By Trey McCurry.
Clemson looks to build on the momentum the built by winning the Virginia Tech series and whipping Western Carolina as they return home to face Wake Forest. TCI previews this weekend’s Atlantic Division showdown.
Wake Forest (17-10, 4-5 ACC) @ Clemson (12-11, 4-5 ACC)
Doug Kingsmore Stadium v Clemson, SC
Friday, 6:30PM v Saturday, 6:30PM v Sunday, 1:00PM
Rankings: Wake Forest – NR Clemson – NR
The Series
Meetings: 181 (first met in 1901)
Series Record: Clemson leads 126-54-1
Record at Clemson: Clemson leads 64-19-1 (Clemson leads 52-8 at DKS)
Last Meeting(s): Clemson won two of three games at Wake Forest last season (3-4, 16-6, 7-4)
vs. Leggett: Leggett leads 48-23 (47-22 at Clemson, 1-1 at Western Carolina)
The Demon Deacons
Head Coach: Tom Walter (6th season at Wake Forest)
2014 Record: 30-26 (15-15; 4th ACC Atlantic) – no postseason – NR
Preseason: 5th in ACC Atlantic Division (out of 7 teams)
Road Record: 5-4…3-4 on road/2-0 neutral (2014: 12-13…11-11 on road/1-2 neutral)
Last week: Defeated Charlotte at home 8-6 on Tuesday and won at Appalachian State 11-8 on Wednesday after dropping two of three home games to Miami (FL) last weekend (2-15, 7-12, 10-4)
2015 Batting Stats: .316 (7.7 RPG) with 76 2B, 3 3B, 31 HR, 110 BB, 30 HBP, 216 K, 36-41 SB
2015 Pitching Stats: 5.84 ERA, .283 OBA (268 hits), 137 BB & 205 K in 239.0 innings
2015 Fielding Stats: .970 (30 errors in 1002 chances)
The Tigers
2014 Record: 36-25 (15-14; T2nd in ACC Atlantic) – Nashville Regional – NR
Preseason: 3rd in ACC Atlantic Division (7 teams)
Home Record: 4-5 (2014: 22-12)
Last week: Won 19-2 at Western Carolina on Tuesday after winning two of three games at Virginia Tech last weekend (4-0 in 10 inn, 15-8, 3-4 in 12 inn)
2015 Batting Stats: .292 (6.3 RPG) with 45 2B, 10 3B, 12 HR, 100 BB, 16 HBP, 168 K, 27-40 SB
2015 Pitching Stats: 3.81 ERA, .250 OBA (203 hits), 74 BB & 189 K in 210.1 innings
2015 Fielding Stats: .965 (31 errors in 891 chances)
Projected Starting Lineups
Wake Forest
C #9 Ben Breazeale (SO/.307 BA with 5 2B, 2 HR, & 12 RBI in 21 games in 2015)
1B #24 Gavin Sheets (FR/.260 BA with 2 2B, 1 HR, & 12 RBI in 18 games in 2015)
2B #10 Nate Mondou (SO/.354 BA with 10 2B, 5 HR, & 34 RBI in 27 games in 2015)
SS #17 Bruce Steel (FR/.190 BA with 4 2B, 1 HR, & 8 RBI in 19 games in 2015)
3B #20 Justin Yurchak (FR/.352 BA with 5 2B, 3 HR, & 17 RBI in 23 games in 2015)
LF #11 Jonathan Pryor (SO/.365 BA with 5 2B, 1 HR, & 8 RBI in 25 games in 2015)
CF #8 Joey Rodriguez (JR/.284 BA with 9 2B, 2 HR, & 11 RBI in 22 games in 2015)
RF #4 Stuart Fairchild (FR/.347 BA with 8 2B, 4 HR, & 22 RBI in 26 games in 2015)
DH #22 Will Craig (SO/.430 BA with 12 2B, 8 HR, & 40 RBI in 27 games in 2015)
Clemson
C #25 Chris Okey (SO/.292 BA with 8 2B, 3 HR, & 21 RBI in 23 games in 2015)
1B #13 Drew Wharton (FR/.400 BA with 1 2B, 2 RBI, & 3 R in 8 games in 2015)
2B #5 Chase Pinder (FR/.265 BA with 2 2B, 2 HR, & 12 RBI in 23 games in 2015)
SS #4 Eli White (SO/.310 BA with 5 2B, 2 3B, & 9 RBI in 23 games in 2015)
3B #8 Weston Wilson (SO/.261 BA with 2 2B, 4 HR, & 14 RBI in 22 games in 2015)
LF #26 Reed Rohlman (*FR/.368 BA with 7 2B, 2 HR, & 19 RBI in 23 games in 2015)
CF #18 Tyler Slaton (SR/.165 BA with 2 2B, 4 3B, & 6 RBI in 23 games in 2015)
RF #9 Steven Duggar (JR/.267 BA with 5 2B, 17 RBI, & 16 R in 23 games in 2015)
DH #3 Tyler Krieger (JR/.413 BA with 6 2B, 1 3B, & 12 RBI in 23 games in 2015)
Projected Starting Pitchers
Game One
SR RHP #1 Matt Pirro (3.26 ERA/5-1/6 starts/30.1 IP/.232 OBA (26 hits)/24 BB/38 K)
vs.
