Clemson to Face Hokies in Key ACC Series

#16 Clemson Tigers (34-15, 13-11) @ Virginia Tech Hokies (28-21, 9-15 ACC)

To tell you the truth, I expected VT to be considerably better this year than they've turned out. They do play in the tougher Coastal division, so winning the division was not what I was thinking, but I did believe they'd be over .500 in ACC play at this point like ourselves. They were swept by Miami, UNC, UVA, lost 2 to BC and 2 to FSU. Most of those were at home too. They handled the rest of their competition pretty well but those sweeps are what you see in the 9-15 record. Unfortunately they've stumbled with their starting pitching this year, which seems to be the biggest culprit in their W-L record.

SEBaseball projects Clemson to Hattiesburg with Southern Miss as a #2 seed in their latest projections. Clemson has won 20 of 23 games. If we can sweep here and sweep FSU we're assured of hosting the 1st round. If we go 4-2 then possibly, but this and GT are the toughest stretches of the 2nd half of our schedule. We have #8 RPI and a Top 10 SOS at the moment. Just by going off of that, you would think we should be a lock, but there are 4 other ACC hosts that are pretty definite. FSU leads the Atlantic by 3 games and faces NC ST this weekend.

"Hopefully this weekend we can take all three," said junior third baseman John Hinson. "We’re looking to win as much as we can, especially if we’re looking to get a chance to host. We really need to do as much damage as we can and take this momentum and keep rolling."

Clemson AD Series Preview

Clemson and Virginia Tech have met 58 times, with the Tigers holding a 34-22-2 lead in the series dating back to 1902. The Hokies hold a 13-8-1 lead in games played at Virginia Tech, while the Tigers own a 15-3 advantage in ACC regular-season games.

Jeff Schaus, Addison Johnson, and Alex Frederick will all miss commencement ceremonies to play Friday night in Blacksburg.

Last week:

Clemson slapped Gardner-Webb around by a combined score of 30-2.

VT split a 2-game set with James Madison and defeated USC-Spartanburg last week.

Weekend Starters:

Friday, 530pm:

Throws	Player	Rec	ERA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	Ks
RHP	Dominic Leone	4-1	3.06	47.0	30	17	16	19	53
LHP	Joe Mantiply	5-6	4.06	73.1	78	38	33	26	58

Saturday, 2pm:

Throws	Player	Rec	ERA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	Ks
RHP	Jonathan Meyer	5-1	2.82	54.1	40	18	17	15	49
RHP	Mark Zecchino	5-4	4.57	69.0	69	40	35	27	83

Sunday, 1pm:

Throws	Player	Rec	ERA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	Ks
RHP	Justin Sarratt	6-1	1.70	58.1	47	17	11	7	47
RHP	Joe Parsons	6-2	2.91	65	62	24	21	19	44

Hitting Comparison

Team Batting Statistics

	BA	R/9	H	R	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	HBP	SB-ATT
Clemson	.314	7.0	523	344	105	14	29	307	230	36	91/115
VT	.296	7.1	511	347	119	24	57	314	158	53	46/65

VT's lineup leads the ACC in HRs despite the BBCOR bats and a normal sized ballpark. VTs 57 home runs lead the ACC; FSU is second with 45, and Clemson is seventh with 29.  Andrew Rash has 17 home runs and 50 RBI, and leads the ACC in home runs, slugging percentage and total bases.

Who wants to bet they dont use Easton bats?

VT Prospective Lineup

Pos	Player	BA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB
DH	Jake Atwell	.311	28	33	5	2	17	16
2B	Michael Seaborn	.306	50	60	18	3	28	20
1B	Ronnie Shaban	.306	31	60	15	5	50	20
SS	Tim Smalling	.322	36	64	13	9	40	12
LF	Andrew Rash	.351	46	59	16	17	50	18
CF	Tony Balisteri	.325	43	64	12	5	26	15
RF	Gabe Ortiz	.279	16	24	8	3	13	6
C	Chad Morgan	.221	18	27	6	2	22	15
3B	Johnny Morales	.244	26	39	8	0	18	13

Prospective Lineup

Pos	Player	BA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB
3B	John Hinson	.306	47	56	10	5	28	19
DH	Phil Pohl	.351	36	60	17	4	29	12
LF	Jeff Schaus	.309	32	55	16	0	34	31
1B	Richie Shaffer	.333	51	57	13	7	40	34
SS	Brad Miller	.437	43	62	10	2	38	33
C	Spencer Kieboom	.292	18	38	8	1	24	17
CF	Will Lamb	.324	28	55	9	1	29	13
RF	Chris Epps	.257	31	38	6	6	26	28
2B	Jason Stolz	.280	23	42	7	1	23	11

 

Shaffer is 10-for-18 in his last 5 games with 8 RBI while Brad Miller is hitting .517 in the last 24, pacing the ACC with a .437 BA. John Hinson isn't the fastest guy on the team but is tied in steals with 20 with Miller. Will Lamb has 11 and is riding a 24 game hit streak, tied for the longest by an ACC player in 2011 and tied for the fifth-longest in school history. During the 24-game hitting streak, he is 33-for-90 (.367).

Clemson is hitting .343 with RISP, and they've done good damage with 2 outs this week.

Clemson finished the 2010 season third in the nation in walks (375), and the team has picked right up where it left off. Clemson has totaled 230 walks in 49 games this season, good for 4.7 walks per game. Epps is among the best in school history in drawing "free passes," as he has 129 in 549 at-bats over 199 career games (146 starts). He has one walk every 4.26 at-bats in his career, the fourth-best mark in Clemson history. I wonder where his strikeout rate ranks?

Team Pitching

Team Pitching Statistics

ACC Rank		ERA	W-L	SHO/CBO	Saves	IP	H	R	ER	BB	Ks
	Clemson	3.09	34-15	5/5	11	434.2	366	184	149	144	377
	Virginia Tech	4.46	28-21	4/3	8	436.0	435	251	216	217	389

 

Tech has a few guys in the Pen, but for the most part they have little for us to fear out there. They seem to have been hunting the right starting rotation in midweek games, but the main 3 are the 3 we are facing this weekend. They have not deviated much from that.

Jake Joyce leads the team with 3 Saves but has a 6.34 ERA in 32.2 IP. Only 4 VT pitchers have ERAs below 4.00: Parsons, Jake Atwell (2.29 in 19.2IP), Manny Martir (2-1, 3.00 in 45IP), and Patrick Scoggin (4-1, 3.66 in 39.1 IP). The last 3 are the only ones I'd be worried about facing. All of them have good K numbers but have piled up quite a few walks.

In the last 55.1 innings pitched by Tiger hurlers, Clemson has allowed just three earned runs.In Weismann's nine relief appearances this season, he has four saves in 10.1 innings pitched. He also has a 1.74 ERA and .162 opponents’ batting average along with 17 strikeouts against only two walks out of the bullpen. In his last eight relief outings, he has pitched 8.2 innings, allowing just three singles (.103 opponents’ batting average), no runs, and no walks with 15 strikeouts. Looks like he's found a spot where his mechanics arent becoming a problem.

Both teams field about the same. I think Clemson wins 2 of 3, but with this lineup and being on the road, some of our stellar pitching stats will end.