Clemson baseball – On deck – Virginia Cavaliers

Never in my wildest dreams did I believe things I write would come to fruition.  In this case, talking about the season being a complete roller coaster.  Just when we passionate Clemson baseball fans believe the team has turned a corner, they stumble in a game against inferior opposition.

College of Charleston is a very, VERY good CAA Conference team.  But take a look at those letters again.  They do not say ACC or SEC or any other conference known for its baseball prowess.  There is some real good talent on that Cougars team, and I know “it’s baseball” is a thing.  However, Clemson should have beaten the Cougars the other night.

I had a nice conversation over text with a big-time high school baseball coach in the state the other day whose son is redshirting this year for C of C, and even he believed that the game shouldn’t have been close.  C of C had some arms down and just didn’t think they matched up.  However, “baseball happened” and the Tigers dropped the mid-week game to College of Charleston 7-5.

Bad news Tiger fans, as Clemson travels up 85 to the great state of Virginia to take on the UVA Cavaliers this weekend in Charlottesville at Davenport Field at Disharoon Park.  Even the name of the ballpark is daunting.

Early on in the season Virginia was averaging nearly 16 runs a game.  They’ve since come down to Earth somewhat, but wow can they mash.

UVA is led by 19th year head coach Brian O’Connor.  O’Connor skippered the Cavaliers to the 2015 National Championship as well as 2 trips to the final series.  He has accumulated 5 trips to the College World Series and has made the tournament nearly every year of his nearly 20 years at the helm.  O’Connor finds himself consistently at or towards the top of the ACC standings year in and year out.  He is a consummate professional and well-admired around the nation.

Virginia is currently 35-12 on the season and that includes a record of 14-10 in the ACC and a whopping 27-4 at home.  The rankings have them as high as #9 (USA Today Coaches Poll) and as low as #13 (by NCBWA).  I feel like I say this all too often on these previews, but THIS is a good baseball team.

Their 35 wins have come against: Bellarmine, Gardner-Webb, NJIT, VMI, Cornell (x3), William & Mary, Penn State (x3), George Washington, Duke (x2) Rider (x3) Boston College (x3), Towson, Wake Forest (x2), Richmond, Georgia Tech (x2), Liberty, Pitt, Georgetown, North Carolina (x3), George Mason, Virginia Tech, VCU, and Longwood.

Their few (12) losses are to: Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami (x3), Old Dominion, Pitt (x2), VCU, and Virginia Tech (x2).

Virginia is a well-balanced team in terms of age of the team.  A good mix of all years of study.  3 Freshman, 2 Sophomores, 2 Juniors, and 2 Graduate Students round out the starting 9.  Noticeably missing are the Seniors.

Offensively, this Virginia team is as good as Clemson has faced this season.  Led by likely 1st Team All-ACC player (unless Max Wagner gets chosen for 3B), Sophomore 3rd Baseman Jake Gelof.  Arguably the hottest hitter for the first two months of the season, Gelof is still batting .376 with 17 home runs, 15 doubles and 68 RBIs.  This guy can flat out mash.  His OPS is an eye-popping 1.352 (Slugging % + On-base %)  Geloff hits fourth in the order.  His partner in crime for the early season onslaught is/was Graduate Left Fielder Alex Tappen.  Tappen is currently hitting .352 on the season with 13 HRs, 12 doubles and 65 RBIs. His OPS is slightly lower than his running mate Gelof, but still sits at a tremendous 1.060.

The rest of the UVA lineup looks like this: Batting Average/OPS (notable stats in parentheses):

Freshman Shortstop – Griff O’Ferrall – .319 BA/.815 OPS (5 2bs, 2 HRs, 16-17 SBs)

Sophomore Catcher – Kyle Teel – .300/.911 (9 2bs, 6 HRs, 39 RBIs)

Graduate 1st Baseman – Devin Ortiz – .308/.882 (11 2bs, 5 HRs, 41 RBIs)

Junior Center Fielder – Chris Newell – .283/.932 (4 2bs, 11 HRs, 16-18 SBs)

Freshman Designated Hitter – Ethan Anderson – .325/.932 (11 2bs, 3 HRs)

Freshman Right Fielder – Casey Saucke – .359/1.037 (10 2bs, 3 3bs, 6 HRs, 6-9 SBs)

Junior 2nd Baseman – Max Cotier – .277/.685 (3 2bs, 6-7 SBs)

The Cavaliers have scored 442 runs per game through 47 games for an average of 9.4 runs per game.  The Tigers have scored 387 runs over 49 games for an average of 7.9 runs per game.

Neither school did me any favors this week with telling me the starting pitchers for the weekend, but I’m not scared of doing a little research and giving my loyal readers an educated guess as to who we will see this weekend.

Friday night will be Mack Anglin for Clemson who looked like an ace last weekend versus Georgia Tech.  Clemson is going to need another outing like that against likely starter for UVA, Junior Left-Hander Nate Savino.  Savino is 4-4 on the season over 11 appearances and 11 starts.  3.86 ERA for the lefty over 60.2 innings with 66 strikeouts and 23 walks.  Opponents are hitting .251 off of the Junior.

Saturday night is officially TBA vs. TBA, but I will go out on a limb and say that Monte Lee will run Geoffrey Gilbert back out there for the Tigers as he’s been extremely serviceable since moving to the starting role.  He will likely be faced by Graduate Left-Hander Brian Gursky.  Gursky is 7-0 on the season with a 2.53 ERA over 10 starts.  In 53.1 innings he has 65 strikeouts and 25 walks and opponents are hitting .226 against him.

Sunday afternoon, also officially TBA vs. TBA, but the likely starter for the Tigers will be Freshman Billy Barlow.  Barlow has also been a steady force recently for the Tigers on Sunday.  Not great, but certainly not terrible either.  Personally, I really like his future for Clemson.  Facing Barlow will likely be Sophomore Left-Hander (sensing a theme here?) Jake Berry.  Berry is 5-2 with a 4.34 ERA on the season.  He’s started 6 games and has 16 appearances on the season.  He’s pitched 45.2 innings this year with 58 strikeouts to only 18 walks and opponents are hitting .226 against him.

I do not usually preview the bullpen, but did want to note UVA’s Jay Woofolk and Dylan Bowers.  Two relievers that we will most definitely see and these guys are solid out of the pen for the Cavaliers.

UVA has given up 198 runs on the season for an average of 4.2 runs per game.  The Tigers have given up 254 runs through 49 games for an average of 5.2 runs per game.

Runs are going to be at a premium this weekend and Clemson is in DIRE need of a win or two in this series as every game is a playoff game.  As our good friend JP Priester said last night on the Sluggo Podcast, “it all starts with Anglin.”  That, my friends, is so very true.

Prediction:

UVA may just be too good for the Tigers to win this series.  The Tigers bats have been really good as of late, and that’s something fun to watch.  Just think UVA has too much.  As much as it pains me to do this…

Friday

Saturday 

Sunday