By Trey McCurry.
The Tigers return to action Friday night when North Carolina visits Doug Kingsmore. TCI previews the series between the Tigers and the Heels.
North Carolina (17-11, 6-6 ACC) @ Clemson (14-14, 5-7 ACC)
Doug Kingsmore Stadium v Clemson, SC
Friday, 6:30PM v Saturday, 6:30PM v Sunday, 1:00PM
Rankings: North Carolina – NR Clemson – NR
The Series
Meetings: 185 (first met in 1901)
Series Record: Clemson leads 97-87-1
Record at Clemson: Clemson leads 45-31-1 (Clemson leads 37-17 at DKS)
Last Meeting(s): North Carolina won two of three games in Chapel Hill in 2013 (10-3, 6-2, 4-5 in 11 innings) and also won 12-7 in 14 innings at the 2013 ACC Baseball Championship in Durham
vs. Leggett: Leggett trails 32-34 (32-31 at Clemson, 0-3 at Western Carolina)
The Tar Heels
Head Coach: Mike Fox (17th season at UNC)
2014 Record: 35-27 (15-15; 4th ACC Coastal) – Gainesville Regional – NR
Preseason: 2nd in ACC Coastal Division (out of 7 teams)
Road Record: 8-7…5-4 on road/3-3 neutral (2014: 12-16…10-12 on road/2-4 neutral)
Last week: Won 10-5 at Elon on Tuesday after dropping two of three games at home to #13 Miami (FL) last weekend (3-4, 3-4 in 11, 10-3)
2015 Batting Stats: .281 (6.0 RPG) with 42 2B, 9 3B, 17 HR, 136 BB, 26 HBP, 167 K, 44-59 SB
2015 Pitching Stats: 3.68 ERA, .251 OBA (238 hits), 102 BB & 258 K in 252.0 innings
2015 Fielding Stats: .964 (38 errors in 1042 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: 6-8 (2014: 22-12)
Last week: Defeated Furman 5-4 at home on Tuesday and fell 5-4 at home on Wednesday to Presbyterian College after dropping two of three home games to Wake Forest last weekend (2-8, 3-7, 6-2)
2015 Batting Stats: .282 (5.9 RPG) with 51 2B, 10 3B, 16 HR, 116 BB, 20 HBP, 202 K, 35-49 SB
2015 Pitching Stats: 3.84 ERA, .253 OBA (249 hits), 88 BB & 226 K in 255.1 innings
2015 Fielding Stats: .963 (40 errors in 1085 chances)
Projected Starting Lineups
North Carolina
C #43 Korey Dunbar (JR/.338 BA with 8 2B, 3 HR, & 9 RBI in 27 games in 2015)
1B #10 Zack Gahagan (FR/.278 BA with 2 2B, 2 HR, & 22 RBI in 27 games in 2015)
2B #3 Elijah Sutherland (JR/.226 BA with 1 2B, 10 R, & 8 BB in 15 games in 2015)
SS #7 Logan Warmoth (FR/.284 BA with 3 2B, 1 HR, & 14 RBI in 28 games in 2015)
3B #6 Alex Raburn (JR/.195 BA with 3 2B, 2 HR, & 17 RBI in 28 games in 2015)
LF #12 Landon Lassiter (JR/.310 BA with 6 2B, 1 3B, & 14 RBI in 27 games in 2015)
CF #20 Skye Bolt (JR/.275 BA with 5 2B, 4 HR, & 21 RBI in 26 games in 2015)
RF #14 Tyler Ramirez (SO/.248 BA with 2 2B, 3 HR, & 22 RBI in 28 games in 2015)
DH #34 Brian Miller (FR/.377 BA with 1 2B, 1 3B, & 8 RBI in 25 games in 2015)
Clemson
C #25 Chris Okey (SO/.278 BA with 9 2B, 4 HR, & 27 RBI in 28 games in 2015)
1B #6 Andrew Cox (*SO/.259 BA with 4 2B, 3 RBI, & 8 R in 25 games in 2015)
2B #5 Chase Pinder (FR/.263 BA with 3 2B, 2 HR, & 14 RBI in 28 games in 2015)
SS #4 Eli White (SO/.307 BA with 5 2B, 1 HR, & 13 RBI in 28 games in 2015)
3B #8 Weston Wilson (SO/.240 BA with 2 2B, 4 HR, & 15 RBI in 27 games in 2015)
LF #26 Reed Rohlman (*FR/.340 BA with 8 2B, 2 HR, & 19 RBI in 28 games in 2015)
CF #18 Tyler Slaton (SR/.179 BA with 3 2B, 1 HR, & 8 RBI in 28 games in 2015)
RF #9 Steven Duggar (JR/.280 BA with 6 2B, 1 HR, & 19 RBI in 28 games in 2015)
DH #3 Tyler Krieger (JR/.391 BA with 7 2B, 1 3B, & 13 RBI in 28 games in 2015)
Projected Starting Pitchers
Game One
SO RHP #23 Zac Gallen (3.48 ERA/1-1/7 app/5 starts/33.2 IP/.233 OBA (28 hits)/7 BB/38 K)
vs.
JR LHP #44 Matthew Crownover (1.53 ERA/4-1/7 starts/47.0 IP/.168 OBA (28 hits)/15 BB/47 K)
Game Two
FR RHP #38 J.B. Bukauskas (2.77 ERA/3-1/7 starts/39.0 IP/.230 OBA (32 hits)/15 BB/39 K)
vs.
JR LHP #33 Zach Erwin (3.05 ERA/2-3/8 app/7 starts/44.1 IP/.260 OBA (47 hits)/7 BB/34 K)
Game Three
SR RHP #39 Benton Moss (1.95 ERA/4-0/5 starts/27.2 IP/.266 OBA (29 hits)/6 BB/38 K)
vs.
JR RHP #19 Brody Koerner (6.06 ERA/3-3/8 app/7 starts/35.2 IP/.322 OBA (48 hits)/12 BB/30 K)
Worth Noting
- Clemson is 40-18-2 all-time on April 3 with a 27-7-1 mark at home.
- The Tigers are 49-19 all-time on April 4 with a 25-9 mark at home.
- Clemson is 38-22 all-time on April 5 with a 27-11 mark at home.
- The Tigers and Tar Heels have played in all but two seasons (2007 & 2014) since 1950.
- North Carolina has won six straight regular-season series between the teams with Clemson’s last series winning coming at home in 2005.
- Leggett is 14-13 against North Carolina at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, winning the first six home series against the Tar Heels and dropping the last three series.
Tiger Career Stats vs. North Carolina
Player AVG G-S AB R H RBI BB K HR Other
Mike Triller .667 1-1 3 0 2 2 0 0 0 SH, 1-1 SB
Tyler Slaton .357 5-3 14 2 5 0 3 5 0
Tyler Krieger .313 4-4 16 1 5 2 2 2 0 SH, 1-1 SB
Maleeke Gibson .250 2-1 8 1 2 1 0 2 0 HBP, 1-1 SB
Steven Duggar .200 4-4 20 1 4 3 2 4 0 2B, 3B
Player ERA G-S W-L IP H R ER BB SO OBA
Kevin Pohle 1.86 3-1 0-0 9.2 7 4 2 6 3 .206
Zack Erwin 3.97 2-1 0-0 11.1 11 6 5 4 4 .256
Patrick Andrews 4.15 3-0 0-0 4.1 5 2 2 4 5 .294
Matthew Crownover 5.79 1-1 0-0 4.2 7 3 3 2 2 .350
Clate Schmidt 9.00 1-1 0-1 2.0 5 2 2 1 0 .500