Tag: Tristan Smith

Clemson rallies from 4-0 deficit to down Pitt

Clemson Baseball: The sixth-ranked Tigers rallied from a 4-0 deficit to down Pitt on Friday in ACC play at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

No. 6 Clemson used a pair of home runs from Jimmy Overtop to overcome a 4-0 deficit for a 6-4 victory over Pitt in ACC play Friday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Obertop smacked his 10th and 11th home runs of the season. His first round-tripper of the night came in the fourth inning with two outs and the bases empty against Pitt starter Ryan Andrade. An inning later, the Tigers’ bats awoke for three runs to tie the game.

After Jacob Jarrell lifted a run-scoring sac fly to left to make it 4-2, Cam Cannarella followed with an RBI double to make it a one-run game. The Tigers tied it up when Alden Mathes’ single to center scored Cannarella.

Clemson took the lead in the sixth inning when Obertop launched his second homer of the night, a no-doubt shot to deep right. Later that inning, Jarren Purify reached on an error that was ruled a bunt sacrifice RBI, putting the Tigers on top 6-4.

Pitt threatened in the seventh off Lucas Mahlstedt before Reid Garris entered and proceeded to sit down all six batters he faced over the next two innings. Garris struck out three batters.

Austin Gordon worked the ninth inning and struck out the side for his sixth save. Mahlstedt (3-1) earned the win with 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Clemson pitchers finished with 13 strikeouts.

Friday marked the return of Tigers starter Tristan Smith. Smith threw 61 pitches in his first start since suffering an ankle injury just over a month ago. He pitched 2 2/3 innings and surrendered all four Pitt runs on four hits. The left-hander walked two and struck out four in a no-decision.

The Panthers (15-20 overall, 4-15 conference) touched Smith for three runs in the third, the highlight being a two-run single down the third base line from hot-hitting outfielder Dom Popa. Popa had three of the Panthers’ six hits in a 3-for-4 performance.

Clemson (31-6, 12-4) totaled 10 hits with all but one starter finishing with a hit.

The series resumes Saturday at 1 p.m. EDT.

Series Preview and Where to Watch/Stream/Listen: No. 6 Clemson vs. Pitt

Clemson Tigers Baseball: A full series preview of Clemson vs. the Pittsburgh Panthers in this weekend’s key ACC series at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

After a rough weekend in ACC play that saw Clemson drop its first conference series of the season, the Tigers are hoping to rebound when Pitt visits Doug Kingsmore Stadium for a weekend series beginning Friday.

Clemson (30-6 overall, 11-4 conference) fell four spots after a three-game losing streak last week and are ranked No. 6 in the latest USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll. D1Baseball currently projects the Tigers as a No. 3 national seed in the Field of 64 for the 2024 NCAA Division 1 Baseball Tournament.

Securing a top eight national seed would ensure Doug Kingsmore Stadium of hosting a Super Regional, if the Tigers advance past the four-team, double-elimination Clemson Regional to begin the tournament.

First things first, the Tigers will face a struggling Pitt (15-19, 4-14) team that has yet to win a conference series this season. The Panthers dropped two of three to No. 8 Duke last weekend.

Clemson dropped two games to NC State before rallying for a 7-0 shutout victory behind eight innings of two-hit ball from freshman sensation Aidan Knaak. For the second week in a row, Knaak earned ACC Pitcher of the Week honors for his 10-strikeout performance against the Wolfpack.

As a team, Clemson is batting .281 with an OPS of .892. Tigers pitchers have a staff ERA of 3.93, good for second best in the ACC.

Friday’s series opener will mark the return of left-handed starter Tristan Smith, who missed the past month with an ankle injury. Smith hasn’t pitched since March 16 in the Tigers’ ACC opener at Duke. He is 2-0 with a 2.55 ERA in five starts. Smith has 36 strikeouts to 11 walks this season and has limited opponents to a .179 average.

Since Smith’s injury, Ethan Darden (5-1, 3.19 ERA) has been Clemson’s Saturday starter. Darden will make his fifth mid-series start after pitching a complete-game loss last weekend vs. NC State. Darden lowered his ERA to 3.19 after holding the Wolfpack to one earned run and seven hits in nine innings. He struck out five batters without allowing a walk.

Knaak (3-0, 2.87 ERA) is scheduled to make his 10th start this weekend. The right-hander has 67 strikeouts on the season to just 15 walks in 53 1/3 innings — the most innings thrown by anyone on the Tigers’ staff.

Pitt will counter with right-hander Ryan Andrade (0-3, 9.96) in Friday’s opener and Jack Sokol (3-2, 5.63) as part of a doubleheader Saturday. Ryan Reed (0-4, 7.34) is also scheduled to start Saturday.

