4-0 Clemson Baseball Hosts UCF

UCF (3-1) @ Clemson (4-0)

Friday 2/24 4:00 PM
Saturday 2/25 2:00 PM
Sunday 2/26 1:00 PM

Video: ACCNX
Audio: WCCPFM, ClemsonTigers.com

Just like that, your Clemson baseball Tigers are 4-0 in the beginning of the Erik Bakich era. Friday and Sunday’s wins were blowouts, Saturday needed some late inning hits to get the win. In Tuesday’s win over Charlotte was neck-and-neck for a while before the Tigers broke loose. So, what have we learned in 4 games?

First, Erik Bakich’s teams will be much more aggressive on the base paths. Clemson finished last weekend with 17 stolen bases to put the Tigers at third in the nation. Clemson tacked on 4 more stolen bases Tuesday against Charlotte, to bring the total to 21. Last season, Clemson stole 32 bases all year. At this rate they may break that this weekend. Realistically, I’d wager Clemson eclipses that mark by the end of the Palmetto Series vs. the Gamecocks. It’s definitely more fun watching the boys be dangerous on the base path. There were a few boneheaded running errors in the opening weekend series, but I can live with that.

There’s a lot of guys I’m high on, but Cam Canarella is probably the one that caught my eye the most. The freshman is hitting .500 through 4 games. This dude is legit. I’m also loving the back-to-back punch of Caden Grice and Blake Wright (in the two and three-holes), or as I like to say, “the Grice is Wright.” Wright is leading the club in homers (2) and slugging percentage (.882). Grice isn’t quite as hot as I would like but I expect him to break out pretty soon.

So, what do we need to know about UCF? Okay, first off, they have awesome alternate uniforms.

UCF naturally has connections to NASA and space, given that their in Orlando. These uniforms honor the Citronaut, the first mascot of Florida Technological University (which is now UCF.) It’s a cool little fella that looks like the alien from the Flintstones, except with an orange for a body. Anyway, the Citronaut has had a renaissance in the last decade, and I definitely hope the Knights wear these “Citronaut Saturday” unis this weekend.

UCF swept Siena to open the series. Similarly to Clemson, they blew out the competition on Friday (22-5) and Sunday (11-1), and had to squeak a win out on Saturday (2-1). On Tuesday, UCF got trounced by Florida Atlantic at home, 13-3.

Senior catcher Ben McCabe is swinging a big stick with 4 homers and 8 RBIs through 4 games. The Sarasota native hit 14 homers and 54 RBIs last season.

Weather wise, Friday’s first pitch has a high of 72, but also 30% chance of rain. Saturday looks clear for most of the game, with a chance of rain around 4. First pitch temp will be down to 59. Sunday should be a nice day for baseball, with 69 degrees at first pitch and it looks like the rain will have moved out by early that morning.