Clemson baseball continues to move up rankings

Clemson baseball is up to No. 6 for D1Baseball going into the ACC Baseball Championship pool play.

by TigerNet Staff - Mon May 22 09:24:23 GMT-04:00 2023

Another weekly sweep and another move up the college baseball polls for Clemson baseball.

Baseball America's ranking marked the biggest jump, going up nine spots to No. 7 overall. Division winner and ACC Baseball Championship top seed Wake Forest continues to lead the polls across the board.

The Tigers slotted up a spot to sixth for D1Baseball this week. Perfect Game is the first spot to have Clemson in the Top 5, at No. 5.

"The Clemson Tigers (39-17) remain the hottest team in the country," Perfect Game's Vincent Cervino said.

Clemson ranks seventh in the NCAA's RPI metric with a fourth-ranked strength of schedule (12th for non-conference).

Erik Bakich's Tigers have won 12 games in a row and swept three ACC series in a row (and 4-of-5) going into this week's ACC Baseball Championship.

Clemson starts pool play in Durham with Virginia Tech on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (ACCN) and wraps it versus Boston College on Friday (11 a.m. on ACCN). If Virginia Tech beats Boston College on Tuesday, the Tigers can clinch a spot on Wednesday against the Hokies for the single-elimination semifinal (5 p.m. on ACCN). The Sunday final is set for noon on ESPN2.

The Tigers entered the projections for a top-8 national seed and the opportunity to host all the way to the College World Series in Omaha.

In ACC-only stats, Clemson paces the league in batting average (.309) and ranks third in doubles (66), third in on-base percentage (.391), fourth in RBIs (183) and fourth in slugging percentage (.473).

Pitching in conference play, Clemson ranks second in ERA (4.66) and opposing batting average (.253). Clemson is fourth in fielding percentage (.979).

In those ACC stats, Cam Cannarella leads in batting average (.408) and is 10th in on-base percentage (.463), while Billy Amick is sixth in OPS (1.137) and seventh in slugging percentage (.703) and Caden Grice is second (37) and Blake Wright is 10th in RBIs (29). Amick has the seventh-most doubles (11), and in runs scored, Will Taylor and Grice are tied for fifth (31) and Cannarella is 10th (29). Grice is sixth in home runs (10). Cannarella is tied for second in stolen bases (9) and Benjamin Blackwell is seventh (8).

On the pitching side, Nick Clayton is fourth (2.84) and Grice is sixth (3.45) in ERA, while Clayton (.198) is third, Grice is fourth (.202) and Austin Gordon (.228) is seventh in opposing batting average. Grice is second in strikeouts (73) and Gordon is second in strikeouts looking (21) and Grice is eighth there (18). Grice is second in wins (7) and Clayton is sixth (5).

Clemson in baseball rankings

Baseball America: 7 (16 prev)

D1Baseball: 6 (7 prev)

Perfect Game: 5 (6 prev)

Collegiate Baseball: 7 (11 prev)

Coaches Poll: 8 (10 prev)

NCBWA: 9 (13 prev)