Clemson takes a six game winning streak into one of the nation’s best baseball rivalries this weekend. The Clemson Insider previews the Palmetto showdown.
Clemson (6-1) vs. #18 South Carolina (9-0)
Friday, 7:00PM v Founders Park v Columbia, SC
Saturday, 2:30PM v Flour Field v Greenville, SC
Sunday, 2:00PM v Doug Kingsmore Stadium v Clemson, SC
Rankings: Clemson – NR South Carolina – #18 CB, #23 USA Today
The Series
Meetings: 309 (first met in 1899)
Series Record: Clemson leads 172-135-2
Record at SC: SC leads 81-67-2 (SC leads 7-3 at Founders Park)
Record at neutral: SC leads 10-8 at neutral sites (SC leads 4-2 in Greenville, 4-1 at Fluor Field)
Record at Clemson: Clemson leads 97-44 (Clemson leads 50-27 at DKS)
Last Meeting(s): Clemson won 2 of 3 games last season (11-4 at CU, 1-4 at Fluor, 7-0 at SC)
- Lee: Lee trails 2-11
The Gamecocks
Head Coach: Chad Holbrook (4th season at SC)
2015 Record: 32-25 (13-17; 5th in SEC East) – no postseason – NR
Home Record: 9-0 (25-11 in 2015)
Neutral Record: 0-0 (1-1 in 2015)
Road Record: 1-0 (6-13 in 2015)
Preseason: 3rd in SEC East Division (7 teams)
Last Week: Swept three homes games from Penn State (7-1, 16-5, 4-2) before winning 6-3 at The Citadel on Tuesday
2016 Batting Stats: .341 (8.7 RPG) with 16 2B, 7 HR, 49 BB, 15 HBP, 47 K, 12-15 SB
2016 Pitching Stats: 1.67 ERA, .173 OBA (49 hits), 29 BB & 100 K in 81.0 innings
2016 Fielding Stats: .975 (8 errors in 320 chances)
The Tigers
2015 Record: 32-29 (16-13; 4th in ACC Atlantic) – Fullerton Regional – NR
Road Record: 0-0 (12-9 in 2015)
Neutral Record: 0-0 (4-6 in 2015)
Home Record: 6-1 (16-14 in 2015)
Preseason: 5th in ACC Atlantic Division (7 teams)
Last Week: Swept three homes games from James Madison (6-1, 10-1, 11-2) before beating Wofford 7-0 at home on Tuesday
2016 Batting Stats: .324 (9.3 RPG) with 14 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 37 BB, 10 HBP, 42 K, 9-11 SB
2016 Pitching Stats: 1.76 ERA, .206 OBA (47 hits), 23 BB & 68 K in 63.0 innings
2016 Fielding Stats: .977 (6 errors in 259 chances)
Projected Starting Lineups
South Carolina
C #33 Chris Cullen (FR/.375 BA with 2 2B, 7 RBI, & 4 R in 8 games in 2016)
1B #24 Alex Destino (SO/.268 BA with 1 2B, 2 HR, & 12 RBI in 9 games in 2016)
2B #11 LT Tolbert (FR/.300 BA with 2 2B, 3 RBI, & 6 R in 8 games in 2016)
SS #8 Marcus Mooney (SR/.333 BA with 3 2B, 6 RBI, & 8 R in 8 games in 2016)
3B #20 Jonah Bride (SO/.333 BA with 1 2B, 4 RBI, & 13 R in 9 games in 2016)
LF #42 Dom Thompson-Williams (JR/.371 BA with 3 2B, 1 HR, & 5 RBI in 9 games in 2016)
CF #4 Danny Blair (FR/.400 BA with 2 2B, 3 RBI, & 2 R in 6 games in 2016)
