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Clemson Baseball: Tigers need series win over NC State for NCAA Tourney hopes

By Shawn Spencer

OMAHA, NE - JUNE 23: A general view of baseball gear before game one of the College World Series Championship between the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Virginia Cavaliers on June 23, 2014 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE - JUNE 23: A general view of baseball gear before game one of the College World Series Championship between the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Virginia Cavaliers on June 23, 2014 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
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The Clemson baseball team will travel up to Raleigh this weekend for a pivotal ACC series. The Tigers need a series win to keep NCAA Tourney hopes alive.

The Clemson baseball team will travel up to Raleigh this weekend to take on the No. 16 NC State Wolfpack in a pivotal three-game ACC series.

The Tigers (29-20 overall, 12-12 in the ACC) are currently still in the NCAA Tournament according to projections, but are in the ‘last four in’ category.

For Clemson baseball to make the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers need a big series win this weekend.

NC State is currently third in the ACC Atlantic with a 37-13 overall record and a 14-10 record in the ACC. If the Tigers found a way to win two in Raleigh this weekend, it would put Clemson at 14-13 in the ACC, just one game behind the Wolfpack, who would be 15-12 in conference.

Clemson will start Mat Clark Friday evening and Davis Sharpe on Saturday. The Sunday starter is TBA. The Tigers have to find a way to break out the bats, have better starting pitching and for the defense to improve. It has been a storm of bad fundamentals and breaks for this team over the past month.

But, if they want to make the NCAA Tournament, they have to put all of that behind them and finish the rest of the regular season strong.

Following the NC State series, Clemson baseball will play a mid-week tilt on the road at Coastal Carolina Tuesday before closing the season with a home-series against Wake Forest Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The ACC Tournament will begin the following week.

For the Tigers to make the NCAA Tournament, they need to at least finish .500 in the ACC and beat Coastal Carolina, in my opinion. That would mean that you at least win one of the two final series and it’d be best to avoid getting swept by the Wolfpack.

Competing in the ACC Tournament may also be a key to an NCAA Tournament berth, but for now the Tigers need to focus on the task at hand and have a good weekend against a very talented NC State team.

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