Clemson Baseball sweeps UNCG, will face first ACC opponent this week
The Tigers won all four of their games this week against Kansas State and UNC Greensboro. They now face Manhattan twice in the mid-week and open their ACC schedule at Duke.
By John Chancey
Clemson Baseball has recovered nicely from their single loss of the season to win all their contests this week.
They started mid-week play against a Big 12 opponent, the Kansas State Wildcats, winning 8-3. KSU was playing their second game in as many days following a 15-5 loss to Tennessee in Knoxville. Billy Barlow started and pitched 5 innings. Nolan Nawrocki and Alden Mathes both had home runs.
The Tigers then opened their three-game home series against the UNC Greensboro Spartans on Friday with a 12-5 victory. The Tigers had a monster 2nd inning, scoring 8 runs. Jarren Purify started the scoring with a 3-run homer, followed by a single-run homer by Cam Cannerella.
Clemson followed with a similar performance in the Saturday game, winning 9-5 to secure the series victory. Mathes went yard with a 2-run homer, then Tristan Bissetta cranked two home runs in his first start of the year.
The Tigers swept the series on Sunday 6-3. Clemson brought five runs across with squeeze plays and base hits, and then Will Taylor connected on a single-run homer to bring the sixth run across.
The net result was four victories that brought the Tigers record to 13-1 on the season. While there were positives, there is still room for improvement.
Clemson Baseball has room to improve
Purify and Nawrocki continue to play strong for the Tigers, as do Mathes and Andrew Ciufo. Cannarella and Taylor are also rounding into good form.
Pitching has been good but inconsistent. As noted, Barlow moved from his Friday spot to start the mid-week, allowing Austin Gordon to start Friday. While Gordon pitched 4.2 innings, he had a rocky first inning, allowing four runs. The Spartans scored at least three runs in all three contests.
The Tigers now have a five-game week ahead of them. They face the Manhattan Jaspers at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Tuesday and Wednesday. They then hit the road to open their ACC schedule against the Duke Blue Devils for a three-game weekend series.
The Blue Devils are 13-2 and are ranked in the same vicinity as the Tigers, but could be in for a bump after winning their series against No. 1 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem this past weekend. This will be the Tigers' biggest test of the season and a good gauge of exactly where they stand against the best competition.
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