Clemson travels to Louisville for a critical Atlantic Division three-game series in the ACC this weekend.
In this edition of Countdown to First Pitch we preview the top 11 showdown.
No. 10 Clemson (16-5, 3-3 ACC) @ No. 11 Louisville (17-4, 3-3 ACC)
Tenth-ranked Clemson travels to Jim Patterson Stadium to take on No. 11 Louisville this weekend in a critical three-game ACC series for both squads. Friday’s contest is set for a 6:00 p.m. first pitch while both Saturday’s and Sunday’s games are scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
The Series
Meetings: 17 (first met in 1970)
Series Record: Clemson leads 9-8
Record at Louisville: Louisville leads 3-0
Last Meeting(s): Louisville swept three games at Clemson in 2017 (4-2, 6-4, 6-4)
- Lee: Lee trails 1-6 (1-6 at CU)
Worth Noting
- Clemson is 32-19 all-time on March 23 with a 10-12 mark on the road.
- The Tigers are 30-20-1 all-time on March 24 with an 8-10 mark on the road.
- Clemson is 32-20-1 all-time on March 25 with a 12-7 mark on the road.
- The Tigers have played only one series at Louisville (2016) but this will be Clemson’s third straight year playing at Jim Patterson Stadium after facing Virginia there during the 2017 ACC Baseball Championship. (The Tigers are still looking for their first win at the facility.)
- This will be the Clemson’s first games outside the state of South Carolina in 2018 after the first 21 games took place in the Palmetto state (17 at DKS, 2 at Fluor Field, and single games at South Carolina and Coastal Carolina).
The Tigers
2017 Record: 42-21 (17-13; 3rd Atlantic) – Clemson Regional – 22 USA, 23 BA, 24 D1, 25 CB
2018 Preseason: 3rd in ACC Atlantic Division (7 teams)
Road Record: 0-2 (11-8 in 2017)
Last Week: Lost 9-5 at Coastal Carolina on Tuesday after being swept at home by #19 NC State (0-4, 1-6, 4-5) last weekend
2018 Batting Stats: .253 (6.0 RPG) with 25 2B, 1 3B, 29 HR, 117 BB, 18 HBP, 174 K, 11-18 SB
2018 Pitching Stats: 3.27 ERA, .235 OBA (167 hits), 70 BB & 184 K in 189.2 innings
2018 Fielding Stats: .975 (20 errors in 801 chances)
The Cardinals
Head Coach: Dan McDonnell (12th season at Louisville)
2017 Record: 53-12 (23-6; 1st Atlantic) – College World Series – 5 BA, 5 CB, 5 D1, 5 USA
2018 Preseason: 2nd in ACC Atlantic (out of 7 teams)
Home Record: 12-2 (34-4 in 2017)
Last Week: Won 8-5 at Western Kentucky on Wednesday after dropping two of three games at Wake Forest (1-2, 11-6, 3-6) last weekend
2018 Batting Stats: .284 (7.6 RPG) with 44 2B, 9 3B, 14 HR, 130 BB, 26 HBP, 134 K, 41-49 SB
2018 Pitching Stats: 3.57 ERA, .225 OBA (157 hits), 100 BB & 220 K in 186.1 innings
2018 Fielding Stats: .966 (25 errors in 742 chances)
Projected Starting Lineups
Clemson
C 10 Kyle Wilkie (SO/.190 BA with 2 2B, 9 RBI, & 7 BB in 20 games in 2018)
