we had to keep it tied. Our bullpen was going to have to do a great job, Those guys at the end, they were just outstanding.”

Clemson will try to keep the momentum going Tuesday when the Tigers host College of Charleston for their first midweek game. Clemson will then entertain Hartford for a three-game series beginning Friday.

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Clemson sets pitching rotation for opening weekend

Clemson baseball coach Monte Lee has settled on his pitching rotation for the Tigers’ opening series against Indiana this weekend. As expected, sophomore right-hander Mack Anglin will get the ball in Clemson’s season opener Friday. Lee said fellow …

Clemson baseball coach Monte Lee has settled on his pitching rotation for the Tigers’ opening series against Indiana this weekend.

As expected, sophomore right-hander Mack Anglin will get the ball in Clemson’s season opener Friday. Lee said fellow sophomores Nick Clayton and Nick Hoffman will start the final two games of the series Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Anglin and Hoffman each threw more than 49 innings last season, the most among Clemson’s returning pitchers. Clayton, who primarily threw in relief a season ago, pitched 37 ⅔ innings as a freshman. Their experience is a big reason for being part of the rotation, which has to replace New York Mets draft pick Keyshawn Askew.

“We feel like, going into Week 1, we wanted guys with stripes on their sleeves to go out there and start for us,” Lee said Tuesday. “Feel like those are the best three guys for those spots.”

Anglin is entering his third and possibly final season with the Tigers as the presumed ace of the weekend rotation. He posted a 3.99 earned run average a season ago while making the second-most starts on the team (8), allowing 48 hits while striking out 75 and walking 33 in 13 total appearances.

Clayton is vying for a permanent spot in the rotation after making all but one of his 18 appearances out of the bullpen last season. The 6-foot-5, 215-pounder recorded 40 strikeouts and walked 12 last season. Clayton posted a 4.30 ERA while allowing opponents to hit .241 against him, but Lee said the tall right-hander has been Clemson’s most consistent starter leading up to the season.

“He’s been very, very good in all of his starts in the preseason,” Lee said.

Hoffman recorded the lowest ERA of the trio (3.83) in 49 ⅓ innings last season, third-most among the pitching staff. The 6-2 right-hander did most of his work as one of Clemson’s most effective relievers (just four starts in 17 appearances), but Lee said Hoffman has earned the right to be the Tigers’ Sunday starter going into this season, particularly given how strong his command has been.

With 40 punchouts and just five walks issued, Hoffman posted a team-best 8-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio last season. One of his starts went the distance in a win over Boston College, making for the first complete game by a Clemson pitcher since 2017.

“Just look at his numbers,” Lee said. “He’s one of the best pure strike throwers in the league. His command is exceptional. He doesn’t walk anybody, and that’s a pretty calming presence to be able to run out there as a Sunday starter. You know he’s going to fill up the strike zone and pitch to contact and has the ability to get you deep into the game.”

Geoffrey Gilbert (2.23 ERA in 44 ⅓ innings) is another option to start at some point this season, but Lee said he wants to keep the sophomore left-hander coming out of the bullpen for now to give teams a different look. Gilbert allowed 43 hits and struck out 52 in a team-high 28 appearances last season, all in relief.

“We’ve developed Geoffrey as a starter with the mindset that Geoff could go out there and throw three to four innings out of the bullpen if needed,” Lee said. “So we’ve built him as a long reliever, sort of a piggyback option behind one of those starters, or to be able to use him multiple times over a weekend. That’s our plan.”

Friday’s opener is set for a 4 p.m. start at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. First pitch for Saturday is scheduled for 3 p.m. while Sunday’s series finale will begin at 1 p.m.

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Clemson working to solidify weekend rotation ahead of season

Clemson’s baseball team is less than a month from playing its first game of the 2022 season, and the Tigers are still looking for an answer to their most pressing question heading into the new campaign. Who will make up the weekend rotation? That’s …

Clemson’s baseball team is less than a month from playing its first game of the 2022 season, and the Tigers are still looking for an answer to their most pressing question heading into the new campaign.

Who will make up the weekend rotation?

That’s what Clemson coach Monte Lee and his staff will be working to nail down once the Tigers begin team practices Friday in preparation for their season opener Feb. 18 against Indiana at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Lee said he’s still evaluating six primary candidates for those three weekend spots, though a familiar name is leading the pack.

Right-hander Mack Anglin is once again in line to be the Tigers’ Friday night starter after taking over that role last season as a redshirt freshman. Despite his 2-6 record, Anglin was solid in his first season as a weekend starter, posting a 3.99 earned run average while allowing 48 hits and striking out 75 in 56 ⅓ innings. The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder limited opponents to a .227 average.

It was good enough for Anglin to be taken by the Washington Nationals in the 13th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft over the summer, but Anglin decided to return to school in an effort to improve his stock. Anglin went on to have three strong starts in the Cape Cod League for the Wareham Gatemen, hurling 12 ⅔ innings without allowing an earned run while striking out 16 and walking just three.

“Mack has dominant stuff,” Lee said. “Has a chance to be a top 3 round draft pick type of guy, but he needs to have that Sam Weatherly type of junior year, that transition from bullpen guy to being a dominant Game 1 guy. That’s kind of what we envision with Mack. Mack has a chance to be that guy, but we need him to take that next step in terms of consistency. So Mack definitely, I would say right now, would be the frontrunner to be our No. 1 starter.”

While things get a little more fluid after that, Lee said he feels “pretty confident” that another third-year sophomore, Nick Hoffman, will join Anglin in the weekend rotation. Hoffman went back and forth as a starter (four appearances) and reliever (13) a season ago, recording a 3.83 ERA in 49 ⅓  innings. The right-hander pounded the strike zone with an 8-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Perhaps the stiffest competition will be for the third and final spot. Lee mentioned fellow sophomores Geoffrey Gilbert, Ricky Williams and Nick Clayton and junior Jackson Lindley as the other pitchers vying for their place in the rotation.

Should one of them earn it, it would be a shift in roles. Gilbert, Williams and Lindley were primarily relievers last season. Of the trio’s 52 combined appearances, only two were starts (one apiece for Clayton and Williams).

“We need Nick Clayton to be a guy that can be in the mix on the weekends,” Lee said.

As for Lindley, Lee said the 6-4 right-hander is “much, much improved” after yielding 12 earned runs in a small sample size last season (4 ⅓ innings). Lee is also high on the potential of Williams, who was limited to just seven innings in six appearances last season.

“Ricky’s got electric stuff,” Lee said. “He was up to 95 (miles per hour) in the fall. Really good breaking ball. Ricky is going to be in the mix as a weekend guy.”

True freshman Billy Barlow is someone else who could compete to be a midweek starter if not Clemson’s Sunday starter, Lee said. Regardless who ultimately wins those jobs, the group will try to help the Tigers rebound from a subpar season on the mound. Clemson’s pitching staff finished last season with a collective 5.00 ERA.

“When you look at the teams that, at least that I’ve coached, have been successful, successful teams are consistent. And consistency starts on the pitching side,” Lee said. “I think being able to have a weekend rotation that’s consistent and solidified throughout the course of the year is pretty dang important.”

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