Countdown to first pitch: Notre Dame at No. 9 Clemson

The Clemson baseball team will begin ACC play today when it hosts the first game of a three-game series  at 6:30 p.m. at Doug Kingsmore Stadium against Notre Dame.

The ninth-ranked Tigers have won eight of their last nine games, including a series win over No. 10 South Carolina last weekend.

Notre Dame (3-8) at No. 9 Clemson (9-3)

Doug Kingsmore Stadium, Clemson, SC

Friday, 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, 4 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.

Rankings:     NR – NR        Clemson – No. 9 BA, No. 11 USA, No. 14 D1, No. 15 CB

The Series

Meetings:                   210 (first met in 1994)

Series Record:            Series tied 5-5

Record at Clemson:     Notre Dame leads 3-1 (Notre Dame leads 3-1 at DKS)

Last Meeting(s):          Clemson swept three games at Notre Dame in 2017 (2-1 in 11, 11-1, 6-2)

  1. Lee: Lee leads 3-0 (3-0 at Clemson)

The Fighting Irish

Head Coach:               Mik Aoki (7th season at ND)

2016 Record:               27-27 (11-17; 7th Atlantic) – N/A – NR

Preseason:                 T-6th in ACC Atlantic (out of 7 teams)

Road Record:              0-2 (7-12 in 2016)

Last Week:                 Split four games at the USA Baseball-Irish Classic in Cary, NC last weekend (3-4 vs. Maryland, 0-8 vs. UMASS-Lowell, 8-4 vs. Rhode Island, 4-0 vs. Monmouth)

2017 Batting Stats:      .234 (4.5 RPG) with 19 2B, 4 3B, 6 HR, 34 BB, 7 HBP, 91 K, 16-17 SB

2017 Pitching Stats:     6.75 ERA, .293 OBA (116 hits), 64 BB & 98 K in 96.0 innings

2017 Fielding Stats:     .945 (22 errors in 402 chances)

The Tigers

2016 Record:               44-20 (16-14; 4th Atlantic) – Clemson Regional – #15 USA, 17 BA, #18 CB/D1

Preseason:                 3rd in ACC Atlantic Division (7 teams); 1 vote for Overall Champion

Home Record:            6-3 (26-9 in 2016)

Last Week:                 Beat Michigan State 9-2 on Wednesday at Fluor Field after taking two of three games from #4 South Carolina (0-2 at Clemson, 8-7 at Fluor Field, 5-3 in 11 at South Carolina)

2017 Batting Stats:      .274 (5.9 RPG) with 18 2B, 2 3B, 10 HR, 70 BB, 13 HBP, 90 K, 14-21 SB

2017 Pitching Stats:     2.68 ERA, .239 OBA (101 hits), 29 BB & 136 K in 114.0 innings

2017 Fielding Stats:     .968 (15 errors in 464 chances)

Projected Starting Lineups

Notre Dame

C        #36 Ryan Lidge (SR/.143 BA with 1 2B, 4 RBI, & 5 R in 11 games in 2017)

1B      #14 Connor Power (FR/.167 BA with 2 2B, 3 RBI, & 3 R in 9 games in 2017)

2B      #6 Cole Daily (SO/.267 BA with 2 2B, 4 RBI, & 5 R in 10 games in 2017)

SS      #20 Kyle Fiala (SR/.277 BA with 3 2B, 2 HR, & 9 RBI in 11 games in 2017)

3B      #7 Nick Podkul (SO/.341 BA with 3 2B, 1 3B, & 1 RBI in 11 games in 2017)

LF      #39 Jake Johnson (JR/.281 BA with 2 2B, 2 3B, & 4 RBI in 10 games in 2017)

CF      #24 Matt Vierling (SO/.326 BA with 2 2B, 2 HR, & 12 RBI in 11 games in 2017)

RF      #0 Jake Shepski (JR/.103 BA with 1 2B, 4 RBI, & 3 R in 11 games in 2017)

DH     #13 Nick Neville (FR/.095 BA with 2 2BI & 1 R in 7 games in 2017)

