Clemson baseball holds onto Top 10 spot going into Gamecocks series

Wofford transfer Lucas Mahlstedt pitched three innings of relief on Saturday in a win over Kennesaw State.

by TigerNet Staff - Mon Feb 26 11:01:32 GMT-04:00 2024

Erik Bakich's Tigers dropped a spot in a prominent college baseball ranking but stayed in the Top 10.

Clemson enters a big week at No. 10 in the polls for both D1Baseball.com and Baseball America.

The Tigers (6-1) went 3-1 last week, with the one defeat being a decisive 18-1 result against Kennesaw State on Friday, before recovering to take the final two games, 8-6 and 7-2.

"Following an 18-1 drubbing Friday night at the hands of Kennesaw State, Clemson bounced back to win the next two games to seal a series victory. The Owls had the Tigers on the ropes, though, and led 6-5 in the eighth inning of Saturday’s game. However, Clemson proceeded to score three runs in the inning and never looked back after that. Jacob Hinderleider had a nice weekend at the plate and crushed a pair of home runs, while on the mound freshman Aidan Knaak on Sunday spun six scoreless innings en route to a series-clinching win. Clemson this week takes on S.C. Upstate before a massive rivalry series against No. 12 South Carolina," Baseball America wrote.

In the ACC picture, Clemson offensively ranks 10th in runs (57), sixth in on-base percentage (.442), seventh in slugging percentage (.527), eighth in home runs (12), eighth in walks drawn (43), T-12 in doubles (9) and 12th in stolen bases (4). In pitching, Clemson is seventh in ERA (4.43), eighth in strikeouts (65) and 10th in walks (32). The Tigers are last in fielding percentage (.946) with 14 errors.

Cam Cannarella is fifth in the league in batting average (.517) with the third-most hits (15), while Alden Mathes and Jimmy Obertop are tied for eighth in on-base percentage (.594), thanks to being tied for the most walks drawn (10).

The Tigers head to Columbia for two games to start the series this weekend, with the game at Founders Park on Friday (7 p.m.) and the game at Segra Park on Saturday (4 p.m.) before returning to Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Sunday (2 p.m.).

Now 6-1, Wake Forest stayed No. 1 in the major polls. While No. 12 with Baseball America, South Carolina is No. 19 with D1Baseball.

Clemson in the Top 25 (2/26)

D1Baseball: 10 (Prev. 10)

Baseball America: 10 (Prev. 9)

NCBWA: 11 (Prev. 8)

Coaches: 11

Perfect Game: 16 (Prev. 18)