1B 27 Chris Williams (SR/.321 BA with 5 2B, 5 HR, & 22 RBI in 21 games in 2018)
2B 4 Grayson Byrd (*JR/.295 BA with 1 2B, 3 HR, & 12 RBI in 18 games in 2018)
SS 8 Logan Davidson (SO/.269 BA with 2 2B, 3 HR, & 11 RBI in 21 games in 2018)
3B 25 Patrick Cromwell (SR/.300 BA with 2 2B, 2 HR, & 12 RBI in 21 games in 2018)
RF 12 Robert Jolly (SR/.290 BA with 3 2B, 1 HR, & 12 RBI in 20 games in 2018)
CF 13 Drew Wharton (SR/.222 BA with 5 2B, 4 HR, & 19 RBI in 21 games in 2018)
RF 28 Seth Beer (JR/.257 BA with 2 2B, 6 HR, & 12 RBI in 21 games in 2018)
DH 17 Justin Hawkins (*JR/.192 BA with 1 2B, 2 HR, & 6 RBI in 13 games in 2018)
Louisville
C 18 Pat Rumoro (JR/.273 BA with 5 RBI, 8 R, & 6 BB in 15 games in 2018)
1B 43 Logan Wyatt (SO/.333 BA with 10 2B, 1 HR, & 17 RBI in 21 games in 2018)
2B 7 Devin Mann (JR/.310 BA with 6 2B, 2 HR, & 27 RBI in 21 games in 2018)
SS 2 Tyler Fitzgerald (SO/.261 BA with 4 2B, 2 HR, & 13 RBI in 21 games in 2018)
3B 16 Justin Lavey (SO/.231 BA with 4 2B, 2 HR, & 18 RBI in 21 games in 2018)
LF 1 Drew Campbell (SO/.367 BA with 3 2B, 1 HR, & 12 RBI in 20 games in 2018)
CF 25 Josh Stowers (JR/.268 BA with 2 2B, 2 HR, & 14 RBI in 19 games in 2018)
RF 17 Ethan Stringer (SO/.264 BA with 4 2B, 2 HR, & 10 RBI in 17 games in 2018)
DH 20 Jake Snider (FR/.319 BA with 5 2B, 1 3B, & 16 RBI in 21 games in 2018)
Projected Starting Pitchers
Game One
SO LHP 32 Jacob Hennessy (1-1/5 app/5 GS/2.54 ERA (28.1 IP)/.222 OBA (24 hits)/7 BB/30 K)
JR LHP 31 Adam Wolf (3-0/5 app/5 GS/1.80 ERA (30.0 IP)/.183 OBA (20 hits)/9 BB/38 K)
Game Two
JR RHP 19 Brooks Crawford (1-1/5 app/5 GS/2.86 ERA (22.0 IP)/.256 OBA (21 hits)/5 BB/15 K)
SO RHP 5 Shay Smiddy (2-0/7 app/2 GS/2.04 ERA (17.2 IP)/.231 OBA (15 hits)/8 BB/25 K)
Game Three
*SO LHP 24 Jake Higginbotham (3-0/5 app/5 GS/3.29 ERA (27.1 IP)/.192 OBA (19 hits)/5 BB/22 K)
SO LHP 8 Nick Bennett (1-0/3 app/0 GS/3.60 ERA (5.0 IP)/.238 OBA (5 hits)/2 BB/7 K)
Tiger Career Stats vs. Louisville
Player AVG G-S AB R H RBI BB K HR Other
Patrick Cromwell 1.000 2-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Jordan Greene .294 6-6 17 2 5 0 2 1 0 2B, 2 SH, 1-2 SB
Seth Beer .280 7-7 25 1 7 5 4 4 1 2 HBP
Robert Jolly .250 6-1 8 0 2 2 1 0 0
Logan Davidson .200 3-3 10 4 2 1 4 3 1 1-1 SB
Adam Renwick .167 4-2 6 0 1 0 0 3 0
Grayson Byrd .143 3-3 7 0 1 0 0 3 0
Kyle Wilkie .091 3-3 11 1 1 1 0 3 0
Chris Williams .083 7-7 24 0 2 2 3 8 0 2 SF, SH
Drew Wharton .000 2-0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Carson Spiers N/A 1-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Player ERA G-S W-L IP H R ER BB SO OBA
Ryley Gilliam 5.40 1-0 0-0 1.2 4 1 1 0 1 .500
Alex Schnell 7.71 3-0 0-0 4.2 3 4 4 1 0 .214
Brooks Crawford 9.00 1-0 0-0 1.0 1 1 1 0 0 .250