Countdown to First Pitch: Western Carolina
By: trey-mccurry February 22, 2017

Clemson returns to action today when Western Carolina visits Doug Kingsmore Stadium at 4 p.m. The Clemson Insider previews the matchup.

 

 

 

Western Carolina (2-1) at No. 12 Clemson (1-2)

Doug Kingsmore Stadium,  Clemson, Wednesday, 4 p.m.

Rankings:     WCU – NR     Clemson – #12 USA, #15 BA, #22 CB/D1

The Series

Meetings:                   79 (first met in 1974)

Series Record:            Clemson leads 63-16

Record at Clemson:     Clemson leads 44-5 (Clemson leads 44-5 at DKS)

Last Meeting(s):          Clemson swept four games in 2016 (10-8 at WCU; 7-6 in 10 innings at CU; 24-10 & 15-3 at Clemson Regional)

  1. Lee: Lee leads 14-8 (4-0 at CU; 10-8 at CofC)

The Catamounts

Head Coach:               Bobby Moranda (10th season at WCU)

2016 Record:               31-31 (15-9; T-2nd SoCon) – Clemson Regional – NR

Preseason:                 2nd in SoCon Coaches & Media Polls (out of 9 teams)

Road Record:              1-0 (12-19 in 2016)

Last Week:                 Won two of three games in Baseball at the Beach Tournament in Myrtle Beach/Conway, SC (lost 14-3 to St. John’s (NY), won 5-4 at #9 Coastal Carolina, and beat North Carolina A&T 16-7)

 

2017 Batting Stats:      .311 (8.0 RPG) with 6 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 13 BB, 7 HBP, 14 K, 2-4 SB

2017 Pitching Stats:     7.96 ERA, .294 OBA (32 hits), 6 BB & 17 K in 26.0 innings

2017 Fielding Stats:     .948 (6 errors in 115 chances)

The Tigers

2016 Record:               44-20 (16-14; 4th Atlantic) – Clemson Regional – #15 USA, 17 BA, #18 CB/D1

Preseason:                 3rd in ACC Atlantic Division (7 teams); 1 vote for Overall Champion

Home Record:            1-2 (26-9 in 2016)

Last Week:                 Lost two of three homes games to Wright State (4-6, 6-2, 2-9)

2017 Batting Stats:      .240 (4.0 RPG) with 2 2B, 3 HR, 19 BB, 2 HBP, 22 K, 2-5 SB

2017 Pitching Stats:     4.33 ERA, .260 OBA (26 hits), 8 BB & 35 K in 27.0 innings

2017 Fielding Stats:     .962 (4 errors in 105 chances)

Projected Starting Lineups

Western Carolina

C        #19 Justin Sparks (*FR/.250 BA with 1 2B, 2 R, & 1 BB in 3 games in 2017)

1B      #15 Caleb Robinson (JR/.545 BA with 2 2B, 1 3B, & 3 RBI in 3 games in 2017)

2B      #7 Nobu Suzuki (SR/.286 BA with 1 3B, 3 RBI, & 3 R in 3 games in 2017)

SS      #5 Brett Pope (JR/.364 BA with 1 2B, 1 3B, & 2 RBI in 3 games in 2017)

3B      #9 Cameron Blaquiere (JR/.200 BA with 2 RBI & 1 R in 3 games in 2017)

LF      #10 Matthew Koehler (*SO/.429 BA with 1 HR, 5 RBI, & 6 R in 3 games in 2017)

CF      #17 Matt Smith (SR/.154 BA with 2 RBI, 2 R, & 1 BB in 3 games in 2017)

RF      #12 Bryson Bowman (*SR/.500 BA with 1 2B, 1 HR, & 3 RBI in 3 games in 2017)

DH     #11 Pierce Suttles (*JR/.667 BA with 1 RBI in 1 games in 2017)

Clemson

C        #49 Kyle Wilkie (FR/.111 BA with 2 BB in 3 games in 2017)

1B      #28 Seth Beer (SO/.429 BA with 1 2B, 2 HR, & 4 RBI in 3 games in 2017)

