Clemson Baseball NCAA Regional: Prediction

Staff writer Ben Greeson gives his prediction on the upcoming Clemson baseball NCAA Regional Tournament.

It’s tourney eve as most of you know, so I thought I’d take a minute, and instead of breaking down each match up again, I would like to just throw my hypothetical two cents in and see how close I get to predicting how the Clemson Regional will pan out.

Game One: Nebraska (3) vs Oklahoma State (2) Friday, June 3rd 11am.

Nebraska has a really good pitching staff. The Rubbing the Rock staff has done a great job in previous articles giving you all the stats and information regarding the Nebraska staff. In my mind, while Oklahoma State is balanced at the plate, their lineup from top to bottom doesn’t scare me.

I like Nebraska’s pitchers to come out on top in-game one and send them into the winners bracket. OSU will throw the best arms at a Nebraska team that isn’t a big powerful team at the plate.

So, I expect a low scoring affair, with the best collection of arms coming out on top in this pitching duel. I see the first team to score three runs, barring a ton of errors, to win this game.

PREDICTION: Huskers 4 – Cowboys 2

Game Two: Western Carolina (4) vs Clemson (1) Friday, June 3rd 7pm

This may be game two in the tourney, but this is game three of the season for the Tigers and Catamounts. Clemson baseball is 2-0 vs WCU this year. With scores of 10-8 and 7-6 respectively, you can see that the Catamounts can’t be taken lightly.

A murders’ row of bats litter the WCU lineup. They have power that can leave the yard in spots one through nine. With that being said, WCU does not have the greatest of pitching staffs. They may score some runs, but they will give up some runs as well.

Clemson needs to do what it can to save as many arms as possible. A deep run in the ACC tourney that led to an ACC Championship, really spent the Clemson bullpen. An eight plus hour weather delayed championship game versus Florida State didn’t help matters.

I expect a spade to be a spade, meaning Clemson will win, but not without maximum effort. I look for some fireworks in this one. The “Cajun Café” may be a souvenir shop before the night is over.

PREDICTION: Clemson 15 – WCU 9

Game Three: Oklahoma State (2) vs Western Carolina (4) Saturday, June 4th 11am

This will be the first elimination game of the tourney. Loser goes home, so that means these teams will the leaving it all on the field and throwing the kitchen sink at one another. I don’t think OSU will have to go very deep into their bullpen against Nebraska.

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That may help them in this game. It doesn’t matter how deep WCU goes into their bullpen because their bullpen has struggled most of the season anyway. While OSU is balanced with some power, some speed and a few good arms, I’m going to give the nod to our neighbors from North Carolina in this game. The bats are just too explosive for OSU to contain.

I see WCU living to fight another day and sending OSU back to Stillwater.

PREDICTION: WCU 12 – OSU 7

Game Four: Nebraska (3) vs Clemson (1) Saturday, June 4th 7pm

Pitching, pitching, pitching. I think this will be the name of this game. I honestly expect a tight game here.

Nebraska is playing for its life and Clemson is trying to secure a championship Sunday appearance. While I really like the Huskers pitching staff, I really don’t like their bats. I just don’t think they can produce enough at the plate to give their pitchers any breathing room, and Clemson will keep the pressure on all night.

Big hits at the right times will be what wins this game and I don’t think the Cornhuskers can do that. Look for Okey’s leadership and the perseverance of this never say die Clemson team to find a way to win this one.

PREDICTION: Tigers 4 – Huskers 3