Clemson baseball: On Deck – Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Out of sight, out of mind

I almost forgot that there was going to be Clemson baseball this week.  Cozied in a hotel in the midlands of South Carolina daydreaming about the weekend that is looming and realized there is a huge series this weekend at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Now I know there are a lot of baseball fans that are soured after the effort of the baseball team last weekend in Louisville, as was I to an extent.  However, all is not lost and the Tigers have 11 more games to finish the season strong and (hopefully) go into the postseason with a lot of momentum.

However, before we talk about postseason or even the possibility of a lack thereof, let’s get down to brass tacks with the weekend at hand and the invasion of the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech into DKS.

You have to remember that I am an “old-school” Clemson baseball fan, dating back to the mid-90s (sooooo long ago, haha).  Georgia Tech has always been a thorn in the side of the Tigers and this baseball series is perennially one of my favorites and in the same breath, one that I dread. Georgia Tech is usually very good, and this year is no different.

Tech is led by veteran coach Danny Hall

Led by Head Coach Danny Hall, in his 29th season in Atlanta, Coach has been a stalwart of the baseball program down there and is one of the finest coaches in all of college baseball.  He’s led his teams to 22 NCAA Tournaments as well as 3 visits to Omaha for the College World Series.  He has won the ACC Tournament on 5 different occasions, and he’s coached multiple current and former Major Leaguers.

Hall’s teams are known for their offensive prowess and this year’s team is no different.  More on that in a bit.

Georgia Tech comes into the series in Clemson with a 27-18 record overall with a 12-12 record in conference play.  Currently only ranked by one ranking service, d1baseball.com at #21 in the country.

The Yellow Jackets 27 wins came by way of: Wright State (x3), Presbyterian, Gardner-Webb (x3), Georgia State, Georgia (x2), Virginia Tech (x3), Jackson State, Wake Forest, Kennesaw State, Charleston Southern, Virginia, USC Upstate, Florida State (x2), North Carolina (x2), Mercer, Duke, and Miami (x2)

Their 18 losses came at the hands of: Georgia Southern, Georgia, Mercer, Wake Forest (x2), Kennesaw State, NC State (x3), Virginia (x2), Florida State, Georgia State, North Carolina, Duke (x2), Troy, and Miami.

A staple in my previews is the age of the Tigers opponent.  I likely say it every week but this Georgia Tech team is an enigma.  Eight of their everyday starters are sophomores and only one senior in the lineup.

Tech rolls in with a dominant offense and Tigers staff will be challenged

Offensively, Georgia Tech is led by probable 1st Team All-ACC Catcher Kevin Parada.  The sophomore is hitting .381 on the season with 23 home runs, and a whopping 74 RBIs on the season.  An OPS of 1.261.  These are eye-popping numbers.  Everyone knows that I talk about “scary” hitters, and Parada fits the bill on all accounts.  Leadoff hitter and 2nd Baseman, Chandler Simpson is currently leading the league in hitting at .440 with an OPS of 1.049.  3 2bs, 3 3bs, and 15 of 17 in the stolen base department.  If it feels like Simpson is on base a lot this weekend, it’ll be because he is.  How about that for analysis?!?!

The rest of the Yellow Jackets lineup is as follows, Batting Average/OPS (on-base + slugging %) with (notable stats in parentheses):

Sophomore 1st Baseman – Andrew Jenkins – .380BA/1.103 OPS (17 2bs, 11 HRs, 47 RBIs)

Sophomore Left Fielder – Tres Gonzalez – .329/.950 (12 2bs, 4 HRs, 44 RBIs)

Sophomore Designated Hitter – Tim Borden II – .320/1.074 (8 2bs, 12 HRs)

Sophomore Right Fielder – Stephen Reid – .318/.883 (5 2bs, 9 HRs)

Sophomore 3rd Baseman – Drew Compton – .288/.958 (9 2bs, 12 HRs, 48 RBIs)

Senior Center Fielder – Colin Hall – .262/.805 (5 2bs, 4 3bs, 6 HRs)

Sophomore Shortstop – Jadyn Jackson  – .277/.670

This is arguably the best offense Clemson will face this season thus far.  However…

On the mound is where Georgia Tech has really struggled this season.  A team ERA of over 6.5 pretty much tells the story.

As with every week, it seems, Clemson will start Mack Anglin on the bump for Game 1 of the series on Friday night.  He will be opposed by Redshirt Senior Right hander John Medich who has recently been turned into a starter after spending most of the early part of the season in the bullpen.  Medich is 4-3 on the season with a 4.50 ERA across 16 appearances and 4 starts.  He’s thrown 38 innings on the season with 42 strikeouts and 18 walks.  Opponents are batting .221 against the big righty.  Medich has brought a little bit of life to the struggling staff with consecutive great outings (vs. Miami and Duke) and will hope to continue that against our Tigers.

The next two games for both squads have been officially announced as TBA vs. TBA.  However, I believe that Monte Lee will continue his Geoffrey Gilbert start on Saturday and Billy Barlow on Sunday.  Just a hunch.  Gilbert looked exceptional against Florida State and then was solid in his first Saturday start two weeks ago versus Wake.  He struggled finding the plate versus Louisville, but he has been mostly very reliable.

For Georgia Tech, I will go out on a limb and predict that Danny Hall will start one of three guys for the remaining two games.

Sophomore Right Hander – Marquis Grissom, Jr. (for you Braves fans out there, yes, it is his son) 2-4 on the season; 5.62 ERA; 13 Appearances/10 Starts; 40 innings; 33 Ks, 30 BBs and opponents are hitting .264 against him.

Junior Right Hander – Chance Huff (Vandy transfer): 3-3; 6.88 ERA; 12 appearances, 11 starts; 53.2 IPs, 57 Ks, 15 BBs, and opponents are hitting .280 against him.

Freshman Right Hander – Logan McGuire: 3-2; 7.81 ERA across 27.2 Innings; 27 Ks, 3 BBs and opponents hitting .319 against him.

Clemson has an offense of it’s own

The Tigers come into the weekend averaging 7.71 runs per game to Georgia Tech’s 9.3 runs.  On the flip side, the Tigers are giving up an average of 5.2 runs per game to the Yellow Jackets 7.3.

Interesting Stat of the weekend – Clemson leads the all-time series 116-114-3.  God forbid the Yellow Jackets sweep the Tigers, they would lead the all-time series by 1 game.  Hopefully the Tigers win the series and give themselves a little breathing room all-time.

Coming off a humiliating series sweep by Louisville a week ago, the Tigers have had some time to lick their wounds and get some rest.  Hopefully that translates into a couple or three victories this weekend.  Georgia Tech can hit.  Clemson has been known to give up some hits.  The Tigers need to get a great, not good start from Mack Anglin on Friday night to set the tone for the remainder of the weekend.  If that can happen, and I predict it will, the Tigers will take 2 of 3 from the high-flying Jackets offense.

Predictions:

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Happy Mother’s Day weekend to all you mom’s out there.  Go Tigers!