Pitt is batting .287 as a team with an OPS of 8.60. Luke Cantwell has started all 34 games for the Panthers and leads the club in hitting with a .330 average. Pitt’s 6.20 ERA as a pitching staff ranks fourth to last in the ACC.

CIUFO OUT FOR SEASON

Clemson coach Erik Bakich confirmed earlier this week that shortstop Andrew Ciufo would miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. The injury occurred on April 6 in the Tigers’ victory at Notre Dame. Bakich’s club has some depth at middle infield with a few options to step in for Ciufo.

One of those is senior Jacob Hinderleider, who has spent most of the season at first base. The Davidson transfer has started all six games at shortstop since the injury to Ciufo. Hinderleider is tied with second baseman Blake Wright for the team lead in batting average (.320). The Tigers also have options in infielders Cooper Blauser and Jack Crighton.

HONORING DOUG KINGSMORE

Prior to Saturday’s games, Clemson will celebrate the life of the late Doug Kingsmore, who passed away in December at the age of 90. Kingsmore was a co-captain on the university’s first ACC championship team in any sport when the Tigers won the 1954 ACC baseball title. The Tigers’ home ballpark was renamed to honor Kingsmore in 2003.

SERIES HISTORY

Clemson leads the all-time head to head series with Pitt, 7-4. The two teams first began play in 2014 after the Panthers joined the ACC.

Where to Watch/Stream/Listen

Here’s a look at when, where, and how Clemsons fans can watch, stream, and listen to this weekend’s series at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Start Times (ET)

Friday, 6 p.m.

Saturday (Game 1), 1 p.m.

Saturday (Game 2), approximately 45 minutes after conclusion of Game 1

Broadcast Info

Live Video Stream: ACC Network Extra, ESPN+

Radio: Clemson Athletic Network | TuneIn App

Broadcast Teams

Video: Pete Yanity, Ron Smith, Tim Bourret

Radio: Don Munson, Bob Mahony

Where Clemson baseball ranks in new Field of 64 projections

NCAA Baseball: Here’s where the Clemson Tigers rank in D1Baseball’s new Field of 64 projections for the postseason NCAA Division I baseball tournament.

How good a season is Erik Bakich’s Clemson Tigers having?

Good enough that the Tigers (30-6 overall) figure to host one of the top eight national seeds in D1Baseball’s latest Field of 64 projections for the 2024 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.

Clemson is the No. 3 national seed in those projections, trailing only Texas A&M and Arkansas for the top seed. The Aggies and Razorbacks are ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in this week’s USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll. The Tigers are ranked No. 6 after having spent the previous two weeks at No. 2 in the coaches poll.

Kentucky, Tennessee, Oregon State, Duke and Florida State are the other projected top eight national seeds in D1Baseball’s projections.

Securing a top eight national seed would ensure Doug Kingsmore Stadium of hosting a Super Regional, provided the Tigers advance past the four-team, double-elimination Clemson regional to begin the tournament.

D1Baseball projects that Clemson would welcome Sacred Heart, Kennesaw State, and Mississippi State to the upstate for the Tigers’ on-campus regional. Clemson faced Kennesaw State in its second weekend series of the season back in February, winning two of three.

To put it simply, Bakich’s club finds itself in a very enviable position past the midway point of the regular season.

Still, Clemson is not infallible and has a lot of work ahead of them. Five weekend series remain in the regular season before the ACC Tournament in Charlotte, and no team is ever without imperfection. The Tigers reminded everyone of that when they dropped three in a row last week to USC Upstate and NC State.

Clemson has been down one of its best arms in left-hander Tristan Smith, who has missed the past month with an ankle injury. Bakich said after Sunday’s win over NC State that Smith would start one of the Tigers’ upcoming games against Pitt this weekend.

If the weekend rotation of Smith, left-hander Ethan Darden, and freshman right-hander Aidan Knaak holds, Clemson figures to have one of the most formidable trio of starters in the nation.

At the plate and in the field, one of the Tigers’ best hitters and infielders was recently lost for the season in shortstop Andrew Ciufo. Bakich recently confirmed that Ciufo had torn his ACL in the series against Notre Dame back on April 6. Ciufo’s injury opens a hole on the left side of the infield — and in the batting order — that Clemson will have to plug.

The Tigers welcome Pitt to town beginning Friday for a three-game weekend series in ACC play. Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. EDT and can be seen on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).

Bissetta, Obertop home runs help Clemson even series with Duke

No. 9 Clemson edged No. 7 Duke, 8-7, Saturday afternoon at Jack Coombs Field in Durham.

Tristan Smith struck out a career-high 10 batters in six solid innings, Tristan Bissetta hit a clutch grand slam, and No. 9 Clemson edged No. 7 Duke, 8-7, Saturday afternoon at Jack Coombs Field in Durham.

