Baseball Series Preview: Miami at Clemson

Miami Hurricanes (13-19, 7-8) at Clemson Tigers (25-8, 10-5)

Game Times: Friday 6:30 PM, Saturday Double Header: Game #1 1:00 PM, Game #2 5:00 PM or 45 minutes after the conclusion of game 1 if it ends after 4:15 PM

Video: ACC Network Extra (all three games)

Audio: Clemson Tigers Sports Network, TigerCast

Probable Pitchers: Friday- Jeb Bargfeldt vs Jacob Hennessy, Saturday- Evan McKendry vs Brooks Crawford, Sunday- Andrew Cabezas vs Jake Highinbotham

Hurricanes Downgraded

Miami has historically been one of the best programs in college baseball and a thorn in the side of Clemson since the Canes joined the ACC. However, the past two seasons have been awful for the Canes. Last year Miami missed the NCAA tournament, ending a run of 44 straight seasons of making tourney play. This year, the Hurricanes look to miss it again. Limping into Clemson with a 13-19 record, Miami is coming off a week that included a series loss to North Carolina, where the Canes avoided the sweep with a 7-5 Sunday win in a rain shortened 5 inning game and a midweek loss to UCF. At 7-8, the Hurricanes surprisingly sit at 4th in the Coastal division, which seems to be experiencing a down season as well.

Tigers Look to Bounce Back

Clemson is coming off a 6-3 loss to Georgia in a “home” game in North Augusta on Tuesday. Clemson had a big second inning, but was unable to figure out the Dawgs’ bullpen and get much going for the rest of the contest. Friday’s game should be an interesting one as the Canes will start lefty Jeb Bargfeldt on the mound. Fortunately for the Tigers, he is the only lefty weekend starter for the Canes. Bargfeldt comes in with a 2-3 record and an ERA of 3.71. With Clemson relying heavily on lefty bats, making Bargfeldt pitch some long early innings and forcing the Canes to go to the pen could be key for the Tigers to get the Friday night victory.

Kier Meredith Era

Freshman phenom Kier Meredith seems to be settling in for the Tigers. In his four games he’s has four hits, a homer, and four stolen bases for the Tigers. He’s also, oddly enough, been hit by four pitches. That says more about the control of the pitchers the Tigers have faced recently, but anyway to get the young centerfielder on base is good for Clemson. Hopefully this weekend we see his bat wake up a bit more as he progresses through this season.