Clemson cracks top-10 in updated baseball polls

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Mon Feb 26 11:08:58 GMT-04:00 2018

Clemson's 7-0 start has it in the top-10 going into a rivalry week.

The Tigers moved up one spot in the Baseball America Top-25 to No. 10 after going 4-0 last week, including a series sweep of nationally-ranked Dallas Baptist.

D1Baseball.com, which started Clemson unranked preseason, vaulted Monte Lee's group 11 spots to No. 14 in this week's poll.

It's still very early in the campaign but the Tigers are No. 13 in the RPI rankings ahead of games with Winthrop (179) and South Carolina this week (45).

Through two weeks, Clemson ranks third in the ACC in home runs (9) and tied for second in doubles (13). On the mound, they have a league-low 17 walks and the fifth-best ERA (2.39). In the field, they are No. 1 in fielding percentage (.988) with only three errors.

Nationally, the Tigers are No. 7 in WHIP (.92) and No. 12 in fielding percentage.

Robert Jolly leads the way in batting average (.500), while Chris Williams holds the edge in RBIs (12) and Drew Wharton took the lead in home runs with three over the weekend.

Left-hander Jake Higginbotham improved to 2-0 with an 0.73 ERA on the season, dealing 10 strikeouts and no walks in 12 1/3 innings. Right-hander Carson Spiers has worked four scoreless innings in relief with a save. RHP Ryley Gilliam now has two saves with a 2.25 ERA over four innings.

Clemson returns to action on Tuesday at home versus Winthrop (4 p.m.) before starting the three-game series with South Carolina in Columbia on Friday (7 p.m.), then Greenville's Fluor Field on Saturday (3 p.m.) and back in Clemson on Sunday (2 p.m.).

Ten pitchers, led by three great starting pitching performances, combined to shut down a top-10 team this weekend.#Clemson ?? pic.twitter.com/tBzkeni3lb
— Clemson Baseball (@ClemsonBaseball) February 26, 2018