Clemson Series Preview

1864 baseball w/ Conan OBrien

Tech plays host to Clemson this weekend. Both teams are coming off of humiliating ACC series defeats. Jackson Leggett returns to Atlanta where he is 8-16 all time including a 2-6 series record at Russ Chandler. The Fightin' Jackson Leggetts haven't won a series in Atlanta since the 1996 Olympics.

A quick overview of the Tigers shows they're third in conference batting average behind Tech and UVA at 0.302 but sixth in conference ERA at 5.13. The Tigers don't have the power of Tech (only 10 homers in ACC play) but they have enough plate discipline to rack up an ACC leading 101 walks. The nearest ACC team to that stat is Tech and we're 28 walks shy of the Tigers. This weekend will be a matchup of two very contrasting styles of play. Leggett's guys just wanna get on base and have their compadres slap 'em in. Tech plays limited small ball and relies heavily on the homer.

Speaking of small ball, Clemson loves to steal bases. They're the ACC's second best in base stealing success rate at 82.4% and they've attempted to steal the secondmost bases in ACC play. If Tech can limit Clemson's pesky small ball, Tech should breeze through the series as Clemson's Atlantic leading record is mostly indicative of a weak schedule rather than a good offensive unit. Good luck to the Jackets tonight. First pitch is 7:00PM and radio is WREK 91.1, as usual.