Clemson set for ACC tournament pool play |
The Tigers travel to the 49th ACC baseball tournament as the No. 3 seed at Durham (N.C.) Bulls Athletic Park.
TOURNAMENT SETUP • Who (Wednesday) – Clemson (39-17) vs. Virginia Tech (30-21) • Who (Friday) – Boston College (34-17) vs. Clemson (39-17) • Best Ranking – CU – No. 5 Perfect Game; VAT – NR; BOC – No. 19 Perfect Game • When – Wednesday (7 p.m.), Friday (11 a.m.) • Where – Durham, N.C. (Durham Bulls Athletic Park) • Watch – ACC Network • Video Announcers – Wes Durham (Wednesday), Gaby Sanchez (Wednesday), Chris Cotter (Friday), Devon Travis (Friday) • Listen (Radio) – Clemson Athletic Network (locally on WCCP (105.5 FM)) • Listen (Internet) – ClemsonTigers.com • Live Stats – ClemsonTigers.com • Social Media – ClemsonBaseball SERIES HISTORY (VIRGINIA TECH) • Overall Record – Clemson leads 52-26-2 (1902-2023) • Record at Neutral – Clemson leads 5-3 (1902-2022) • Record in ACC Tournament – Virginia Tech leads 2-0 (2010-22) SERIES HISTORY (BOSTON COLLEGE) • Overall Record – Clemson leads 44-11 (2006-23) • Record at Neutral – Boston College leads 1-0 (2019) • Record in ACC Tournament – Boston College leads 1-0 (2019) STARTING PITCHERS • Wednesday – TBA (CU) vs. TBA (VAT) • Friday – TBA (BOC) vs. TBA (CU) CLEMSON OVERVIEW • Clemson, who has a 1-2 neutral record, swept North Carolina in three games at home last weekend. • The Tigers are averaging 7.3 runs per game and hitting .308 with a .465 slugging percentage, .401 on-base percentage and 84 steals. • The pitching staff has a 4.39 ERA, .253 opponents’ batting average and 2.35 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and Clemson is fielding .976. VIRGINIA TECH OVERVIEW • Virginia Tech, who has yet to play a neutral game and is averaging 8.9 runs per game, is led by sixth-year Head Coach John Szefc. • The Hokies won one of three games at No. 1 Wake Forest last weekend. They are hitting .298 and have a 5.59 ERA and .981 fielding percentage. • Christian Martin is hitting .339 and Chris Cannizzaro has 10 homers, one of six Hokies with double-digit home runs. BOSTON COLLEGE OVERVIEW • Boston College, who has a 4-0 neutral record and is averaging 6.5 runs per game, is led by 13th-year Head Coach Mike Gambino. • The Eagles won two of three games over Notre Dame last weekend. They are hitting .273 and have a 5.40 ERA and .982 fielding percentage. • Barry Walsh is hitting .314, Joe Vetrano is batting .306 with 18 homers and 51 RBIs and Andrew Roman has a team-high eight saves. QUICK HITS • Clemson has won 12 games in a row, 17 of its last 18 games and 22 of its last 25 games. • Clemson has 21 come-from-behind wins. • The Tiger bullpen is 25-9 with a 4.06 ERA, .262 opponents’ batting average and 268 strikeouts against 122 walks in 259.2 innings pitched. TIGERS TO PLAY IN 49TH ACC TOURNEY • Clemson (39-17), the No. 3 seed, opens its ACC Tourney by playing No. 10 seed Virginia Tech (30-21) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on ACC Network. • The Tigers are the designated visiting team and occupy the first-base dugout on Wednesday. • The Tigers play No. 6 seed Boston College (34-17) on Friday at 11 a.m. on ACC Network. • Boston College and Virginia Tech are playing a game on Tuesday to start the pool action. • Clemson is the designated home team and occupies the third-base dugout on Friday. • The games are played at Durham (N.C.) Bulls Athletic Park. • It is the 13th time the ACC Baseball Tournament is held in Durham after last being held there in 2019. • The 2023 tournament format has four three-team pools. The winner of each pool advances to a four-team, single-elimination tourney. • The format, in its sixth tournament, features four three-team pools that guarantees the 12 teams play a minimum of two games. • Pool A is comprised of No. 1 seed Wake Forest, No. 8 seed Notre Dame and No. 12 seed Pittsburgh. • Pool B is comprised of No. 2 seed Virginia, No. 7 seed North Carolina and No. 11 seed Georgia Tech. • Pool C is comprised of No. 3 seed Clemson, No. 6 seed Boston College and No. 10 seed Virginia Tech. • Pool D is comprised of No. 4 seed Miami, No. 5 seed Duke and No. 9 seed NC State. • The winners of pools A and D play Saturday at 1 p.m. on ACC Network and the winners of pools B and C play Saturday at 5 p.m. on ACC Network. • The ACC Championship Game is Sunday at noon on ESPN2, and the winner of the game receives an automatic bid into the 2023 NCAA Tournament. • All of Clemson’s