The Clemson Tiger baseball team will begin the biggest series of the season to this point against in-state rival South Carolina.
The Clemson Tiger baseball team comes into the annual rival match with South Carolina ranked No. 14 in the nation by Baseball America with a 7-1 record.
The Gamecocks are currently unranked, but are playing good baseball early in the season and boast an identical 7-1 record with revenge on their minds.
The Tigers have won four-straight series against the Gamecocks. Each series record was 2-1 during those years.
Here’s all the information you need to know heading into the big time series, starting with game times, where to watch and lineup info.
Game Information via Clemson Tigers.com:
Who: #14 Clemson Tigers vs. South Carolina Gamecocks
When and Where: Friday at 6 p.m. (Doug Kingsmore Stadium- Clemson); Saturday at 1 p.m. (Fluor Field- Greenville); Sunday at noon (Founders Park- Columbia)
Where to watch: ACC Network Extra (Friday); SEC Network + (Saturday and Sunday)
Where to listen: WCCP- 105.5 the roar; 105.5 the roar App; ESPN Upstate
Analysis:
South Carolina may not be ranked, but that team is very good coming into this season. They are playing at a much high caliber and are looking for revenge after losing the past four series against the Tigers.
Clemson will be playing a lot of young guys, as it has all season, and it will be interesting to see how some of those freshmen and underclassmen react to the big time series.
Brooks Crawford (RHP) will get the start for the Tigers Friday night, followed by freshman Davis Sharpe (RHP) on Saturday and freshman Justin Wrobleski (LHP) on Sunday.
South Carolina will send Carmen Mlodzinski (RHP) to the mound Friday followed by Dylan Harly (LHP) Saturday and Reid Morgan (RHP) Sunday.
The Tigers have some flexibility in what they can do in the batting order. I expect that we will see Sharpe bat on Saturday when he pitches and he could potential DH Friday or Sunday as he has the hot bat early on in the season.
Kier Meredith was sick this past weekend, but is said to be feeling better now. I’ll be interested to see if he starts in the outfield or if the coaching staff elects to continue to go with its previous lineup as the weekend progresses.
Overall, I’d look for a lower-scoring game Friday followed by two mid-scoring games Saturday and Sunday. Both teams will be feeling each other out to start the series, but that will change as the weekend progresses. I think you’ll see the Tigers be aggressive on the base pads, as they have all season to this point.
5 Tigers to watch:
- Bryce Teodosio, OF
- Logan Davidson, SS
- Davis Sharpe, P/DH
- Sam Hall, INF/OF
- Carson Spiers, Closer
These are five guys to keep your eye on as the series goes on. I really like what Sharpe has done so far and Teodosio has been on fire to this point.
Obviously, the Tigers will need Logan Davidson to have a good weekend and I think we’ll see Carson Spiers- the closer- get some work in the late innings against the Gamecocks.
Prediction:
I think you see the Tigers take home the series, but I don’t see a sweep. If I were guessing, I’d pick Clemson to win the Friday night game and then follow that up with a close win Saturday. South Carolina avoids the sweep at home Sunday, but takes the loss overall.