Clemson baseball: On deck – ETSU Buccaneers

After a heck of a series win over the weekend versus Wake Forest and following it up with a top 10 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs on the road, Clemson baseball will play back-to-back nights mid-week.  This time back home at Doug Kingsmore Stadium against the East Tennessee State Buccaneers.

Is it me or is Caden Grice starting to find his groove right at the perfect time for the 23-13 Tigers?  Three homers in the last two games and hitting the ball hard nearly every at bat.  And Billy Barlow with another stellar outing mid-week save one inning versus a huge SEC foe.

Clemson is currently 5-0 versus the SEC, but 4-10 against the ACC.  Things that make you think.

Anyway, onto Wednesday night’s tilt.  The East Tennessee Bucs beat UNC Asheville last night in their first of two mid-week games as well and will come into the game with our Tigers 21-11.

ETSU is led by 5th year head coach Joe Pennucci.  Pennucci was at Stony Brook during their improbable run to the 2012 College World Series.  He was also at the helm of ETSU when they set a school record for home runs in a game with 7 versus the Tigers in a 2020 contest.

As stated earlier, the Bucs are 21-11 on the season with wins versus: Northern Kentucky (x3), Wagner (x2), Winthrop (x2), Rider (x2), UNC Asheville (x2), Radford (x2), Lafayette, Tennessee Tech, George Washington (x3), and Western Carolina (x3)

Their 11 losses came by way of: Wagner, Tennessee, Winthrop, Tennessee Tech (x2), Baylor (x3) and Wofford (x3).

The Bucs are currently 4th in the 8-team Southern Conference.

Yet another squad that is a little on the older side, with a little smattering of youngsters mixed with a bunch of experience.  The Bucs are led offensively by Senior First Baseman Bryce Hodge who is hitting .356 batting average with 9 home runs and 31 RBIs from the three-hole.  Hodge adds 9 doubles to his impressive stat line.  Junior DH/Catcher Noah Webb matches Hodge in the home run and RBI departments with 9 and 31 respectively, while hitting at a .313 clip.

The rest of the projected lineup is as follows with Batting Averages/OPS (and other notable stats in parentheses):

Junior – Shortstop – Ashton King – .275 BA/.842 OPS (12 2Bs, 4 HRs, 21 RBIs)

Freshman – Right Fielder – Tommy Barth – .348/.962 (7 2Bs, 2 HRs, 23 RBIs)

Graduate – 2nd Baseman – Cam Norgren – .361/1.129 (10 2Bs, 8 HRs, 23 RBIs)

Sophomore – Left Fielder – Jackson Green – .280/.899 (4 HRs)

Redshirt Senior – Center Fielder – David Beam – .313/.873 (4 2Bs, 3 HRs)

Junior – Utility – Garrett Wallace – .309/.932 (7 2Bs, 5 HRs, 34 RBIs)

Sophomore – Catcher – Ryan McCarthy – .170/.510 (2 2Bs)

The Bucs mix and match a lot of their lineup, but the ones mentioned above are the ones that have been given the most opportunities and will likely be the ones on the field at the start of the game tonight.

On the hill is anyone’s guess, but if you’ve read this column in the past, you know that I have no problem guessing.  Not to toot my own horn, but I have been correct (mostly with the aid of either the Tigers or the opponents Sports Information Department), but even when I am given a TBA, I am close.  Being that this is a double mid-week game for both teams, they’ve both, predictable added the TBA to their starting pitcher spot.

Based on some in-depth research and a magic 8-ball, I am going to guess that Head Coach Joe Pannucci will send Junior Right Hander Landon Smiddy out to get the ball first in a likely bullpen game.  Smiddy is 1-3 on the season with a 4.59 ERA across 11 appearances and 5 starts.  33.1 Innings pitched for the junior to go along with 32 Ks and 10 BBs, all while opponents are hitting .265 against him.

It is anyone’s guess as to who Monte Lee will send out there to start for the Tigers, but I would guess that either Freshman Jay Dill will get the start to bounce back from his rough outing Saturday at Wake Forest or reliable Sophomore Ricky Williams.  I’m hoping for Dill because I believe that kid can play, and nerves may have gotten the best of the highly regarded 1st year pitcher.

ETSU is a very good ballclub and can do some damage at the plate.  They have some gaudy offensive numbers that jump off the (stat) page and the Tigers need to continue their ways at the plate and hope for another quality outing from their starter to win this ballgame.

I’m just happy no one is keeping track of my predictions, so I am going to go with:

Prediction: Clemson wins 11 – 4