CLEMSON — Austin Gordon, who started 16 games for No. 10 Clemson last year, will not get a start this weekend as the Tigers begin the 2024 Baseball season against Xavier Friday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Clemson released its rotation for its opening weekend on Thursday and Gordon is not in the rotation.

“His pitch count is actually less than other people, so that factors into our decision making on where he is starting in the rotation spot,” Clemson head coach Erik Bakich said earlier this week. “He is a no-brainer to be one of our starting pitchers somewhere.”

Just not this weekend. Instead, the Tigers are going with righty Billy Barlow on Friday, lefty Tristan Smith in Game 2 on Saturday, and freshman Aidan Knaak in Game 3 on Sunday.

“I think our guys would say (Knaak) is one of the toughest pitchers to face on our team,” Bakich said.

The reason Gordon’s pitch count is down, is because Gordon pitched all last spring, summer and into the fall without a real break. When the Tigers faced Coastal Carolina in a scrimmage this past fall, the coaches could see he was tired. All parties involved agreed the junior righty needed time to rest and recuperate.

“His body was just tired. It was time to give him a break,” Bakich said. “I’m a firm believer that pitchers should not throw the ball twelve months out of a year. You have to put the ball down sometimes, and for him the time to put the ball down was somewhere in October, November and December.”

Because Gordon put the ball down so late, his ramp time to get back is a little bit slower than someone like Billy Barlow, who was coming off an injury and did not pitch for most of last season.

Barlow spent all of last year on the injury list after having a setback early in 2023. Bakich said Barlow has made huge strides and is poised to have a huge season.

Smith started six games for Clemson last season and had a 4.55 ERA in 24 appearances.

“Tristan Smith has made huge strides. He was a Cape Cod All-Star. He has made a jump,” Bakich said.

Ethan Darden, Joe Allen, Rocco Reid and Matthew Marchal are all experienced starters that will also get an opportunity to show what they can do on the mound.

“There are probably six guys that are in contention to start or will start at some point this season whether it’s on the weekend or midweek or spot start,” Bakich said.

Marchal, who transferred to Clemson from Wofford, is considered the No. 52 transfer in the country according to DI Baseball.

“He has more career starts than anyone in our program,” Bakich said. “So, he is very accomplished, consistent strike thrower and gives you a lot of comfort and security knowing you are going to get strikes.”

Clemson and Xavier will open the season at 4 p.m. Friday. First pitch for Saturday is 2 p.m. and Game 3 on Sunday is 1 p.m.

Get your signed Valerie Cagle replica road sign today.  The nation’s top player has signed a limited number of these signs that have the same properties as a road sign.