2B      #4 Grayson Byrd (*SO/.417 BA with 2 RBI in 3 games in 2017)

SS      #8 Logan Davidson (FR/.364 BA with 1 HR, 4 RBI, & 3 R in 3 games in 2017)

3B      #25 Patrick Cromwell (JR/.200 BA with 2 walks in 3 games in 2017)

LF      #15 Weston Jackson (*GR/.182 BA with 1 RBI, 1 R, & 2 BB in 3 games in 2017)

CF      #5 Chase Pinder (JR/.125 BA with 1 BB & 2 R in 2 games in 2017)

RF      #10 KJ Bryant (*SO/.250 BA with 1 2B, 2 R, & 2 BB in 3 games in 2017)

DH     #26 Reed Rohlman (*JR/.200 BA with 2 BB & 1 HBP in 3 games in 2017)

Projected Starting Pitchers

SO LHP #30 Tristan Baker (first app in 2017/3-2 with 5.19 ERA (.321 OBA) in 9 app (7 GS) in 2016)

*GR RHP #22 Tyler Jackson (0-0/1 app/10.80 ERA (1.2 IP)/.286 OBA (2 hits)/1 BB/1 K)

Worth Noting

  • Clemson is 11-2 all-time on February 22 with an 8-0 mark at home.
  • The Tigers and Western Carolina have played at least one game at Doug Kingsmore Stadium every year since 1986.
  • This is the first of four games against SoCon opponents for Clemson in 2017. The Tigers will host Wofford on February 28 before a home-and-home with Furman (March 28 at Clemson and May 9 at Fluor Field).
  • Clemson has faced eight of the nine programs currently in the SoCon (missing Samford). The Tigers are 417-136-6 all-time against those schools, including a 244-51-1 mark at home.
  • Monte Lee is 83-35 all-time against current SoCon members (has not faced East Tennessee State or VMI), including a 9-0 mark as Clemson’s head coach.

Tiger Career Stats vs. Western Carolina

Player                             AVG   G-S     AB      R        H       RBI     BB      K        HR     Other

Seth Beer               .556    3-3     9        7        5        9        5        1        3        2B, 2 HBP, 1-1 SB

Chris Williams        .500    4-4     16      8        8        7        2        4        1        2 2B, HBP

Weston Jackson     .429    2-2     7        0        3        4        2        2        0        2B

Reed Rohlman        .278    6-6     18      9        5        5        8        5        0        2B, 2 HBP, SF

KJ Bryant               .250    3-2     4        1        1        2        1        2        0        HBP, SH

Adam Renwick       .250    2-0     4        0        1        1        0        2        0

Drew Wharton        .182    4-2     11      2        2        3        0        4        0        2B, 2 SF

Chase Pinder                   .150    6-6     20      9        3        5        11      5        1        HBP, SH, SF

Jordan Greene       .111    3-3     9        1        1        1        1        1        0        SH

Andrew Cox           .083    5-3     12      3        1        1        2        2        0

Robert Jolly           .000    5-0     6        0        0        1        0        1        0        SF

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

Pat Krall                 0.00    2-0     1-0     4.0     2        0        0        0        2        .154

Brooks Crawford    0.00    2-0     0-0     2.2     2        1        0        2        4        .250

Alex Schnell           0.00    1-0     1-0     2.0     0        0        0        4        4        .000

Alex Eubanks                   1.00    1-1     1-0     9.0     9        3        1        2        3        .265

Ryley Gilliam          4.26    1-1     1-0     6.1     6        4        3        3        2        .273

Paul Campbell        4.50    2-0     0-0     2.0     3        1        1        1        3        .333

Patrick Andrews     5.06    5-0     1-1     5.1     6        7        3        4        9        .261

Charlie Barnes        6.48    2-1     1-0     8.1     9        10      6        3        9        .265

Jake Higginbotham 6.75    1-1     0-0     4.0     5        3        3        3        2        .385

** Weston Jackson played at Presbyterian College from 2013-2016.