RF #5 TJ Hopkins (FR/.263 BA with 1 HR, 5 RBI, & 2 R in 6 games in 2016)
DH #22 John Jones (SO/.581 BA with 2 2B, 3 HR, & 19 RBI in 9 games in 2016)
Clemson
C #25 Chris Okey (JR/.250 BA with 1 2B, 2 HR, & 11 RBI in 7 games in 2016)
1B #27 Chris Williams (SO/.160 BA with 2 RBI & 4 R in 7 games in 2016)
2B #8 Weston Wilson (JR/.462 BA with 2 2B, 4 RBI, & 8 R in 7 games in 2016)
SS #4 Eli White (JR/.320 BA with 2 2B, 4 RBI, & 11 R in 7 games in 2016)
3B #11 Adam Renwick (SO/.269 BA with 1 2B, 5 RBI, & 6 R in 7 games in 2016)
LF #6 Andrew Cox (*JR/.429 BA with 1 2B, 1 3B, & 2 RBI in 4 games in 2016)
CF #5 Chase Pinder (SO/.346 BA with 3 HR, 10 RBI, & 10 R in 7 games in 2016)
RF #28 Seth Beer (FR/.375 BA with 1 2B, 2 HR, & 9 RBI in 7 games in 2016)
DH #26 Reed Rohlman (*SO/.417 BA with 3 2B, 8 RBI, & 5 R in 7 games in 2016)
Projected Starting Pitchers
Game One
SO LHP #23 Charlie Barnes (1-0/2.38 ERA (11.1 IP)/.186 OBA (8 hits)/4 BB/14 K)
SO RHP #6 Clarke Schmidt (2-0/0.69 ERA (13.0 IP)/.100 OBA (4 hits)/5 BB/14 K)
Game Two
FR RHP #30 Braden Webb (2-0/1.80 ERA (10.0 IP)/.114 OBA (4 hits)/6 BB/10 K)
SR RHP #32 Clate Schmidt (2-0/3.00 ERA (12.0 IP)/.256 OBA (11 hits)/4 BB/9 K)
Game Three
JR RHP #17 Taylor Widener (0-0/1.86 ERA (9.2 IP)/.237 OBA (9 hits)/2 BB/10 K)
Clemson’s starter is TBA
Worth Noting
- Clemson is 18-8 all-time on March 4 with a 3-7 mark on the road.
- The Tigers are 21-6 all-time on March 5 with a 0-0 mark at neutral sites.
- Clemson is 23-6 all-time on March 6 with a 19-3 mark at home.
- The Tigers are 393-369-7 all-time against current SEC programs (have faced every program but LSU and Missouri). Clemson is 201-123-2 at home against SEC teams, 27-25 at neutral sites, and 165-221-5 on the road.
- Coach Lee has faced six SEC programs (Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, & South Carolina). Lee is 7-16 all-time against current SEC teams.
Tiger Career Stats vs. South Carolina
Player AVG G-S AB R H RBI BB K HR Other
Reed Rohlman .308 3-3 13 3 4 1 1 3 0
Chase Pinder .273 3-3 11 1 3 2 1 2 0 3B
Eli White .273 3-3 11 0 3 1 1 3 0 1-1 SB
Chris Okey .208 6-6 24 2 5 7 1 7 1 HBP
Andrew Cox .200 6-4 15 0 3 0 0 5 0
Weston Wilson .158 5-5 19 2 3 5 0 6 2
Maleeke Gibson .125 2-2 8 0 1 0 0 2 0
Player ERA G-S W-L IP H R ER BB SO OBA
Alex Schnell * 0.00 1-0 0-0 4.0 2 0 0 1 1 .154
Jackson Campana 0.00 1-0 0-0 1.2 0 0 0 0 1 .000
Clate Schmidt 5.59 2-1 1-1 9.2 10 6 6 3 10 .263
Patrick Andrews 6.75 2-0 0-0 4.0 6 3 3 0 2 .333
Alex Bostic 27.00 2-0 0-0 0.1 0 2 1 2 1 .000
Paul Campbell 27.00 1-0 0-0 0.1 1 1 1 2 0 .500
* – has one save.