Preview: Stanford Baseball welcomes Clemson to Sunken Diamond
This weekend, Stanford baseball will welcome Clemson to Sunken Diamond for a three-game series. Stanford comes in at 13-13 overall and 3-6 in the ACC while Clemson comes in at 19-11 overall and 2-7 in the ACC.
Game one will be on Friday at 6:05 PM PT. Game two will be on Saturday at 2:05 PM PT. Game three will be on Sunday at 1:05 PM PT. All three games will air on ACCNX.
Last time out: Stanford defeated Virginia Tech 6-3 in 10 innings on Sunday to win the series 2-1. Cardinal freshman Teddy Tokheim picked up ACC weekly honors as we a result of his stellar play.
RECAP: Stanford Baseball wins series at Virginia Tech
Probable pitchers: Per the game notes posted by Stanford, below are the probable pitching matchups:
Stanford FR LHP Andrew Shaw 0-0, 3.86 ERA vs. Clemson JR RHP Aidan Knaak 0-3, 4.72 ERA
Stanford SR LHP Sam Garewal 0-1, 10.24 ERA vs. Clemson SR LHP Michael Sharman 4-1, 3.19 ERA
Stanford FR LHP Quinten Marsh 0-0, 7.27 ERA vs. Clemson JR RHP Drew Titsworth 3-2, 4.58 ERA
On Clemson: The Tigers got off to a promising start after taking two out of three games in a road series at South Carolina. They were also ranked No. 19 in the nation at the start of the season by D1Baseball.com. They have since taken a nosedive, getting swept at Notre Dame, losing two out of three at home to Miami, and also getting swept at home against Georgia Tech. Safe to say the season has not gone as they would have hoped.
The top contact hitter for the Tigers is junior infielder/outfielder Tryston McCladdie. McCladdie is batting .354 for eight home runs and 32 RBIs with a .628 slugging percentage and a .448 on base percentage. The top power hitter is senior catcher Jacob Jarrell, who is batting .253 for 12 home runs and 28 RBIs while having a .663 slugging percentage and a .368 on base percentage. The number three hitter all-around is sophomore catcher/outfielder Nate Savoie, who is batting .348 for 10 home runs and 35 RBIs to go along with a .661 slugging percentage and a .439 on base percentage.
Keys to the series: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is get steady performances on the mound. When the pitching is serviceable and not terrible, the offense usually does its job. As long as Stanford’s arms do their thing and are able to have a combined ERA of under 5.00, they should be in a good spot to win. Of course, as a quick extension of that, the fielding and defense behind the pitching needs to be sound as well.
Secondly, building off the first key, Stanford needs to win the home run battle. Clemson has guys who can go yard. If guys like Rintaro Sasaki, Teddy Tokheim, and Jimmy Nati are hitting balls out of the park while Clemson is not able to do so, that would be huge for the Cardinal.
Finally, once again a hybrid of pitching and hitting, Stanford needs to win the walk battle. That’s been a problem for them at times. Walking batters that is. If Stanford is able to win that battle and get more free trips to first base, they should be in a good spot to win this series.
Prediction: I got Stanford winning the series, taking two out of three games. I don’t see a sweep happening, but I do think Stanford will find a way to win the series.
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