No.. 2 Clemson hosts No. 19 NC State for a series this weekend at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. In this edition of Countdown to First Pitch we take a look at the Atlantic Division showdown.
No. 19 NC State (15-3, 2-1 ACC) @ No. 2 Clemson (16-1, 3-0 ACC)
Second-ranked Clemson hosts their second consecutive ACC series as No. 19 NC State comes to Doug Kingsmore Stadium for a three-game series this weekend. Friday’s contest is set for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch while Saturday’s game is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. and Sunday’s finale is set for 1:00 p.m.
The Series
Meetings: 200 (first met in 1921)
Series Record: Clemson leads 117-82-1
Record at Clemson: Clemson leads 59-27-1 (CU leads 46-19 at DKS)
Last Meeting(s): NC State won 2 of 3 games at NC State in 2017 (3-2, 12-10, 6-15)
- Lee: Lee leads 4-3 (3-3 at CU; 1-0 at CofC)
Worth Noting
- Clemson is 17-14 all-time on March 16 with an 11-2 mark at home.
- The Tigers are 26-14 all-time on March 17 with a 12-3 mark at home.
- Clemson is 31-10 all-time on March 18 with a 14-1 mark at home.
- The Tigers and Wolfpack have played at least two games against each other every season since 1954.
- Clemson has won eight of the last ten home series against NC State dating back to 1998.
The Wolfpack
Head Coach: Elliott Avent (22nd season at NCSU)
2017 Record: 36-25 (16-14; 4th Atlantic) – Lexington Regional – NR
2018 Preseason: 4th in ACC Atlantic (out of 7 teams)
Road Record: 1-0 (13-10 in 2017)
Last Week: Swept two-game midweek home series over UNC Asheville (15-11, 6-2) after taking 2 of 3 at home from Boston College (2-1, 13-7, 3-11) last weekend
2018 Batting Stats: .341 (8.6 RPG) with 31 2B, 6 3B, 33 HR, 110 BB, 9 HBP, 120 K, 33-40 SB
2018 Pitching Stats: 3.11 ERA, .212 OBA (126 hits), 65 BB & 165 K in 162.0 innings
2018 Fielding Stats: .971 (19 errors in 666 chances)
The Tigers
2017 Record: 42-21 (17-13; 3rd Atlantic) – Clemson Regional – 22 USA, 23 BA, 24 D1, 25 CB
2018 Preseason: 3rd in ACC Atlantic Division (7 teams)
Home Record: 14-0 (29-11 in 2017)
Last Week: Beat Charleston Southern 5-0 at home on Tuesday after sweeping a three-game series at home against Georgia Tech (3-2, 7-3, 13-2) last weekend
2018 Batting Stats: .265 (6.9 RPG) with 22 2B, 1 3B, 26 HR, 102 BB, 15 HBP, 143 K, 11-16 SB
2018 Pitching Stats: 2.68 ERA, .231 OBA (134 hits), 53 BB & 151 K in 154.2 innings
2018 Fielding Stats: .980 (13 errors in 643 chances)
Projected Starting Lineups
NC State
C 12 Brad Debo (SO/.365 BA with 4 2B, 1 HR, & 13 RBI in 16 games in 2018)
1B 18 Evan Edwards (JR/.375 BA with 1 2B, 5 HR, & 13 RBI in 17 games in 2018)
