It’s safe to say Keyshawn Askew has settled in nicely on the mound.

It was going to be hard to beat his first career start last Monday night, but again the freshman left-hander proved just how dominant and effective he is as Clemson defeated East Tennessee State 14-3 Tuesday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

After giving up just two hits, three runs and one walk with six strikeouts in his first career start last Monday night against Charlotte, Tuesday night he pitched a clean five complete innings on only 58 pitches while allowing just one hit, no runs, no walks, with three strikeouts.

The freshman is now 2-0 on the season, while the Tigers improved to 7-1 overall.

“Right now I’m feeling pretty comfortable,” Askew said after the game, “but I know that anything can happen in my next outing so I’m trying to stay as humble as possible.

“But of course I’m feeling good. Two pretty good outings so I’m just kind of rolling with the flow and just seeing where it takes me.”

To aid in Askew’s performance on the mound, the Tigers’ offense definitely showed up to give him some breathing room while pitching as Clemson scored 14 runs and had 15 hits in Tuesday’s beatdown.

“(The offense) helps so much because I can just go out there and pitch freely,” he said. “I know even if I give up maybe two or three runs my guys will come in and get it right back within an inning.

“So, I mean I can just go out there and pitch freely and just know, ‘Hey I have a good defense behind me and even better bats behind me.’”

But the tests for Askew and the rest of the Tigers will only continue to get tougher as the team heads into rivalry weekend against South Carolina, starting Game 1 under the lights at Doug Kingsmore Friday night.

“(The veterans) have all talked to us about how it’s going to be a crazy crowd for sure,” Askew said. “It’s just a big game. Two great teams going at it and everyone knows the series is always intense and we’re trying to come out with three W’s.”

With two career wins in his first two starts and appearances and only 58 pitches thrown last night, Askew may just get the chance to contribute in the series as well.

“I haven’t talked to Coach (Andrew) See about it but my guess would be maybe,” he said. “Just see how it goes. We’ve got some good bullpen guys so if it happens, it happens and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”