How Clemson baseball is having its best start since 2002, earned a top 5 ranking
The biggest question mark for Clemson baseball entering the season has turned out to be the biggest strength through so far.
The Tigers enter this weekend’s series against N.C. State with a 16-1 record and ranked No. 5 by Baseball America. Clemson was unranked by some polls entering the season and was picked to finish third in the ACC Atlantic before the year.
Clemson has exceeded just about everyone’s expectations, and a pitching staff that holds a 2.68 ERA is the biggest reason why. The Tigers are second in the ACC in ERA, despite losing all three weekend starters from last season.
“I think if you look at our stat sheet, we’ve had 17 guys pitch. I’ve never coached a team where 17 games into the year 17 different players have pitched for us,” Clemson coach Monte Lee said. “So one thing I think that stands out through 17 games is our pitching depth, the amount of strike throwers that we have, the ability to match up if we need to match up.”
Clemson’s three weekend starters- Jacob Hennessy, Brooks Crawford and Jake Higginbotham, are a combined 5-0. Hennessy leads the way with a 1.96 ERA, followed by Crawford at 2.04 and Higginbotham at 2.42. Higginbotham leads Clemson with three wins.
The Tigers have eight pitchers that have thrown at least eight innings and hold an ERA of 2.25 or better.
“We have a number of left-handed options out of the bullpen and right-handed options,” Lee said. “We felt like going into the spring that we had a lot of options, and we felt like our bullpen would be a strength, that if we needed to turn to the pen then we had a lot of really good options out of the bullpen if our starter couldn’t go deep into the game.”
Clemson also leads the ACC in fielding percentage at .980 and has committed only 13 errors through 18 games.
“We’ve played excellent defense. Often times when a groundball is hit or a fly ball is hit, a coach is either excited or he’s nervous. And I’m not very nervous if the ball’s put in play with our defense out there,” Lee said. “I just think we have a good defense and guys who are capable of making great plays. We’ve got good athletes out there.”
Offensively Clemson is in the bottom half of the league with a .264 average, but the Tigers are second in home runs with 26 and have scored the third-most runs with 117.
“Offensively we have a nice blend. We have guys that will get on base… We have some guys that will compete in the box and we have some power,” Lee said. “When you have power and you get on base via the free pass some, you’re going to win a lot of games.”
When you add it all up you have Clemson’s best start since 2002, a year that ended with the Tigers making a trip to the College World Series.
Lee knows that there is still plenty of work to do and that this weekend’s series against No. 23 N.C. State will be another tough test. But he couldn’t be more pleased with the start the Tigers are off to.
“We’re still a work in progress,” Lee said. “We’re not making too much of it. We’re only 17 games into the year. We need to continue to improve and keep doing a lot of the things that we’re doing if we want to continue to play good baseball.”
This story was originally published March 15, 2018 at 12:14 PM with the headline "How Clemson baseball is having its best start since 2002, earned a top 5 ranking."