Tigers Host Preachers In Weekend Series

Wake Forest Demon Deacons (15-23, 6-12 ACC) vs Clemson Tigers (23-13, 9-9 ACC)

Well, we needed the sweep against BC bad last week and we got it. I said that we had to take advantage of the weaker portion of our schedule and we have to continue to take care of business this weekend. We badly need another sweep to catch FSU in the Atlantic Division. After this weekend the schedule gets tougher again. We're currently 6th overall in the ACC and 2nd in the ATL behind FSU at 11-7. UVa is 1st overall at 16-2.

CU is projected to the Nashville Regional per SEBaseball.

Wake Forest is pretty bad, again, but they beat us last year and were worse then (they were 14-35 and 5-20 in ACC play, we were 32-18 and 14-11). Their defense is still bad....really bad. Their hitting is even worse than last season thanks to BBCOR bats and they've faced all the best teams in the ACC already, which shows in their record. Last weekend's series against GT is encouraging for them however, and they are sending an all-LHP rotation against us this weekend.


Clemson AD Series Preview - Wake Forest AD Series Preview

Clemson and Wake Forest have met 169 times on the diamond, with the Tigers holding a 119-49-1 advantage 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 59-18-1 advantage over the Demon Deacons in games played at Clemson and a 47-7 lead at Tiger Field. The Tigers also hold a 102-37-1 advantage in ACC regular-season contests. Last year, the pitiful Deacs beat us in 2 of 3 games in Winston-Salem.

Last week:

Clemson swept BC in Chestnut Hill by scores of 9-2, 7-5, and 9-2. We beat the UGA poodles 5-2.

WF lost 2 of 3 to Georgia Tech. They lost the first game 5-1, won the 2nd 6-4 and lost the 3rd in 12 innings 6-5. They defeated Winthrop this week 9-8 in 11.

Weekend Starters:

Friday, 630pm:

Throws	Player	Rec	ERA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	Ks
LHP	Brian Holmes	2-2	3.47
RHP	Dominic Leone	1-1	4.94

Saturday, 630pm:

Throws	Player	Rec	ERA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	Ks
LHP	Tim Cooney	4-2	2.80
RHP	Scott Firth	3-0	3.21

Sunday,1pm:

Throws	Player	Rec	ERA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	Ks
LHP	Austin Stadler	1-6	10.34
	TBD

I could see us sending Meyer or Weismann out there.

Hitting Comparison

Team Batting Statistics

	BA		H	R	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	HBP	SB-ATT
Clemson	.317		388	267	74	13	23	237	192	31	65/80
WF	.222		278	183	59	3	36	164	189	29	67/84

 

.222 = shitty. Its .213 in ACC play.

Steven Brooks has been tearing up the base paths lately with at least one stolen base in six of the last seven games. During that stretch, he has stolen 12 bases, eight of which came in two games against Winthrop. For his career, Brooks now has 71 stolen bases.

Mac Williamson has recorded a hit in 16 of the last 19 games, including a career-best 13-game hitting streak during that time. Since March 22, Williamson is hitting .355 with five home runs, 22 RBIs and a .605 slugging percentage.

The lineup below is from the Sunday GT game.

WF Prospective Lineup

Pos	Player	BA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB
SS	Pat Blair	.233	28	27	8	1	7	39
2B	Mark Rhine	.146	6	7	1	0	3	5
CF	Steven Brooks	.252	35	32	9	3	16	34
LF	Mac Williamson	.313	23	45	9	7	36	14
1B	Carlos Lopez	.258	15	33	8	6	18	14
DH	Jack Carey	.182	5	8	0	1	8	5
3B	Stephen Schoettmer	.067	1	1	1	0	1	0
C	Brett Armour	.160	10	16	1	2	6	14
RF	Zane Yanzick	.167	3	5	1	0	1	3

 

As of now, Spencer Kieboom has more walks (15) than Ks (8) in 28 games to go with his .355 average. Richie Shaffer has scored once in 12 consecutive games and Will Lamb is running on an 11-game hit streak. Shaffer, Lamb, Attanasio and Hinson all have double-digit home hitting streaks. But it is Brad Miller who has ignited the offense back up, hitting 24-for-44 in the last 11 games since his return to action. He's even playing better defense now.

Clemson is hitting .345 with RISP and the Tiger bench has a .342 average.

Prospective Lineup

Pos	Player	BA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB
3B	John Hinson	.287	35	37	7	5	23	16
DH	Phil Pohl	.378	25	45	13	3	27	10
LF	Jeff Schaus	.318	25	42	11	0	26	28
1B	Richie Shaffer	.341	42	44	9	5	29	26
SS	Brad Miller	.412	27	40	6	1	24	24
CF	Will Lamb	.298	22	36	4	1	19	11
C	Spencer Kieboom	.355	15	33	7	0	22	15
RF	Chris Epps	.263	27	31	2	5	22	23
2B	Jason Stolz	.277	19	31	7	1	17	11
	x- Dom Attanasio	.463	9	19	2	1	11	6

Pitching Comparison

Team Pitching Statistics

Team	ACC ERA	ERA	W-L	SHO/CBO	Saves	IP	H	R	ER	BB	Ks
Clemson	4.28	3.53	23-13	2/2	6	318.2	287	153	125	110	275
WF	5.48	5.00	15-23	1/1	4	340.1	380	240	189	152	296

 

Michael Dimock continues to be great out of the bullpen with a 1.85 ERA in 34 innings of work. In ACC games, Dimock is second in the league with a 1.45 ERA and is sixth in the league with a .203 opponent batting average.

Jon Meyer has made one start thus far and has shared the role of setup man and closer with Frederick and Haselden as well, but he's probably the most solid of late in the pen. He currently has a 3-0 record with a 2.43 ERA -- 1.57 in ACC only play.  Frederick has been the de-facto closer a bit more, but with Scott Weismann being moved out to the pen that is up for grabs. Weismann seemed more comfortable coming out.

Kevin Pohle is still lights-out, with a 0.90 ERA in 10 IP in ACC-only play. Might be time to let the kid have the ball more Jack.