CLEMSON — Danny Nelson is quickly carving out a role for himself in the Clemson bullpen.

The hard-throwing freshman made his collegiate debut in the second game of a doubleheader against Army last Saturday. Nelson came on to pitch the final inning of the 7-0 win and quickly sat the Black Knights down in order, with one strikeout.

Exactly one week later, Nelson came on in a much more stressful situation. With the Tigers up 5-2 and runners at second and third with one out, the right-hander’s first pitch was belted off the wall in right, allowing one run to score and pull Bryant to within 5-3.

While some freshmen might have wilted in that situation, Nelson remained steady. He did not flinch and proceeded to strike out the next two hitters, stranding a runner at third, and preserving the two-run lead. He then came out and pitched a perfect ninth, including another strikeout, to notch the first save of his young career.

“It feels great,” Nelson said. “There is no better place to do it than Clemson. The electric atmosphere and all the fans. Great teammates, too.”

Nelson is quickly proving he isn’t your typical freshman, and after a strong fall, Erik Bakich has shown he won’t hesitate to turn to the young hurler.

“That is what you want to see from a guy in a high-leverage situation,” the head coach said. “You want him to stay neutral, stay even, and not get emotional in those spots. That is what you need opuot of the guys that pitch at the end and he was the guy at the end today.”

“To be able to stay level-headed, keep things objective and continue to make good pitches and get two quick strikeouts after that and then a one-two-three ninth. That is hard to do against a good team like this — go one-two-three.”

Nelson hails from Hershey, Pennsylvania. He was one of the Top 200 right-handed pitchers nationally coming out of high school. Bakich and pitching coach Jimmy Belanger got in on him early in the process, quickly recognizing his potential.

“We saw it early. We just jumped on it right away,” Bakich said. “Loved the way he pitched, love the way he’s progressed, love the way he still is progressing. Awesome kid, awesome family and great to see him have success.”

While it’s still a small sample size, it’s pretty much all gone right for Nelson. It’s not very often a freshman picks up his first save in just his second appearance, six games into his debut season.

He’s played a significant role in the Tigers’ pitching staff getting off to a sizzling start. After Saturday’s win, the staff now has a combined ERA of 0.88 with 67 strikeouts in 51 innings. Even better, Clemson hurlers have issued just 13 walks.

What’s scary is that Nelson thinks the staff can be even better.

“I think we can take another step for sure,” Nelson said. “I mean, obviously, we have been really good, but everyone on this staff is so good. We have other guys that have not even pitched yet, and I believe they can totally make an impact as well.”

Photo courtesy of Madison Levesque – Clemson Athletic Communications