#12 Georgia Tech Yellerjackets (30-12, 17-4 ACC) vs Clemson Tigers (27-14, 11-10 ACC)
Typical GT team. They can hit well and pitch well...beat up bad on the weak parts of the schedule...are chock full of talent, and will probably choke in the NCAA Tournament. We wait til the CWS to choke. Not a tough schedule for GT thus far, but they swept #17 Miami. They manhandled the rest of the ACC schedule they've faced with the exception of #1 UVA (sitting at 40-4 by the way) but will miss FSU entirely and face UNC and VT later.
CB Daily has GT hosting a 1st round regional with Clemson headed to Columbia.
Clemson AD Series Preview - GT AD Series Preview
Clemson and Georgia Tech have met 202 times on the diamond, with the Tigers holding a 100-99-3 lead in the series dating back to the 1902 season. The two teams have faced each other at least one time every year since 1974. The Tigers hold a 43-22-1 lead over the Yellow Jackets in games played at Clemson and a 33-15 lead at Tiger Field.
Last week:
GT swept BC in Atlanta by scores of 2-0, 8-1, and 10-8. They lost to UGA at Turner Field 6-4. GT has won 7 of their last 10.
Clemson won 2 of 3 against WF at home, and defeated Furman 5-0 and Western Carolina 6-4 in a rain-shortened game. Clemson has won 9 of 10.
Weekend Starters:
Friday, 630pm:
Throws | Player | Rec | ERA | IP | H | R | ER | BB | Ks |
RHP | Mark Pope | 9-1 | 1.01 | 80.1 | 49 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 67 |
RHP | Dominic Leone | 2-1 | 3.66 | 32.0 | 26 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 35 |
Saturday,1pm:
Throws | Player | Rec | ERA | IP | H | R | ER | BB | Ks |
LHP | Jed Bradley | 4-2 | 2.98 | 60.1 | 48 | 27 | 20 | 22 | 78 |
RHP | Jonathan Meyer | 4-0 | 2.66 | 44.0 | 30 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 46 |
Sunday,1pm:
Throws | Player | Rec | ERA | IP | H | R | ER | BB | Ks |
RHP | Buck Farmer | 7-1 | 3.27 | 63.1 | 61 | 34 | 23 | 21 | 68 |
RHP | Justin Sarratt | 4-1 | 2.25 | 44.0 | 40 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 35 |
Hitting Comparison
BA | H | R | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | HBP | SB-ATT | OBP. | ||
Clemson | .313 | 435 | 293 | 85 | 13 | 25 | 260 | 205 | 34 | 77/97 | .407 | |
GT | .317 | 467 | 291 | 98 | 13 | 29 | 272 | 180 | 28 | 46/59 | .397 |
As you can see, we're not that different.The teams are 1-2 in the ACC in batting average and the real difference is in power and speed and OBP. Clemson and GT both steal at about the same rate, but GT gives up 82% -- something we can take advantage of when we get on base. Buck Farmer has given up a whopping 17 doubles this year.
Pos | Player | BA | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI | BB |
CF | Kyle Wren | .380 | 44 | 68 | 9 | 1 | 27 | 19 |
SS | Jacob Esch | .330 | 40 | 58 | 18 | 3 | 25 | 14 |
3B | Matt Skole | .359 | 35 | 55 | 13 | 5 | 43 | 32 |
1B | Jake Davies | .373 | 28 | 53 | 11 | 4 | 26 | 17 |
LF | Sam Dove | .363 | 19 | 33 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
DH | Daniel Palka | .310 | 30 | 49 | 14 | 7 | 37 | 11 |
C | Zane Evans | .284 | 25 | 42 | 12 | 2 | 29 | 15 |
2B | Mott Hyde | .274 | 28 | 40 | 7 | 3 | 33 | 18 |
RF | Brandon Thomas | .309 | 23 | 43 | 7 | 2 | 21 | 25 |
Brad Miller leads Clemson and the ACC with a .431 batting average and .535 on-base percentage. He has six errors through 34 games. His fielding percentage is .957 – a big improvement over 2010, when he had 32 errors and an .894 fielding percentage in 69 games.
Fielding, he said, is always a work in progress.
"I break it down, keep working on the things I know are going to help me out there every day," Miller said. "Every day in practice, every day in pregame, it doesn’t matter. Worrying about going out there and working on the things I know is going to tighten it up and once the game starts, it’s being aggressive, and trusting in all the preparation I’ve done."
Making the spectacular play was never a problem for Miller. The routine throws, the easy plays – like Jones’ ground ball – those rose up and bit him.
"I wasn’t making all the plays I wanted to me, and even some plays besides that," he said. "I wanted to make more plays than I was making."
Tech's Kyle Wren is 2nd in the ACC at .378. Another category where the two are close is in triples, where Wren is second in the ACC with five, while Miller is tied for fifth, with three. Wren also leads the ACC in hits (68, Miller is tied for 19th with 50), while Miller is 1st in on-base percentage (.535, Wren is 14th at .438).
Pos | Player | BA | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI | BB |
3B | John Hinson | .299 | 41 | 44 | 8 | 5 | 25 | 18 |
DH | Phil Pohl | .365 | 27 | 50 | 14 | 3 | 28 | 11 |
LF | Jeff Schaus | .307 | 26 | 46 | 13 | 0 | 30 | 29 |
1B | Richie Shaffer | .324 | 46 | 47 | 11 | 5 | 32 | 29 |
SS | Brad Miller | .431 | 35 | 50 | 7 | 2 | 31 | 27 |
CF | Will Lamb | .300 | 22 | 42 | 6 | 1 | 21 | 12 |
C | Spencer Kieboom | .330 | 16 | 35 | 8 | 1 | 24 | 16 |
RF | Chris Epps | .260 | 28 | 33 | 3 | 5 | 22 | 23 |
2B | Jason Stolz | .270 | 20 | 34 | 7 | 1 | 17 | 11 |
Team Pitching
ERA | W-L | SHO/CBO | Saves | IP | H | R | ER | BB | Ks | ||
Clemson | 3.45 | 27-14 | 4/4 | 8 | 362.2 | 321 | 170 | 139 | 125 | 316 | |
GT | 2.83 | 30-11 | 6/3 | 7 | 375.0 | 319 | 164 | 118 | 136 | 378 |
The pitching and defense aren't that far apart, either. Tech is more than half-a-run better per game in ERA (2.83 to 3.45), with five complete games to one for Clemson, but the staffs are one hit (Tech 322, Clemson 321), and five runs apart (advantage Tech, 165-170). The Jackets hold a substantial edge in strikeouts and both teams field about equally.
As usual, GT's pen has good arms that they go to very often, since Danny Hall lets his starters go 7-8 innings per start. They don't have many guys with a ton of innings as a result. After the 4 starters, only 3 guys have over 10IP. Taylor Wood has a 2.31 ERA in 11.2 IP. Dusty Isaacs is 1-1 with a 3.12 in 26 IP with 31 Ks and Luke Bard, the closer, has a 2-2 record with a 3.79 ERA in 35.2 IP.
Clemson hasn't found the true 4-man rotation so its going to be different obviously, but only 3 guys on the roster have less than 10IP. We got good news about Brady this week and he could come back sooner than expected. Our pen is improving and Freddy has firmed his issues up, but the lack of LHP is going to come up here.