Clemson’s First Opponent In ACC Tournament Now Known

Clemson now knows who its opponent will be in the ACC Baseball Tournament on Wednesday.

With No. 12 seed Virginia Tech knocking off No. 13 seed Stanford 7-4 in first-round action on Tuesday, the fifth-seeded Tigers will face off with the Hokies at 1 p.m. in the second round of the tournament.

Jake Marciano got the start for Tech in the win over the Cardinal. He has been their Saturday starter in recent weeks, meaning Friday starter Brett Renfrow will be available to go against Clemson. Renfrow made 14 starts in the regular season, going 3-6 with a 3.41 ERA and a WHIP of 1.50. He has struck out 74 in 68.2 innings pitched, with 32 walks. Opponents are hitting .266 against him.

On the flip side of that, the Hokies had to use two of their more prominent relievers, Cameron LeJeune and Grant Manning, with each pitching more than an inning, so both could potentially be unavailable on Wednesday.

At the plate, first baseman Sam Hackett leads the way for the Hokies. He came into the tourney hitting .314 with 14 homers and 44 RBI. He is also 12-of-14 in stolen base attempts. He was 2-for-4 in the win over Stanford with a run scored.

Left-fielder Ben Watson is the only other regular who came into the tournament hitting over .300. He is at .312 after going 2-for-5 in the first-round win.

DH David McCann is the only other hitter in the lineup with double-digit home runs, with 11. He has driven in 27 runs this season.

Virginia Tech finished up the regular season at 30-24 overall and 12-18 in ACC play. The Hokies came into the tournament having lost nine of their last 12 games against ACC competition.

Clemson has yet to announce a starting pitcher for the matchup, and likely won’t until the starting lineups are announced. Ace Aidan Knaak is a strong candidate to get the nod.