Clemson begins play in 50th ACC baseball tournament |
The Tigers travel to the 50th ACC Tournament as the No. 2 seed at Truist Field in Charlotte.
TOURNAMENT SETUP • Who (Thursday) – Clemson (40-13) vs. Miami (Fla.) (26-29) • Who (Friday) – Louisville (32-23) vs. Clemson (40-13) • Best Ranking – CU – No. 3 D1Baseball; MIA – NR; LOU – NR • When – Thursday (11 a.m.), Friday (3 p.m.) • Where – Charlotte, N.C. (Truist Field) • Watch – ACC Network • Video Announcers – Mike Ferrin (Friday), Devon Travis (Thursday, Friday), Dani Wexelman (Thursday) • Listen (Radio) – Clemson Athletic Network (locally on WCCP (105.5 FM)) • Listen (Internet) – ClemsonTigers.com • Live Stats – ClemsonTigers.com • Social Media – ClemsonBaseball SERIES HISTORY (MIAMI) • Overall Record – Miami leads 46-34-1 (1977-24) • Record at Neutral – 9-9 (1980-23) • Record in ACC Tournament – Clemson leads 5-2 (2005-23) SERIES HISTORY (LOUISVILLE) • Overall Record – Clemson leads 22-15 (1970-24) • Record at Neutral – Clemson leads 3-1 (2015-21) • Record in ACC Tournament – Clemson leads 3-1 (2015-21) CLEMSON OVERVIEW • Clemson, which has a 3-0 neutral record, swept Boston College in three home games by a combined score of 33-16 to end the regular season. • The Tigers are averaging 8.2 runs per game and hitting .297 with a .514 slugging percentage, .401 on-base percentage and 55 steals. • The pitching staff has a 4.47 ERA, .242 opponents’ batting average and 2.31 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and Clemson is fielding .968. MIAMI OVERVIEW (stats pre-tournament) • Miami, which has yet to play a neutral game and is averaging 6.7 runs per game, is led by first-year Head Coach J.D. Arteaga. • The Hurricanes won one of three home games against Pittsburgh. They are hitting .276 and have a 5.75 ERA and .970 fielding percentage. • Daniel Cuvet is hitting .344 with 21 homers and 65 RBIs, Jason Torres is batting .331 and Nick Robert has a team-high four saves. LOUISVILLE OVERVIEW (stats pre-tournament) • Louisville, which has an 0-2 neutral record and is averaging 8.2 runs per game, is led by 18th-year Head Coach Dan McDonnell. • The Cardinals swept Notre Dame in three games at home. They are hitting .312 and have a 6.44 ERA and .966 fielding percentage. • Zion Rose is hitting .382, Eddie King Jr. has a team-high 14 homers and 43 RBIs and Tucker Biven has a team-high five saves. QUICK HITS • Last weekend, Clemson scored double-digit runs in all three games of the Boston College series, a Tiger first in an ACC series since 1995. • Clemson has scored 74 runs in the fourth inning, its highest-scoring inning in 2024. • Clemson’s bullpen has a 27-7 record, 14 saves, a 4.87 ERA, .228 opponents’ batting average and 249 strikeouts in 234.2 innings pitched. TIGERS TO PLAY IN 50TH ACC TOURNEY • Clemson (40-13), the No. 2 seed, opens its ACC Tourney by playing No. 11 seed Miami (Fla.) (26-29) on Thursday at 11 a.m. on ACC Network. • The Tigers are the designated visiting team and occupy the first-base dugout on Thursday. • The Tigers play No. 7 seed Louisville (32-23) on Friday at 3 p.m. on ACC Network. • Clemson is the designated home team and occupies the third-base dugout on Friday. • The games are played at Truist Field in Charlotte, N.C. • It is the third time and third time in four years the ACC Baseball Tournament is held in Charlotte after last being held there in 2022. • The 2024 tournament format has four three-team pools. The winner of each pool advances to a four-team, single-elimination tourney. In Clemson's pool, Thursday's winner between the Tigers and Hurricanes will advance to the ACC semifinals. • The format, in its seventh tournament, features four three-team pools that guarantees the 12 teams play a minimum of two games. • Pool A is comprised of No. 1 seed North Carolina, No. 8 seed Wake Forest and No. 12 seed Pittsburgh. • Pool B is comprised of No. 2 