Clemson Baseball Hosts James Madison In Weekend Series

After winning the opening series against Maine 2-1, Clemson hosts yet another smaller school as James Madison University makes the trip down to Clemson. JMU is 2-2 after splitting a 4 game series against Bucknell to open the season.

For Clemson, the season opener was once again a disappointment as the Tigers couldn't put enough balls in play and lost 4-3. The good news is the team rebounded to win the next two games of the series and looked like the Clemson Tigers we have come to expect in baseball.

This weekend Clemson should at least win the series if not sweep it outright. JMU is averaging just under 6 runs allowed per game right now. The Tigers have been much more aggressive at the plate this year and if that continues we could see some double digit run totals this weekend.

Clemson will once again go with the weekend rotation of Barnes, Schmidt, and Higginbotham. Barnes is 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA thanks to the Friday loss, but he didn't look too bad and should rebound this weekend. For JMU the expected starters are Aaron Hoover, Colton Harlow, and Brandon Withers. Hoover is 1-0 with a 1.5 ERA while Harlow and Withers are both 0-0. Harlow does have an ERA just over 3.00 while Withers shows up with a wonderful ERA of 6.75. Sunday could be very profitable for Clemson.

In the field Clemson is likely going to continue with the same lineup from the Maine series. The one question would be right field where K.J. Bryant only started 1 of the 3 games while playing in 2 of them. Coach Monte Lee could decide he wants to experiment a little and shuffle the lineup, especially if the Tigers struggle on Friday.

Firday's first pitch is at 4pm EST with Saturday and Sunday kicking off at 2pm EST and 1pm EST respectively. As always you can listen to the games or watch them online through Tigercast, accessible via the Clemson Athletics website. If you are around the area you can also listen on the radio by tuning in to 105.5 FM.