ACC Tournament games are broadcast live on the radio by Clemson Athletic Network. • Live stats are available at ClemsonTigers.com for all Tiger games. CLEMSON’S ACC TOURNEY HISTORY • This is the 49th ACC Tournament, and Clemson has been to the finals in 22 of the previous 48 tournaments, seven more than any other school. • Clemson has won an ACC-high 10 ACC Tournament titles in history, including 2016, when it beat Florida State 18-13 in the title game. • Clemson’s 10 ACC Tournament titles came in 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2006 and 2016. • Clemson has a 114-75 record (.603) in ACC Tournament games. The Tigers are tied for the most All-ACC Tournament selections (65) in history. • Clemson’s 114 ACC Tournament wins are 24 more than any other team (NC State (90)). • Only Florida State (65.9) has a better winning percentage than Clemson (60.3) in ACC Tournament play (minimum 10 games). • Clemson is one of only two teams to play in all 49 ACC Tournaments. The Tigers join Virginia as the only teams to play in every ACC Tourney. • The ACC Tournament began in 1973 and has been held every year but two (1979, 2020) since then. ACC STANDINGS • Clemson finished in second place in the ACC Atlantic Division standings with a 20-10 league mark. • Overall in the ACC standings, Clemson also finished in second place. • Clemson’s 20 ACC regular-season wins were its most since 2018 (22), and its second-place finish was its best since 2018 (tied for first). • Clemson was in last (14th) place in the overall ACC standings at 2-8 after a loss at Florida State on April 6, but was 18-2 thereafter. • The Tigers won 16 of their last 17 ACC games after Notre Dame beat the Tigers in the opener on April 14. ACC SERIES WINS IN A ROW • Clemson won its last seven ACC series and won 18 of its last 20 ACC regular-season games after Florida State defeated Clemson on April 6. • Clemson won the series over Florida State, Notre Dame, NC State, No. 11 Boston College, No. 22 Louisville, Virginia Tech and North Carolina. • It was the first time Clemson won seven ACC series in a row during one season since 1994, when it won all eight ACC series. • Clemson went from playing 24 ACC regular-season games (eight series) in 2004 to 30 ACC regular-season games (10 series) starting in 2005. TIGERS COMPLETE THEIR SCHEDULE • The Tigers have developed a competitive streak of playing the maximum number of games the NCAA and ACC allows in a regular season. • Starting in 2002 and every year since (excluding the shortened 2020 season), Clemson has played the maximum number of regular-season games. • From 2002 to 2019 (18 consecutive seasons), Clemson played 56 regular-season games every year. • In 2021, the ACC only allowed for 50 regular-season games, a number Clemson reached, then it played all 56 regular-season games in 2022. • The Tigers played all 56 regular-season games in 2023, marking the 21st full season in a row they played all allowable regular-season games. FOUR TIGERS NAMED TO ALL-ACC TEAM • Billy Amick (DH/UT) and Cam Cannarella (OF) earned First-Team All-ACC honors. • Caden Grice (SP) was a Second-Team All-ACC selection and Cooper Ingle (C) was a Third-Team All-ACC pick. • Cam Cannarella also earned All-ACC Freshman honors. • It was Grice’s second career All-ACC selection, as he earned that accolade as a freshman first baseman in 2021. • Grice became the first Tiger since Jarrod Schmidt (2001,02) to earn All-ACC honors as both a hitter and pitcher during a career. • It was the first time Amick, Cannarella and Ingle were honored with an All-ACC accolade. CANNARELLA ACC’S TOP FRESHMAN • Cam Cannarella was named ACC Freshman-of-the-Year in a vote by the league head coaches. • He became the fourth Tiger to earn ACC Freshman-of-the-Year honors, joining Matthew LeCroy (1995), Patrick Boyd (1998) and Seth Beer (2016). SMITH CLOSING FROM LEFT SIDE • Freshman lefthander Tristan Smith has seen time as a starter, but has become a valuable pitcher out of the bullpen in recent weeks. • He is tied for the team lead in saves (4). • He is 0-1 with a 4.97 ERA, .231 opponents’ batting average and 42 strikeouts in 29.0 innings pitched over 21 appearances (six starts). • He has not allowed a steal in three attempts. • He is holding opponents to .103 with two outs. • He has a 2.35 ERA, .228 opponents’ batting average and 24 strikeouts against seven walks in his 15 relief appearances.
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