The time is finally here. A dawning of a new day in Clemson Baseball. Head Coach Erik Bakich takes over the proud baseball program in hopes to rekindle the team’s perennial success. The weekend opens this Friday against the Binghamton Bearcats. Let’s learn a little bit about the Tigers opening series opponents.
Opponent: Binghamton University Bearcats
Location: Binghamton, New York
Enrollment: 16,896
Conference: America East Conference
Binghamton University is part of the SUNY (State University of New York) network of Colleges and Universities.
Now onto the important information, the baseball program.
Last season, the Bearcats ended as the America East Conference Tournament Champions and received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Their appearance in the Stanford Regional was short-lived going “uno, dos, adios.”
The Bearcats were 22-30 on the season in 2022, 15-15 within the conference. Good enough for 2nd in Baseball Division B, as the conference is broken up into two 4-team divisions.
Binghamton is led by long-time Head Coach Tim Sinicki, who enters his 30th season as the skipper. The graduate of Western Carolina has amassed over 600 wins in his storied career. He’s led the Bearcats to 4 NCAA Regionals, and has won the America East Conference 10 times since 2007, either the tournament or the regular season.
Check out the video preview of the series below:
It is difficult to project the lineup that Coach Sinicki will throw out there, but I have done some extensive research to put together my best guess as to what to expect from the Bearcats in their first ever visit to Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Based on box scores from the 2022 season, the Bearcats are only replacing their everyday shortstop and right fielder. Also, the weekend rotation returns fully intact.
Projected Starting Lineup – (2022 statistics referenced below: Batting Average/HR/RBI)
Senior – Cavan Tully – OF – .292/3/27; 7-9 SBs
Soph – Logan Haskell – OF – .310/2/19; 9-10 SBs
Soph – Nick Roselli – 2B – .307/8/22; 4-6 SBs
Soph – Evin Sullivan – C – .365/7/42
Junior – Kevin Reilly – DH – .283/5/23
Soph – Devan Bade – 3B – .269/2/16
Junior – Andrew Tan – 1B – .275/4/27
Junior – Isaiah Corry – SS – .196/0/5
Junior – Christian Perez – OF – .171/0/4
On the mound, as stated earlier, the entire 2022 weekend rotation returns and there is no indication that anything will change for the start of the 2023 season.
Projected Weekend Starters: (2022 statistics referenced below)
Senior – Thomas Babalis – LHP – 4-7; 6.04 ERA; 85 IPs; 86 Ks, 31 BBs
Senior – Ryan Bryggman – RHP – 5-6; 5.71 ERA; 75.2 IPs; 52 Ks, 40 BBs
Junior – John Lumpinski – RHP – 3-6; 7.91 ERA; 52.1 IPs; 49Ks, 25 BBs
Other notable members of the pitching staff:
Senior – Jack Collins – RHP – 3-3; 2.17 ERA; 45.2 IPs, 58 Ks, 12 BBs
Junior – Justin Rosner – RHP – 2-2; 4.38 ERA; 37 IPs, 42 Ks, 12 BBs
Junior – Gabe Driscoll – RHP – 3-1; 5.01 ERA; 55.2 IPs, 56 Ks, 22 BBs
Soph- Caden Rothbaum – LHP – 0-2; 6.35 ERA; 17 IPs, 10 Ks, 14 BBs
Junior – Alex Henderson – RHP – 0-1; 6.61 ERA; 16.1 IPs, 12 Ks, 19 BBs
Senior – Kyle Eskildsen – RHP – 0-1; 8.06 ERA; 25.2 IPs, 19 Ks, 16 BBs
Senior – Tanner Sinicki – RHP – 0-0; 15.12 ERA; 8 IPs, 6 Ks, 3 BBs
On paper, this looks like Clemson should be able to handle the Bearcats this weekend, however it’s still baseball and anything can happen.
A mixture of excitement and nervous optimism has enveloped Clemson Baseball fans as the season is upon us
The excitement of the start of a new season with a new head coach combines with the fear of the unknown. The national pundits do not have high hopes for the Tigers in Bakich’s first season, but who likes pre-season polls or predictions anyway?!?!
A successful opening series for Clemson Baseball would be...
— Rubbing The Rock (@RubbingTheRock) February 17, 2023
Mark me down for predicting a Clemson sweep over the weekend, although I’m still trying to figure who is going to play where and who will be on the bump over the weekend. I think what I know is good enough to handle this Binghamton Bearcat lineup and starting rotation.
Go Tigers!