Clemson

C        #27 Chris Williams (JR/.364 BA with 1 2B, 3 RBI, & 1 R in 5 games in 2017)

1B      #6 Andrew Cox (*GR/.296 BA with 2 2B, 1 HR, & 6 RBI in 11 games in 2017)

2B      #4 Grayson Byrd (*SO/.275 BA with 2 2B, 7 RBI, & 1 R in 11 games in 2017)

SS      #8 Logan Davidson (FR/.271 BA with 2 2B, 1 HR, & 7 RBI in 12 games in 2017)

3B      #25 Patrick Cromwell (JR/.184 BA with 2 HR, 2 RBI, & 4 R in 12 games in 2017)

LF      #28 Seth Beer (SO/.256 BA with 1 2B, 5 HR, & 13 RBI in 12 games in 2017)

CF      #5 Chase Pinder (JR/.348 BA with 2 2B, 12 RBI, & 8 R in 11 games in 2017)

RF      #15 Weston Jackson (*GR/.229 BA with 1 HR, 6 RBI, & 4 R in 11 games in 2017)

DH     #26 Reed Rohlman (*JR/.357 BA with 3 2B, 1 3B, & 3 RBI in 12 games in 2017)

Projected Starting Pitchers

Game One

JR RHP #12 Brandon Bielak (0-2/3 app/3 GS/6.39 ERA (12.2 IP)/.288 OBA (15 hits)/12 BB/15 K)

JR LHP #23 Charlie Barnes (0-1/3 app/3 GS/0.92 ERA (19.2 IP)/.236 OBA (17 hits)/3 BB/24 K)

Game Two

JR RHP #35 Peter Solomon (1-1/3 app/3 GS/4.15 ERA (17.1 IP)/.222 OBA (14 hits)/11 BB/19 K)

SR LHP #36 Pat Krall (2-0/3 app/3 GS/4.32 ERA (16.2 IP)/.297 OBA (19 hits)/5 BB/14 K)

Game Three

JR RHP #45 Brad Bass (1-1/3 app/2 GS/4.80 ERA (15.0 IP)/.271 OBA (16 hits)/5 BB/20 K)

*SO RHP #15 Alex Eubanks (1-1/3 app/3 GS/4.15 ERA (17.1 IP)/.246 OBA (17 hits)/4 BB/17 K)

Worth Noting

  • Clemson is 27-7 all-time on March 10 with a 23-3 mark at home.
  • The Tigers are 17-11 all-time on March 11 with a 16-6 mark at home.
  • Clemson is 25-6 all-time on March 12 with a 21-2 mark at home.

Tiger Career Stats vs. Notre Dame

Player                             AVG   G-S     AB      R        H       RBI     BB      K        HR     Other

Reed Rohlman        .269    6-6     26      2        7        6        0        4        0        2 2B

Chase Pinder                   .261    6-6     23      4        6        4        2        4        1        2 2B, HBP, SH, 2-2 SB

Seth Beer               .250    3-3     12      3        3        3        3        3        2        2B

Chris Williams        .250    3-3     12      2        3        3        1        2        2        HBP

Andrew Cox           .167    7-5     18      2        3        0        3        3        0        1-1 SB

Robert Jolly           .000    2-1     4        0        0        0        0        1        0

KJ Bryant               .000    1-1     2        0        0        0        0        0        0

Jordan Greene       .000    1-0     1        0        0        0        0        1        0

Drew Wharton        .000    1-0     1        0        0        0        1        1        0

Adam Renwick       N/A    1-0     0        0        0        0        0        0        0

Player                             ERA    G-S     W-L    IP       H       R        ER      BB      SO      OBA

Alex Eubanks                   0.00    1-1     1-0     7.0     7        0        0        1        9        .269

Pat Krall *              0.00    3-0     0-1     4.2     2        2        0        2        3        .118

Charlie Barnes        1.13    1-1     0-0     8.0     6        1        1        0        7        .194

Brooks Crawford    5.40    2-0     1-0     3.1     4        2        2        0        1        .286

Alex Schnell           9.00    1-0     0-0     1.0     2        2        1        0        1        .500

* – Also has one save.