Tigers take on the Preachers

Wake Forest (13-35, 4-20 ACC) vs. Clemson Tigers (32-17, 14-10 ACC)

They're pretty bad, almost as bad as Maryland. Their defense just slays their chances in games, because I can't even count all the game recaps I've skimmed through where an error has cost them 2 or 3 runs and ultimately lost them the ballgame. Wake doesnt have the hitting Clemson does to dig itself out of the hole after they give up those runs, and their pitching is bad all around, so if we lose this series you can officially go into lynchmob mode.

Clemson AD Series Preview -- Wake Forest AD series preview

Clemson and Wake Forest have met 166 times on the diamond, with the Tigers holding a 118-47-1 lead in the series dating back to the 1901 season. The two teams have faced each other at least one time every year since 1954. The Tigers hold a 45-25 lead all-time in games played at Wake Forest and a 101-35-1 advantage in ACC regular-season games. Jack has a 39-15 record against Wake Forest as Clemson's head coach. The Tigers have won nine of the last 10 series between the two teams, including a three-game sweep last year at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Wake's only series victory over the last 10 years came in 2008 when the Deacs took two of three from Clemson in Winston-Salem.

This will be Wake's last home series.

Last Week:

Wake Forest was swept by UNC by scores of 18-5, 8-4, and 7-2. Their game with Winthrop was cancelled this week, and they defeated UNC-Greensboro by a final of 22-9.The Deacs scored the most runs in a game since the 2004 season and tallied 12 times in the first inning, tying for the fourth most runs in a single inning in school history.

Clemson swept Maryland, and defeated Furman 12-1 at Fluor Field in Greenville. Freeman tied his career-high with four hits, including two doubles, to lead Clemson, who had 14 hits in the game. Hinson went 3-for-6 with a homer, three RBIs, and two runs, while Miller added two hits and two runs. Boyd added a grand slam and a career-high five RBIs as well.

Weekend Starters:

Friday, 6pm:

Throws	Player	Rec	ERA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	Ks
LHP	Casey Harman	6-1	3.29	76.2	67	30	28	21	61
LHP	Austin Stadler	2-3	5.82	65.0	69	50	42	28	53

Saturday, 6pm:

Throws	Player	Rec	ERA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	Ks
RHP	Scott Weismann	4-2	5.01	64.2	70	46	36	20	54
RHP	Michael Dimmock	2-8	6.43	63.0	81	57	45	21	52

Sunday, 1pm:

Throws	Player	Rec	ERA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	Ks
RHP	Alex Frederick	4-1	3.35	43.0	42	17	16	17	34
LHP	Tim Cooney	3-6	6.01	70.1	80	64	47	22	47

Since Leone got beat up in 4.1 innings last Sunday, and Lamb is not doing so hot, I can only guess that Frederick would get a shot.

Hitting Comparison

Team Batting Statistics

	BA		H	R	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	HBP	SB-ATT
Clemson	.308		534	433	109	9	66	399	269	46	84-104
WF	.273		459	291	112	3	43	263	221	36	79-102

Wake Forest is averaging 5.7 runs per game and hitting a .411 slugging percentage and .361 on-base percentage. The team has totaled 109 doubles, two triples, 40 home runs, and 79 stolen bases. In ACC-only games, WF is last in the league at .254. WF doesnt play small ball (11th with 16 sac bunts), and they dont steal many bases. Actually Clemson doesnt either this year. They strike out at a horrible rate.

Prospective Lineup

Pos	Player	BA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB
SS	Pat Blair	.283	34	54	16	6	23	22
LF	Ryan Semeniuk	.273	22	41	10	5	32	14
CF	Steven Brooks	.342	50	63	18	6	31	25
C	Mike Murray	.347	28	60	12	3	42	26
DH	Carlos Lopez	.237	15	28	10	5	18	17
1B	Matt Conway	.355	19	43	14	3	24	18
RF	Mac Williamson	.272	22	41	10	5	32	14
3B	Taylor Kaprive	.125	5	4	1	0	3	4
2B	Mark Rhine	.244	13	31	7	1	20	6
	x-Shane Kroker	.221	14	25	1	2	16	8

Clemson has totaled eight grand slams in 2010, most in school history. Furthermore, eight different Tigers have accounted for the eight grand slams. The eight grand slams broke the previous Clemson record of six, held by the 1991 and 2004 teams. The national record for grand slams in one season is 12, set by Oklahoma State in 1996. In ACC-only games, Clemson ranks 3rd in BA behind UVA and GT.

Clemson Prospective Lineup

Pos	Player	BA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB
1B	Will Lamb	.308	33	37	6	2	29	20
2B	Mike Freeman	.337	55	69	18	7	46	26
3B	John Hinson	.360	39	59	8	11	56	19
RF	Kyle Parker	.391	59	66	10	17	50	42
LF	Jeff Schaus	.320	50	62	10	11	64	23
SS	Brad Miller	.343	48	58	15	3	26	40
CF/DH	Wilson Boyd	.279	32	48	8	3	14	43
C	John Nester	.278	16	32	9	2	22	15
DH/OF	Chris Epps	.214	41	31	8	3	14	43
C	x-Phil Pohl	.224	11	13	7	1	17	4
1B	x-Richie Shaffer	.329	24	28	4	3	15	12

 

Last indication I read, through our sister site MLB Bonus Baby, was that KP is projected from Supplemental 1st round to 3rd round. 

Team Pitching

Team Pitching Statistics

ACC Rank		ERA	W-L	SHO/CBO	Saves	IP	H	R	ER	BB	Ks
7th	Clemson	4.53	32-17	2/2	9	441.0	471	265	222	169	332
11th	Wake Forest	6.59	13-35	2/2	4	420.1	494	395	308	204	321

Clemson got pretty good bullpen play last weekend so the ERA out there is trending downwards for a few guys. Tomas Cruz is getting the job done again, lowering his once-catastrophic ERA to 4.99, which we badly needed. Its always good to have a senior out there you can give the ball to. Leone could get a start Sunday depending on what happens in the first two games, and has a decent (for college) ERA of 4.25 in 42.1 IP. Scott Firth lowered his ERA this week to 3.00 in 21.0 IP.

In ACC-only games, Clemson ranks 6th in ERA, while WF ranks 10th. Theyre right at the bottom in just about everything.

The WF pen is awful. I only see one guy with an ERA below 4.00, Joel Ernst (1-1, 3.99, 2 SV in 29.1 IP) and only one other below 5.00, and he only has 17 IP. I dont see much point in going through them all, its awful to look at. The bullpen has high walk rate but the starters are fine.

 

WF fields at a .947 clip, worst in the league. Clemson ranks 9th, though the defense kinda took a dump last weekend.

Clemson should sweep 3-0.