The Clemson Insider

By Trey McCurry.

By Trey McCurry

Clemson (17-11) hosts Gardner-Webb (15-12-1) on Wednesday evening at 6:30PM at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

The Series

Clemson and Gardner-Webb have met eight times on the diamond, with the Tigers holding an 8-0 lead in the series. The teams first met in 1975 and seven of the eight previous meetings have taken place at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. In their most recent meetings in 2011, the two teams played a three-game, weekend series with two games at Clemson and a single game at Gardner-Webb. Clemson won all three games by a combined score of 30-2. The Tigers hold a 7-0 lead in games at Clemson, all of which have taken place at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Jack Leggett is 7-0 all-time against the Bulldogs (7-0 at Clemson), including a 6-0 mark at home.

The Bulldogs

Gardner-Webb, led by 12th-year Head Coach Rusty Stroupe, is a member of the Big South Conference. The Bulldogs are 15-12-1 on the season, including a 6-7 mark away from home (5-6 road, 1-1 neutral). Gardner-Webb enters the game off a series win at Winthrop. The Bulldogs were picked to finish second in the six-team South Division of the Big South by league coaches and are coming off a 32-28 (12-12 Big South) season in 2012.

The Bulldogs are hitting .252 as a team in 2013 with 51 doubles, five triples, nine homers, 43 stolen bases (in 60 chances), 92 walks, 34 hit-by-pitches, and 202 strikeouts while averaging 4.6 runs per game. Gardner-Webb’s pitching staff has a 2.83 ERA this season, allowing 221 hits (.235 opponents’ batting average) and 90 walks against 206 strikeouts in 251.1 innings. The Bulldogs are fielding at a .961 clip, committing 43 errors in 1061 chances.

The Tigers

Clemson enters the game 17-11 after dropping two of three games at #1 North Carolina last weekend. The Tigers are 12-7 at home this season, including 9-4 against non-conference opponents (1-1 against the Big South). Clemson was picked to finish third in the Atlantic Division in 2013 by ACC coaches and is coming off a 35-28 (16-14) season in 2012 that included an appearance in the Columbia Regional.

The Tigers are hitting .268 as a team in 2013 with 45 doubles, three triples, nine homers, 36 stolen bases (in 56 chances), 87 walks, 14 hit-by-pitches, and 194 strikeouts while averaging 5.1 runs per game. Clemson’s pitching staff has a 3.58 ERA this season, allowing 263 hits (.268 opponents’ batting average) and 84 walks against 173 strikeouts in 254.0 innings. The Tigers are fielding at a .971 clip, committing 32 errors in 1079 chances.

Projected Starting Lineups

Gardner-Webb

C #42 John Harris (*SR/.200 BA with 4 2B, 1 HR, & 12 RBI in 27 games in 2013)

1B #33 Brad Collins (SR/.278 BA with 11 2B, 1 HR, & 16 RBI in 28 games in 2013)

2B #11 Scott Johnson (SO/.240 BA with 3 2B, 7 RBI, & 8 R in 26 games in 2013)

SS #6 Ryan Hodge (SO/.200 BA with 3 2B, 1 HR, & 10 RBI in 28 games in 2013)

3B #9 Henry Rundio (SO/.264 BA with 3 2B, 3 HR, & 15 RBI in 28 games in 2013)

LF #18 Scott Coleman (JR/.267 BA with 6 2B, 2 3B, & 13 RBI in 28 games in 2013)

CF #38 JJ Nazzaro (JR/.287 BA with 6 2B, 1 HR, & 13 RBI in 27 games in 2013)

RF #24 Danny Yelverton (SR/.231 BA with 1 2B, 1 RBI, & 4 R in 14 games in 2013)

DH #16 Benji Jackson (SR/.366 BA with 9 2B, 1 HR, & 16 RBI in 27 games in 2013)

Clemson

C #30 Garrett Boulware (SO/.347 BA with 5 2B, 4 HR, & 25 RBI in 27 games in 2013)

1B #12 Jon McGibbon (JR/.245 BA with 4 2B, 15 RBI, & 13 R in 28 games in 2013)

2B #17 Steve Wilkerson (JR/.286 BA with 9 2B, 1 HR, & 16 RBI in 28 games in 2013)

SS #3 Tyler Krieger (FR/.229 BA with 5 2B, 10 RBI, & 11 R in 28 games in 2013)

3B #13 Jay Baum (SO/.218 BA with 4 2B, 6 RBI, & 13 R in 28 games in 2013)

LF #18 Tyler Slaton (SO/.317 BA with 3 2B, 5 RBI, & 7 R in 25 games in 2013)

CF #4 Thomas Brittle (*SR/.277 BA with 2 2B, 1 HR, & 11 RBI in 28 games in 2013)

RF #9 Steven Duggar (FR/.286 BA with 5 2B, 1 HR, & 16 RBI in 28 games in 2013)

DH #11 Shane Kennedy (JR/.308 BA with 2 2B, 2 HR, & 16 RBI in 28 games in 2013)

Projected Starting Pitchers

Gardner-Webb will start senior righthander Conner Scarborough. The High Point, NC native is 1-3 with a 1.29 ERA in 12 appearances (two starts) for a total of 28.0 innings pitched in 2013. He has allowed 25 hits (.238 opponents’ batting average) and seven walks against 21 strikeouts.

Clemson will counter with senior righthander Jonathan Meyer. The San Diego, CA native is 1-0 with a 4.80 ERA in eight relief appearances for a total of 15.0 innings pitched in 2013. He has allowed 22 hits (.344 opponents’ batting average) and two walks against 14 strikeouts.

Worth Noting

Clemson is 39-18-2 all-time on April 3 with a 26-7-1 mark at home.
This is the third of four meetings against Big South opponents for the Tigers in 2013. The Tigers lost 3-2 (11 innings) to Winthrop on February 27 before defeating Charleston Southern 3-1 on March 13 and will host Presbyterian College on April 10.
Clemson has faced 10 of the current 12 members of the Big South. The Tigers are 164-39 in those matchups, including a 117-21 mark at home.
Jack Leggett has faced 11 of the current 12 members of the Big South. He is 131-41 in those matchups, including a 65-15 mark as Clemson’s head coach.

Tiger Career Stats vs. Gardner-Webb

Player AVG G-S AB R H RBI HR

Mike Dunster 1.000 2-0 2 2 2 2 0

Joe Costigan .500 2-0 2 0 1 2 0

Steve Wilkerson .286 3-1 7 1 2 1 0

Jon McGibbon —– 2-0 0 0 0 0 0

Player ERA G-S W-L IP H ER BB SO

Jonathan Meyer 0.00 1-1 1-0 6.1 3 0 0 1

Scott Firth 0.00 2-0 0-0 2.0 1 0 0 1

Matt Campbell 0.00 1-0 0-0 1.0 1 0 0 2

Kevin Pohle 0.00 1-0 0-0 1.0 1 0 0 2

Joseph Moorefield 0.00 1-0 0-0 0.2 0 0 0 0