seed Clemson, No. 7 seed Louisville and No. 11 seed Miami (Fla.). • Pool C is comprised of No. 3 seed NC State, No. 6 seed Duke and No. 10 seed Virginia Tech. • Pool D is comprised of No. 4 seed Virginia, No. 5 seed Florida State and No. 9 seed Georgia Tech. • The winners of pools A and D play Saturday at 1 p.m. on ACC Network and the winners of pools B and C play Saturday at 5 p.m. on ACC Network. • The ACC Championship Game is Sunday at noon on ESPN2, and the winner of the game receives an automatic bid into the 2024 NCAA Tournament. • All of Clemson’s ACC Tournament games are broadcast live on the radio by Clemson Athletic Network. • Live stats are available at ClemsonTigers.com for all Tiger games. CLEMSON’S ACC TOURNEY HISTORY • This is the 50th ACC Tournament, and Clemson has been to the finals in 23 of the previous 49 tournaments, eight more than any other school. • Clemson has won an ACC-high 11 ACC Tournament titles in history, including 2023, when it beat Miami (Fla.) 11-5 in the title game. • Clemson’s 11 ACC Tournament titles came in 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2006, 2016, 2023. • Clemson has a 118-75 record (.611) in ACC Tournament games. The Tigers have the most All-ACC Tournament selections (69) in history. • Clemson’s 118 ACC Tournament wins are 27 more than any other team (NC State (91), North Carolina (91)). • Only Florida State (65.9) has a better winning percentage than Clemson (61.1) in ACC Tournament play (minimum 10 games). • Clemson is one of only two teams to play in all 50 ACC Tournaments. The Tigers join Virginia as the only teams to play in every ACC Tourney. • The ACC Tournament began in 1973 and has been held every year but two (1979, 2020) since then. TIGERS WIN ACC ATLANTIC DIVISION • Clemson finished in first place in the ACC Atlantic Division standings with a 20-10 ACC mark, ahead of NC State (18-11) and Florida State (17-12). • Clemson won the Atlantic Division, its fourth title, including three outright and one shared, since the ACC split into divisions in 2006. • It was Clemson’s first Atlantic Division title since 2018. Clemson also won the outright title in 2006 and shared the title in 2010. • Overall in the ACC standings, Clemson finished in second place behind North Carolina (22-8). SCHEDULE STRONG • Clemson has an RPI of No. 7 (through games of May 19). • A big reason for the Tigers’ top-10 RPI is their strength of schedule, which is No. 14 in the nation. • Clemson’s non-conference strength of schedule is No. 20 in the nation, and the Tigers were 20-3 in regular-season non-conference games. • Clemson’s No. 20 non-conference strength of schedule is the best among ACC and SEC teams. • Of Clemson’s 53 games, 46 have been against teams in the top 100 of the RPI. THREE TIGERS NAMED ALL-ACC • Aidan Knaak (SP) earned First-Team All-ACC and All-ACC Freshman honors. • Knaak became the first Tiger freshman pitcher to be named First-Team All-ACC since 1997 (Ryan Mottl). • Blake Wright (2B) was a Second-Team All-ACC selection and Cam Cannarella (OF) was a Third-Team All-ACC pick. • It was the second time that both Wright and Cannarella earned All-ACC honors. • Wright was Third-Team All-ACC in 2022 and Cannarella was First-Team All-ACC in 2023. BARLOW COMING ON STRONG • Sophomore righthander Billy Barlow is one of the team leaders off the field and has become one of the most reliable relievers in 2024. • He was the primary midweek starter prior to moving to the bullpen in early May. • He is 6-1 with a 4.30 ERA, .257 opponents’ batting average and 41 strikeouts in 46.0 innings pitched over 13 appearances (10 starts). • In his career, he is 6-6 with a 4.71 ERA, .255 opponents’ batting average and 101 strikeouts in 107.0 innings pitched over 33 appearances.
Upgrade Your Account
Unlock premium boards and exclusive features (e.g. ad-free) by upgrading your account today.
Upgrade Now