2B 42 J.T. Jarrett (FR/.333 BA with 2 RBI & 7 R in 15 games in 2018)
SS 8 Will Wilson (SO/.338 BA with 5 2B, 4 HR, & 14 RBI in 17 games in 2018)
3B 17 Dillon Cooper (*SO/.349 BA with 2 2B, 14 RBI, & 11 R in 18 games in 2018)
LF 6 Brett Kinneman (JR/.408 BA with 4 2B, 10 HR, & 31 RBI in 18 games in 2018)
CF 15 Josh McLain (SR/.337 BA with 8 2B, 1 HR, & 11 RBI in 18 games in 2018)
RF 13 Brock Deatherage (SR/.324 BA with 2 2B, 4 HR, & 13 RBI in 18 games in 2018)
DH 16 Shane Shepard (SR/.250 BA with 1 2B, 3 HR, & 13 RBI in 16 games in 2018)
Clemson
C 27 Chris Williams (SR/.344 BA with 5 2B, 4 HR, & 19 RBI in 17 games in 2018)
1B 25 Patrick Cromwell (SR/.345 BA with 2 2B, 2 HR, & 11 RBI in 17 games in 2018)
2B 17 Justin Hawkins (*JR/.217 BA with 1 2B, 2 HR, & 6 RBI in 10 games in 2018)
SS 8 Logan Davidson (SO/.274 BA with 2 2B, 2 HR, & 10 RBI in 17 games in 2018)
3B 4 Grayson Byrd (*JR/.283 BA with 3 HR, 11 RBI, & 8 R in 14 games in 2018)
LF 13 Drew Wharton (SR/.224 BA with 4 2B, 4 HR, & 19 RBI in 17 games in 2018)
CF 31 Bryce Teodosio (FR/.176 BA with 2 2B, 3 HR, & 5 RBI in 17 games in 2018)
RF 28 Seth Beer (JR/.276 BA with 2 2B, 6 HR, & 12 RBI in 17 games in 2018)
DH 12 Robert Jolly (SR/.294 BA with 3 2B, 11 RBI, & 13 BB in 16 games in 2018)
Projected Starting Pitchers
Game One
SO RHP 26 Michael Bienlien (1-0/6 app/1 GS/1.08 ERA (8.1 IP)/.148 OBA (4 hits)/3 BB/6 K)
SO LHP 32 Jacob Hennessy (1-0/4 app/4 GS/1.96 ERA (23.0 IP)/.205 OBA (18 hits)/4 BB/23 K)
Game Two
SR LHP 38 Brian Brown (3-0/4 app/4 GS/0.36 ERA (25.1 IP)/.145 OBA (12 hits)/6 BB/26 K)
JR RHP 19 Brooks Crawford (1-0/4 app/4 GS/2.04 ERA (17.2 IP)/.250 OBA (17 hits)/4 BB/12 K)
Game Three
NC State has not announced a starter for Game Three
*SO LHP 24 Jake Higginbotham (3-0/4 app/4 GS/2.42 ERA (22.1 IP)/.205 OBA (17 hits)/2 BB/17 K)
Tiger Career Stats vs. NC State
Player AVG G-S AB R H RBI BB K HR Other
Robert Jolly .714 5-1 7 3 5 3 2 0 0 1-1 SB
Drew Wharton .667 3-0 3 1 2 1 0 0 0
Adam Renwick .500 1-0 2 1 1 0 0 0 0
Seth Beer .400 6-6 20 6 8 6 9 3 1 2 2B, HBP, 1-1 SB
Grayson Byrd .364 3-3 11 1 4 2 2 2 0 2B, HBP
Logan Davidson .267 3-3 15 3 4 1 1 4 0 2B
Kyle Wilkie .250 3-3 4 2 1 0 4 1 0 2 SH
Chris Williams .235 5-4 17 2 4 5 2 5 2 2B, SF
Jordan Greene .105 6-6 19 2 2 2 5 8 0
Player ERA G-S W-L IP H R ER BB SO OBA
Brooks Crawford 0.00 1-0 0-0 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 .000
Carson Spiers 0.00 1-0 0-0 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Owen Griffith 3.38 2-0 0-0 2.2 1 2 1 2 5 .100
Ryley Gilliam 18.00 2-1 0-1 3.0 6 6 6 3 5 .400
Alex Schnell 27.00 3-0 0-0 3.0 10 9 9 2 1 .588
Mitchell Miller 81.00 1-0 0-0 0.1 2 3 3 1 0 .667