Countdown to First Pitch: Morehead State
By: trey-mccurry June 1, 2018

Clemson opens play in their regional Friday night at 6 PM against Morehead State.  TCI previews tonight’s contest in this edition of Countdown to First Pitch.

 

 

Morehead State (37-24) @ #2 Clemson (45-14)

Top-seeded Clemson welcomes fourth-seeded Morehead State to Doug Kingsmore Stadium for the first time since 2013 as both teams open the 2018 Clemson Regional with a 6:00 p.m. scheduled first pitch.

 

The Series

Meetings:                     5 (first met in 1997)

Series Record:              Clemson leads 5-0

Record at Clemson:      Clemson leads 5-0 (Clemson leads 5-0 at DKS)

Last Meeting(s):           Clemson won 2 midweek games in 2013 (10-5, 5-2)

  1. Lee: N/A

 

NCAA Tournament Notes

  • Clemson is making its 43rd NCAA Tournament appearance (10th consecutive and 31 of last 32 seasons). All-time the Tigers are 118-91 (.565) in the NCAA Tournament with a 48-15 record at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
  • Morehead State is making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance (1997, 1983, 2015, and 2018). All-time the Eagles are 2-6 (.250) in the NCAA Tournament with a 0-4 record in true road games.
  • Clemson has previously faced a team from the Ohio Valley Conference once in NCAA Tournament play. The Tigers defeated fourth-seeded Tennessee Tech twice (5-4, 10-0) in the 2009 Clemson Regional.
  • Morehead State has previously faced a current ACC member twice in NCAA Tournament play. The Eagles lost to then-independent Miami (FL) 6-1 in the 1977 South Regional and lost to Louisville 7-2 in the 2015 Louisville Regional.

 

Worth Noting

  • Clemson is 5-3 all-time on June 1st with a 2-0 record at home.
  • The Tigers and Morehead State have three common opponents (Austin Peay, Louisville, and Western Carolina) in 2018. Clemson went 5-3 in those games (Austin Peay – 3-6, 10-1, 3-2 in 11; Louisville – 3-1, 4-3, 1-5; Western Carolina – 10-8) while the Eagles were 1-4 (Austin Peay – 4-10, 9-15, 7-6; Louisville 10-16; Western Carolina – 2-6).
  • Clemson has faced four current members of the Ohio Valley Conference (Austin Peay – 4, Eastern Kentucky – 2, Morehead State – 5, Tennessee Tech – 5). Clemson is 15-1 in those games, including a 14-1 mark at home.
  • Coach Lee has only faced Austin Peay from the OVC, winning two out of three home games against the Governors earlier in the season.

 

The Eagles

Head Coach:                Mike McGuire (6th season at Morehead State

2017 Record:               36-23 (18-1; 2nd Ohio Valley Conference) – N/A – NR

2018 Preseason:           2nd in OVC (out of 11 teams); Received 5 of 22 first-place votes

Road Record:               15-13 (9-14 in 2017)

Last Week:                   Went 5-1 in OVC Tournament to win OVC title (12-7 over Eastern Kentucky, 18-9 over Southeast Missouri, 5-10 to #19 Tennessee Tech, 5-2 over Eastern Kentucky, 11-6 over #19 Tennessee Tech, 4-3 over #19 Tennessee Tech)

 

2018 Batting Stats:      .317 (8.6 RPG) with 142 2B, 15 3B, 83 HR, 303 BB, 75 HBP, 357 K, 33-52 SB

2018 Pitching Stats:     5.89 ERA, .281 OBA (595 hits), 283 BB & 554 K in 542.1 innings

2018 Fielding Stats:     .968 (75 errors in 2330 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:              26-7 (29-11 in 2017)

Last Week:                   Went 2-1 in ACC Baseball Championship; lost in Semifinals (21-4 in 7 innings over Notre Dame, 7-1 over Miami (FL), 4-5 to #9 Florida State)

 

2018 Batting Stats:      .261 (6.5 RPG) with 89 2B, 2 3B, 94 HR, 326 BB, 55 HBP, 497 K, 48-65 SB

2018 Pitching Stats:     3.36 ERA, .233 OBA (463 hits), 218 BB & 489 K in 535.2 innings

2018 Fielding Stats:     .975 (56 errors in 2224 chances)

 

Projected Starting Lineups

Morehead State

C        34 Hunter Fain (JR/.205 BA with 10 2B, 7 HR, & 32 RBI in 57 games)

1B      3 Trevor Snyder (SO/.337 BA with 13 2B, 18 HR, & 69 RBI in 57 games)

2B      1 Braxton Morris (SR/.374 BA with 25 2B, 7 HR, & 59 RBI in 61 games)

SS       7 Reid Leonard (JR/.347 BA with 14 2B, 4 HR, & 40 RBI in 60 games)

3B      11 Eli Boggess (SR/.314 BA with 14 2B, 4 HR, & 36 RBI in 49 games)

LF       12 Niko Hulsizer (JR/.321 BA with 11 2B, 12 HR, & 38 RBI in 40 games)

CF      21 Connor Pauly (JR/.342 BA with 17 2B, 8 HR, & 51 RBI in 58 games)

RF      6 Jake Hammon (JR/.364 BA with 8 2B, 9 HR, & 51 RBI in 58 games)

DH      18 Tyler Niemann (SR/.333 BA with 20 2B, 7 HR, & 42 RBI in 57 games)

 

Clemson

C        10 Kyle Wilkie (SO/.315 BA with 9 2B, 4 HR, & 35 RBI in 58 games)

1B      27 Chris Williams (SR/.275 BA with 11 2B, 17 HR, & 66 RBI in 59 games)

2B      9 Jordan Greene (JR/.248 BA with 5 2B, 5 HR, & 20 RBI in 44 games)

SS       8 Logan Davidson (SO/.298 BA with 17 2B, 15 HR, & 45 RBI in 59 games)

3B      25 Patrick Cromwell (SR/.233 BA with 6 2B, 7 HR, & 26 RBI in 54 games)

LF       5 Sam Hall (FR/.234 BA with 3 2B, 2 HR, & 7 RBI in 22 games)

CF      13 Drew Wharton (SR/.245 BA with 12 2B, 7 HR, & 38 RBI in 59 games)

RF      28 Seth Beer (JR/.316 BA with 11 2B, 20 HR, & 52 RBI in 59 games)

DH      4 Grayson Byrd (*JR/.241 BA with 2 2B, 9 HR, & 26 RBI in 44 games)

 

Projected Starting Pitchers

*SO LHP 44 Dalton Stambaugh (7-3/17 app/15 GS/6.17 ERA (84.2 IP)/.298 OBA (102 hits)/28 BB/80 K)

vs.

JR RHP 19 Brooks Crawford (8-2/15 app/15 GS/3.35 ERA (75.1 IP)/.240 OBA (68 hits)/17 BB/56 K)