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#22 NC State (16-8, 4-4) at Clemson (17-7, 1-4)
Friday-6:00 PM ACCNX
Saturday-6:00 PM ACCN (REAL TV!)
Sunday-1:00 PM ACCNX
Well, to say Clemson is slumping is an understatement. Last week’s effort at Pitt was absolutely embarrassing. The only redemption was that Clemson’s bats showed life over the last few innings, but it was too little too late as the Tigers got swept in two game, and game three was canceled because of weather. Tuesday was a better day, as Clemson went to Winthrop for the first time since 1993 and got a 9-3 win. I really thought it was neat that the Winthrop honored the occasion by using video and audio equipment from 1993 when producing the ESPN+ feed. Sheesh, I know we’re spoiler at Clemson with audio/video production but my old high school does a better job streaming games than Winthrop did.
Anyway, I’m not going to gripe about a win, but I’m not throwing a ticker tape parade for beating up on a bad Eagles squad. We got our midweek win, unlike South Carolina, who lost to a Presbyterian squad Tuesday that was coming off of a 36-4 loss to Campbell on Sunday, and made the trip from Clinton to Columbia in minivans.
Not even lying @PresbyterianBSB literally pulled up in Chrysler Mini-vans to beat the Gamecocks pic.twitter.com/70kW6YKK2I
— Stephen Schoch (@bigdonkey47) March 30, 2022
But enough on that. Clemson now hosts NC State. The encouraging news for us is this State squad got swept by that Northeastern team that we took 2 out of 3 from. The bad news? They look to be securing their footing. After a series loss at Florida State (which included a 17 inning loss in the Sunday rubber match), the Pack swept a ranked Georgia Tech team and got a midweek shutout over East Carolina.
The other thing? They’ve got this freshman named Tommy White who is tied for third in the country for homers. However, while Tommy started out white hot with 9 homers in the first 8 games, he’s cooled off. But, he’s a guy that will make you pay if you’re not careful.
NC State, like Clemson, is very live by the arm die by the arm. Pitching seems to either be money, or they’re letting guys score. I don’t like the idea of Clemson in a pitchers’ duel with them because they have White who can break it open on one bad pitch. I’d be less concerned over that if Caden Grice wasn’t slumping, but it is what is. But if the Tigers’ line up can get some runs scored this weekend? Well, this could be the start to a hot streak.