Clemson baseball: On deck – College of Charleston Cougars

The roller coaster that is Clemson baseball faces College of Charleston Cougars.

A long time ago, in 7th grade I went to Six Flags with some club that I was involved in during my middle school years.  There, before me, was the first stand-up roller coaster in existence.  Shockwave!  Me and a bunch of friends and 8th grade ladies waited in the exorbitantly long line to ride this ride.  With each step closer to the front of the line anxiety grew bigger and bigger.  Finally got to the front of the line where you choose which row you want to sit in and I got cold feet.  Did not want anything to do with this monster who was going to scare me more than anything ever.  A voice from the cutest young lady in the group said to me, “you waited two hours and NOW you’re not going to go?”

I tell you all that because I like to say that this Clemson baseball season has been a roller coaster ride.  And I can tell you with 100% certainty that the waiting on that line and then riding the first roller coaster I ever stepped foot on was tremendous.

All this word salad to say, that I LOVE roller coasters.  I am trying to turn the roller coaster of a season for the Tigers into a positive.  I have never had a bad experience on a roller coaster, and therefore this ride the baseball boys are putting us, as fans, on is tremendous.  They are called “thrill rides” for a reason, and this season thus far has been quite a ride.

Huge series sweep against Georgia Tech this past weekend.  The Tigers feasted on Jacket pitching and truly showed just how potent this offense can be when everyone is going well, stringing together good at bats and having fun playing the game again.

Clemson faces College of Charleston Cougars mid-week

Mid-week games creep back in this week with a visit from College of Charleston Cougars.  The Cougars are 31-15 on the season with an 18-3 record in the CAA.  They’ve yet to play a neutral site game before tonight’s game in Columbia at Segra Field.

Clemson already has one victory this season over the Cougars but it was a hard-fought 2-1 game and two weeks before I started giving some previews.

C of C is led by a familiar name to Clemson fans.  Former South Carolina coach Chad Holbrook is in his fifth season.  Considered a failure at U of SC because he was the “guy after the guy (two-time national championship winning coach Ray Tanner).”  However, Holbrook has proven that he is a good coach as the preeminent team in the CAA.  At 18-3 in the conference, they are a force.  Holbrook also led his Cougars squad to a victory over then #2 ranked Texas earlier in the season.

College of Charleston is 31-15.  Their 31 wins are against: Wagner (x3), Sienna (x3), Presbyterian, UMass-Lowell (x2), Texas, East Carolina (x2), Northeastern (x3), Hofstra, James Madison (x3), William & Mary (x3), USC Upstate, Elon (x3), Delaware (x3), and UNC Wilmington (x2).

Their 15 losses are to: Clemson, High Point (x3), UPenn (x2), UMass-Lowell, East Carolina, Georgia Southern, Charlotte, Hofstra (x2), The Citadel, Coastal Carolina, and UNC Wilmington.

As is my normal, looking at the age of the opponent, the Cougars are loaded with Juniors and Seniors, with only one underclassman in the regular 9.  4 Juniors, 3 Seniors, a Grad Student and a lonely Freshman.

The Cougars are led offensively by Junior Third Baseman Trotter Harlan.  Harlan is hitting .302 with 5 home runs, 13 doubles and a team-leading 38 RBIs.  OPS of .894 and 17-19 in stolen bases.  Harlan will likely hit third in the lineup tonight and is capable of big things.  At the top of the lineup is Freshman Center Fielder Tyler Sorrentino.  The New Jersey native is hitting .305 with 7 doubles, 4 triples and is a load on the basepaths with 13-15 stolen base attempts.  Sorrentino doesn’t have the power numbers that will scare you, but at the top of the lineup, he’s consistently on base for the boppers hitting behind him in the very consistent and steady lineup.

The rest of the probables for tonight’s game are as follows: Batting Average/OPS (with notable stats in parentheses):

Graduate Right Fielder – Sam Cochrane – .299 BA/.830 OPS (9 2bs, 4 3bs, 1 HR, 8-14 SBs)

Junior Catcher – JT Marr – .326/.860 (9 2bs, 2 3bs, 6 HRs, 37 RBIs, 11-11 SBs)

Senior Shortstop – Cam Dean – .311/.893 (10 2bs, 1 3b, 1 HR)

Junior 2nd Baseman – Joseph Mershon – .276/.823 (3 2bs, 1 3b, 3 HRs, 8-11 SBs)

Junior Designated Hitter – Luke Wood – .270/.761 (2 2bs, 5 HRs)

Senior Left Fielder

– Landon Choboy – .309/.802 (4 2bs, 2 HRs)

Senior 1st Baseman – Tanner McCallister – .245/.758 (4 2bs, 2 HRs)

The Cougars are averaging 6.5 runs per game having scored 301 runs over 46 games.  In comparison, the Tigers have just short of 8 runs per game with 382 runs in 48 games.

On the mound for the Cougars tonight will be Graduate Right-hander Reed Parris.  Parris comes into the ballgame with a 5-0 record over 21 appearances with his first start coming tonight.  He sports a 2.25 ERA over 36 innings pitched with 34 strikeouts and 8 walks.  Opponents are hitting .206 against him.

The Tigers will counter with Sophomore Right hander Ricky Williams who is 2-0 on the season over 7 appearances with a 1.59 ERA over 17 innings pitched.  8 strikeouts to 9 walks for Williams and opponents are hitting .215 against him.

The Cougars have allowed 217 runs on the season for a paltry average of 4.7 per game.  While the Tigers have allowed 247 runs on the campaign for an average of 5.1.

The Tigers have gotten some really solid pitching the last three games after the week off between ACC series’ and look to continue that with the steady Williams toeing the rubber tonight.  The bats have been electric over the past three games with numerous people getting involved in the fun for the Tigers.  Hopeful to get Blake Wright back at some point this week after taking a foul ball off the kneecap in Friday nights game.  However, the team picked him up and the addition of Will Taylor has lit a fire under these boys.

As Monte Lee has been saying, and I paraphrase, every game is a playoff game for the Tigers.  As much as I have hated this season at times, this roller coaster is fun and I am not ready to get off any time soon.

Prediction – Clemson 9 – College of Charleston 4