Clemson Baseball: Kennesaw State Preview

Who: Clemson Tigers (39-13, 19-8) at Kennesaw State Owls (25-24, 11-7)
Where: Stillwell Stadium(Capacity 1200), Kennessaw Ga
When: Tuesday 6pm
RPI Rankings: Clemson #11, Kennessaw St #106
Watch:ESPN+
Announcers: Nathan McCreary, Scott Whitlock
Audio: 105.5 WCCP The Roar, ESPN Upstate, ClemsonTigers.com, TuneIn Radio App

Clemson travels to Kennesaw State Tuesday night to face the Owls in the second game of a home and home midweek series between the two teams. Kennesaw St made the trip to Clemson back on 4/24, a game in which the Tigers won 9-4, while outhitting the Owls 11-3.

The Owls have lost 6 of 8 since that loss in Clemson and just dropped 2 out of 3 to the New Jersey Institute of Technology (yes, you read that right) at home last weekend. As a team they are hitting .280 on the season. Terence Norman, who is hitting .355, and Tyler Simon, who is hitting .325, lead the way. Really good hitters but with not much pop, hitting just 5 HRs combined. As a team they have hit 37 HRs.

They will send LHP Ryan Kennedy to the mound. He is 2-6 with a 7.88 ERA. The Tigers seem to struggle against lefties more often than not, but this is a guy they should not struggle against. Opponents are hitting a whopping .340 off of him. He has given up 53 H in 156 AB. Those are eye popping numbers of a different variety. As a team, the Owls are sporting an ERA of 5.11.

Clemson will counter with LHP Mat Clark, who is 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA. The freshman will be making his first career start, with the coaching staff still looking for some stability in that midweek starters spot. This will be Clark´s 15th appearance, having pitched 11.1 innings, and striking out 14, while allowing only 2R. I am anxious to see how he fares starting.

The Tigers are coming off a weekend that saw them take 2 out of 3 from Austin Peay. It was a series that had an odd feel to it, even with them having taken the series. They squandered a lot of opportunities and did not hit the ball well in general, which led to a much closer and more competitive series than some might have been expecting. However, the Tigers have fared well in close games this season, going 18-4 in games decided by 2 runs or less, along with having 5 wins of the walkoff variety.

If the Tigers have any hope of earning one of those top eight national seeds, this is a game they must win. Clemson has not won a ¨true¨ midweek road game this season, having lost to Coastal in Conway and to Georgia. We will see if they can win their first tonight.

As always, check back into STS after the game for results.