By Trey McCurry.

DURHAM – Clemson returns to action Thursday afternoon as they battle the No. 1 seed Louisville.  TCI previews today’s game.

#1 Louisville (43-14) vs. #5 Clemson (31-26)

Thursday; 3:00PM v Durham Bulls Athletic Park v Durham, NC

Rankings:     Louisville – #3 BA, #5 CB, #4 USA          Clemson – NR

The Series

Meetings:                   9 (first met in 1970)

Series Record:            Clemson leads 7-2

Neutral Record:          Never met at neutral site (all 9 meetings have been at Clemson)

Last Meeting(s):          Louisville won 2 of 3 games at Clemson in early May (1-9, 5-3, 9-5)

vs. Leggett:                Leggett trails 1-2 (1-2 at Clemson)

The Cardinals

Head Coach:               Dan McDonnell (9nd season at Louisville)

2014 Record:               50-17 (19-15; 1st AAC) – College World Series – #6 BA, #7 CB, #6 USA

Preseason:                 2nd in ACC Atlantic Division (out of 7 teams)

Neutral Record:           4-3 (2014: 4-4)

Last week:                  Defeated #8 North Carolina 7-4 on Wednesday after winning two of three games at NC State last weekend to close the regular-season (4-3, 2-3, 8-5)

2015 Batting Stats:      .275 (5.5 RPG) with 104 2B, 12 3B, 30 HR, 236 BB, 59 HBP, 378 K, 117-153 SB

2015 Pitching Stats:     2.68 ERA, .208 OBA (391 hits), 218 BB & 519 K in 518.0 innings

2015 Fielding Stats:     .966 (74 errors in 2205 chances)

The Tigers

2014 Record:               36-25 (15-14; T2nd in ACC Atlantic) – Nashville Regional – NR

Preseason:                 3rd in ACC Atlantic Division (7 teams)

Neutral Record:           3-3 (2014: 3-4)

Last week:                  Lost 3-1 to #4 Florida State on Wednesday after sweeping three games at Florida State last weekend to close the regular-season (4-1, 7-0, 9-6)

2015 Batting Stats:      .288 (6.4 RPG) with 105 2B, 12 3B, 35 HR, 261 BB, 44 HBP, 405 K, 59-81 SB

2015 Pitching Stats:     3.98 ERA, .251 OBA (501 hits), 185 BB & 463 K in 515.0 innings

2015 Fielding Stats:     .961 (86 errors in 2198 chances)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

C        #30 Will Smith (SO/.242 BA with 8 2B, 1 HR, & 13 RBI in 49 games in 2015)

1B      #38 Brendan McKay (FR/.333 BA with 14 2B, 3 HR, & 31 RBI in 53 games in 2015)

2B      #1 Sutton Whiting (SR/.324 BA with 12 2B, 2 3B, & 25 RBI in 55 games in 2015)

SS      #29 Devin Hairston (FR/.193 BA with 6 2B, 1 HR, & 28 RBI in 52 games in 2015)

3B      #11 Zach Lucas (SR/.251 BA with 11 2B, 5 HR, & 25 RBI in 56 games in 2015)

LF      #17 Nick Solak (SO/.321 BA with 14 2B, 2 HR, & 37 RBI in 57 games in 2015)

CF      #18 Mike White (SR/.276 BA with 10 2B, 1 HR, & 15 RBI in 47 games in 2015)

RF      #2 Corey Ray (SO/.323 BA with 13 2B, 11 HR, & 48 RBI in 57 games in 2015)

DH     #26 Blake Tiberi (FR/.267 BA with 3 2B, 4 HR, & 18 RBI in 42 games in 2015)

Clemson

C        #25 Chris Okey (SO/.320 BA with 15 2B, 12 HR, & 55 RBI in 57 games in 2015)

1B      #6 Andrew Cox (*SO/.239 BA with 6 2B, 7 RBI, & 22 R in 52 games in 2015)

2B      #3 Tyler Krieger (JR/.335 BA with 13 2B, 1 HR, & 37 RBI in 57 games in 2015)

SS      #4 Eli White (SO/.294 BA with 6 2B, 4 HR, & 27 RBI in 57 games in 2015)

3B      #8 Weston Wilson (SO/.251 BA with 7 2B, 5 HR, & 23 RBI in 53 games in 2015)

LF      #26 Reed Rohlman (*FR/.365 BA with 17 2B, 3 HR, & 55 RBI in 57 games in 2015)

CF      #18 Tyler Slaton (SR/.238 BA with 10 2B, 1 HR, & 21 RBI in 57 games in 2015)

RF      #9 Steven Duggar (JR/.300 BA with 11 2B, 5 HR, & 42 RBI in 57 games in 2015)

DH     #12 Robert Jolly (FR/.357 BA with 3 2B, 6 RBI, & 11 R in 21 games in 2015)

Projected Starting Pitchers

JR RHP #16 Kyle Funkhouser (2.99 ERA/7-4/14 starts/93.1 IP/.221 OBA (77 hits)/40 BB/90 K)

vs.

JR LHP #33 Zach Erwin (2.80 ERA/6-4/15 app/14 starts/93.1 IP/.256 OBA (94 hits)/13 BB/79 K)

Tiger Career Stats vs. Louisville

Player                             AVG   G-S     AB      R        H       RBI     BB      K        HR     Other

Weston Wilson       .500    3-3     10      2        5        4        2        1        0        2B, HBP

Steven Duggar        .364    3-3     11      4        4        1        4        2        0        2B

Eli White                .364    3-3     11      3        4        1        2        3        0        HBP, SH

Reed Rohlman        .357    3-3     14      1        5        6        0        1        0        1-1 SB

Chase Pinder                   .300    3-3     10      0        3        2        1        0        0        2B, 2 HBP

Tyler Slaton           .273    3-3     11      1        3        0        2        0        0        1-1 SB

Tyler Krieger          .231    3-3     13      3        3        1        2        2        0        2B

Chris Okey             .154    3-3     13      2        2        0        0        2        0        HBP

Glenn Batson                   .125    2-2     8        0        1        1        0        2        0

Andrew Cox           .000    2-1     4        1        0        0        1        1        0

Adam Renwick       N/A    1-0     0        0        0        0        0        0        0

Player                             ERA    G-S     W-L    IP       H       R        ER      BB      SO      OBA

Charlie Barnes        0.00    1-0     0-0     0.2     1        0        0        0        0        .333

Matthew Crownover         1.29    1-1     1-0     7.0     5        1        1        3        4        .200

Pat Krall * ^            2.25    3-0     0-0     4.0     6        1        1        0        3        .333

Jake Long              4.50    1-1     0-0     6.0     6        4        3        1        3        .261

Zack Erwin             5.40    1-1     0-1     6.2     11      4        4        2        4        .393

Taylor Vetzel                   5.40    1-0     0-0     1.2     3        1        1        1        2        .375

Alex Bostic             7.71    2-0     0-0     2.1     3        2        2        2        1        .300

Clate Schmidt                  18.00  1-0     0-1     1.0     2        2        2        1        0        .500

* – has one save. ^ – Krall spent 2014 season at Temple.