Clemson Regular Season Recap: What’s Next for the Tigers?

Tigers are geared up for the post season

With postseason baseball underway and the Tigers finishing the regular season on a high note, sweeping Pittsburgh, let’s recap Clemson’s third-straight year with 40+ wins and look at what they could run into this postseason.

Recapping the Season: Who was Key for Clemson?

Cam Cannarella, Aidan Knaak, and Lucas Mahlstedt were obviously huge parts of this Clemson team and contributed more than anyone else, but who were the unsung heroes of yet another successful season?

Dominic Listi was one of those players. After starting his collegiate career playing Division III baseball, Listi found his way to Clemson and became one of the team’s most important players. Listi tallied a .293 batting average (third-highest on the team), a .492 on-base percentage (highest), a .448 slugging percentage, and a .940 OPS (third-highest). The Illinois native was the leadoff hitter for most of the season, until Cam Cannarella took over that spot late in the season. Listi did not only fill up the stat sheet, he brought an unparalleled level of energy to this Clemson team that could be seen after every walk, hit by pitch, or tough defensive play.

Jacob Jarrell was another hero of this Clemson season. After playing in 28 games his sophomore season, Jarrell more than doubled his home run total (13) and improved his on-base percentage (.400) in his first full season as the team’s catcher. The Florence, South Carolina native tallied a .269 batting average, a .400 on-base percentage, a .520 slugging percentage (highest on the team), and a .920 OPS. Coming into the season, not many experts would’ve picked Jarrell as the team’s leader in home runs, but his 13 blasts were the most of any Tiger, with Collin Priest coming in second with 11.

Drew Titsworth was a major part in Clemson’s success this season. After being a reliever all of last season and most of this season, Titsworth became the Saturday starter for Clemson due to Ethan Darden’s injury. Before his six shutout innings against Louisville on April 18, Titsworth had never started a game in his collegiate career, but stepped into that role for the good of the team. Although he was not always successful as a starter this season, Titsworth was the ultimate team player and still posted a very respectable 5-1 record with a 4.14 ERA and 1.35 WHIP.

ACC Tournament: Virginia Tech Scouting Report

With their win over the Stanford Cardinal on Tuesday, May 20, Virginia Tech booked a spot in the second round against the Clemson Tigers. The Hokies went 30-24 overall and 12-18 within ACC play this season, but according to Baseball America, they are still on the outside looking in when it comes to the tournament picture.

The Hokies rely mainly on Sam Tackett for their offensive production. The Lexington, Kentucky native tallied a .314 batting average (highest on the team), a .429 on-base percentage (highest), a .595 slugging percentage (highest), and a 1.024 OPS (highest). Tackett is also first in home runs (14), walks (35), total bases (110), and tied for first in RBIs (44).

Besides Tackett, the Hokies don’t have much else going for them on the offensive side. As long as Aidan Knaak and the rest of the Clemson pitching staff are careful when pitching to Tackett, they should be able to navigate this Virginia Tech lineup with ease.

Clemson will face off against the Virginia Tech Hokies on Wednesday, May 21, at 1:00 PM in Durham, North Carolina, and the game will be available to watch on the ACC Network.

Potential Regional Matchups:

D1 Baseball – Although the regional matchups will be affected based on the team’s performance throughout the conference tournament, D1 Baseball released their projections on May 18. In their projections, they had Clemson as the 12th team to host a regional site with Alabama (SEC), Connecticut (Big East), and Bryant (America East) within their group. The winner of the Clemson, SC regional would play the winner of the Athens, GA regional, which consists of Georgia (SEC), Wake Forest (ACC), East Tennessee State (SoCon), and Holy Cross (Patriot). If this projection were to come true and Clemson was able to make it past their regional, the Tigers might consider themselves lucky, as they already took down the Georgia Bulldogs, 3-0, on April 22.

Baseball America – These projections were made on May 14, which was before the final series of the regular season for some teams, but should still give insight into where certain teams will be seeded after the conference tournaments. Baseball America projected Clemson as the 14th team to host a regional site with Ole Miss (SEC), Kansas (Big 12), and Rhode Island (A10) within their group. This would be another tough regional draw for Clemson, as they were run-ruled by Ole Miss, 15-5, in the third game of the regular season. The winner of the Clemson, SC regional would face off against the winner of the Auburn, AL regional, which includes Auburn (SEC), Northeastern (CAA), Virginia (ACC), and Holy Cross (Patriot). In this scenario, if the Tigers were able to make it out of their regional group, they would most likely take on the Tigers of Auburn for a spot in the College World Series.

On3 – In these projections made on May 20, On3 had Clemson as the 10th team to host a regional site. Clemson’s group was Oklahoma (SEC), Troy (Sun Belt), and USC Upstate (Big South). This would be a favorable group for Clemson, as they already beat USC Upstate, 7-0, on March 4. If the Tigers were able to make it out of their regional, they would play the winner of the Eugene, Oregon regional. This group contained Oregon (Big Ten), Mississippi State (SEC), Cincinnati (Big 12), and Nevada (Mountain West). Although the 10th seed may seem pretty high for a Clemson team that has fallen off quite a bit since the beginning of the season, On3 believes that with a strong ACC Tournament, the Tigers can potentially “play back into the top eight discussion.”