JR LHP #44 Matthew Crownover (1.09 ERA/4-0/6 starts/41.1 IP/.163 OBA (24 hits)/11 BB/42 K)
Game Two
SO RHP #22 Will Craig (7.94 ERA/0-1/7 app/1 start/11.1 IP/.292 OBA (14 hits)/7 BB/8 K)
vs.
JR RHP #19 Brody Koerner (5.34 ERA/3-2/7 app/6 starts/32.0 IP/.302 OBA (39 hits)/11 BB/28 K)
Game Three
SO RHP #30 Connor Johnstone (8.27 ERA/1-1/11 app/3 starts/20.2 IP/.362 OBA (34 hits)/7 BB/15 K)
vs.
JR LHP #33 Zach Erwin (3.47 ERA/1-3/7 app/6 starts/36.1 IP/.263 OBA (40 hits)/6 BB/27 K)
Worth Noting
- Clemson is 30-11 all-time on March 27 with a 22-6 mark at home.
- The Tigers are 30-24-2 all-time on March 28 with a 23-10-2 mark at home.
- Clemson is 30-18 all-time on March 29 with a 25-10 mark at home.
- The Tigers and Demon Deacons have met every season since 1954.
- Leggett is 25-5 against Wake Forest at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, winning all 10 series (winning two of three games five times and five sweeps).
Tiger Career Stats vs. Wake Forest
Player AVG G-S AB R H RBI BB K HR Other
Steven Duggar .400 6-6 25 4 10 8 3 2 1 2 2B, 3B, SF, 4-5 SB
Tyler Krieger .318 6-6 22 5 7 4 4 4 1 2 SH, 1-2 SB
Weston Wilson .286 2-2 7 2 2 0 2 3 0 HBP, 1-1 SB
Tyler Slaton .280 7-6 25 3 7 5 7 4 1 1-2 SB
Chris Okey .273 3-3 11 3 3 7 1 1 1 SF, 1-1 SB
Andrew Cox .000 2-1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mike Triller N/A 2-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Maleeke Gibson N/A 1-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Eli White N/A 1-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Player ERA G-S W-L IP H R ER BB SO OBA
Drew Moyer ^ 0.00 1-0 0-0 4.0 5 0 0 0 3 .294
Patrick Andrews 0.00 3-0 0-0 2.0 2 0 0 0 1 .222
Zack Erwin 0.00 2-0 0-0 2.0 2 0 0 1 1 .286
Clay Bates 0.00 1-0 0-0 1.2 0 0 0 0 2 .000
Matthew Crownover 3.48 2-2 2-0 10.1 13 4 4 4 8 .317
Jake Long 5.06 1-1 1-0 5.1 3 4 3 3 4 .158
Clate Schmidt 6.14 2-1 0-1 7.1 7 6 5 5 4 .269
Kevin Pohle 9.95 2-1 0-1 6.1 8 8 7 3 5 .308
^ – has one save.