The Tigers (16-2 overall, 1-1 ACC) needed all the offense it could get.

Jimmy Obertop’s three-run home run in the fifth inning off Blue Devils reliever Edward Hart gave Clemson a 4-2 lead midway through.

In the seventh, Bissetta notched his first career grand slam — the only hit in the Tigers’ half of the inning — with one out off Josh Allen, who’d previously loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batsman.

The Blue Devils (15-4, 3-2) answered with five runs of their own against left-hander Ethan Darden in the seventh to pull to within a run. Lucas Mahlstedt took over for Darden and closed out the seventh with back to back strikeouts of Devin Obee and Mason Winslow.

Mahlstedt struck out three of the four batters he faced in the seventh after the first six Duke hitters reached base against Darden. The junior right-hander then worked a scoreless eighth inning before Rob Hughes closed out the game in ninth.

Hughes pitched out of trouble to strand the potential tying and winning runs on base for his second save. Hughes has yet to allow a run in six appearances this season.

Duke out-hit the Tigers, 11-7. Blake Wright drove in Clemson’s only other run with an RBI fielder’s choice in the first inning off starter Andrew Healy. Healy pitched just one inning as the Blue Devils used nine different pitchers in Saturday’s game.

Gabriel Nard (0-1) suffered the loss for Duke after allowing two men to reach base in the fifth before Obertop’s home run — his third of the season.

Smith (2-0) was sensational in his fifth start for Clemson. In addition to his 10 strikeouts, the southpaw yielded only one earned run on four hits. He walked two and threw 102 pitches.

The rubber match of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT Sunday. Freshman right-hander Aiden Knaak (1-0, 4.05 ERA) will make his fifth start for Clemson. Duke has yet to announce its Sunday starter. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.

Recapping Clemson baseball’s activity through first half of MLB Draft

The first half of the Major League Baseball Draft is in the books, and the number of Clemson’s players and recruits that have heard their names called has been minimal. To what extent those selections will impact the Tigers’ roster for next season, …

The first half of the Major League Baseball Draft is in the books, and the number of Clemson’s players and recruits that have heard their names called has been minimal.

To what extent those selections will impact the Tigers’ roster for next season, though, remains to be seen.

Three players either on or signed to join Clemson’s roster have been drafted through the first two days of the draft. That number could increase when the draft concludes with the final 10 rounds Tuesday, but things have gone about as expected when it comes to the Tigers’ current players.

Max Wagner and Mack Anglin, Clemson’s highest-ranked prospects entering the draft, have each been drafted. Wagner was first to come off the board, going to the Baltimore Orioles in the second round with the 42nd overall pick. Anglin went to the Kansas City Royals five rounds later with the 205th overall selection.

Clemson first-year coach Erik Bakich told The Clemson Insider before the draft that he was approaching it as if neither player would be returning to school, and understandably so.

It would be difficult for Wagner to increase his draft stock more than he did this past season when he matched a school record with 27 home runs, and the approximate slotted bonus money associated with the 42nd overall pick ($1.86 million) is likely too good to pass up. Anglin, Clemson’s Friday starter this past season, jumped six rounds after being drafted in the 13th a year ago. A year older than Wagner as a third-year sophomore, Anglin would also be 23 years old by the time next year’s draft rolls around, which would naturally decrease his stock if he returned to school for another season.

Clemson also had two signees ranked among the top 50 prospects going into the draft, but only one of them has been selected to this point. And Brock Porter went later than expected, though that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll make it to school.

Ranked as the No. 11 overall prospect by MLB.com, Porter slid to the fourth round before the Texas Rangers drafted the hard-throwing right-hander with the 109th overall pick. But the Rangers are reportedly paying under slot value for its first-round pick, Kumar Rock, and didn’t have any second- or third-picks to spend money on, so they may have the extra money needed to pay over slot for Porter’s signature.

While Clemson awaits Porter’s decision, the Tigers have a better chance of getting left-hander Tristan Smith to campus. MLB.com rated the Boiling Springs High standout as the 46th-best prospect, but Smith heads into the final day of the draft still on the board. It’s a good indication teams won’t be able to match Smith’s asking price.

Still, a team could take a flyer on Smith in the later rounds. Who else with Clemson ties could be drafted?

Shortstop Ben Blackwell and pitchers Geoffrey Gilbert, Ryan Ammons and Jackson Lindley are among the Tigers’ other draft-eligible players. Winnacunnet (New Hampshire) High right-hander Joe Allen and Porter’s high school teammate, St. Mary’s Prep (Michigan) School infielder Jack Crighton, MLB.com’s No. 220 prospect, are other recruits who could be selected.

Photo credit: Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State Journal/USA Today Network

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