Tigers Begin Clemson Regional Play On Friday
CLEMSON, S.C. – The Tigers are playing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 and hosting an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2018.
REGIONAL SETUP
• Who – Lipscomb (36-24) vs. Clemson (43-17)
• Best Ranking – LIP – NR; CU – No. 3 Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball
• When – Friday (1 p.m.)
• Where – Clemson, S.C. (Doug Kingsmore Stadium)
• Watch – ESPN+
• Video Announcers – Tom Hart, Kyle Peterson
• Listen (Radio) – Clemson Athletic Network (locally on WCCP (105.5 FM))
• Listen (Internet) –ClemsonTigers.com
• Live Stats –ClemsonTigers.com
• Social Media – ClemsonBaseball
• Tickets –ClemsonTigers.com, 1-800-CLEMSON
SERIES HISTORY
• Overall Record – 0-0
STARTING PITCHERS
• LHP Logan Van Treeck (LIP) vs. RHP Austin Gordon (CU)
CLEMSON OVERVIEW
• Clemson, who has a 24-10 home record, won the ACC Tournament title with a 4-0 record last week.
• The Tigers are averaging 7.5 runs per game and hitting .308 with a .470 slugging percentage, .403 on-base percentage and 97 steals.
• The pitching staff has a 4.33 ERA, .250 opponents’ batting average and 2.37 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and Clemson is fielding .978.
LIPSCOMB OVERVIEW
• Lipscomb, who has a 14-15 road record and is averaging 6.8 runs per game, is led by 17th-year Head Coach Jeff Forehand.
• The Bisons won the ASUN Conference Tourney title with a 3-2 record. They are hitting .257 and have a 5.06 ERA and .969 fielding percentage.
• Trace Willhoite is hitting .311 with 17 homers and 65 RBIs, Austin Kelly is batting .302 with 21 homers and Hayden Frank has four saves.
TIGERS IN THE CLEMSON REGIONAL
• Clemson (43-17), the No. 1 seed, opens the Clemson Regional by playing No. 4 seed Lipscomb (36-24) on Friday at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
• The Tigers are the designated home team during Friday’s game.
• The winner of Clemson’s game plays the winner of the game between No. 2 seed Tennessee (38-19) and No. 3 seed Charlotte (34-26).
• The Tigers occupy the first-base dugout for all their games in the Clemson Regional.
• Clemson is the No. 4 national seed, its first top-eight national seed since 2016 and fifth overall (2000,02,06,16).
• The winner of the Clemson Regional plays the winner of the Auburn (Ala.) Regional from June 9-12.
• Clemson and Lipscomb have never met.
• Clemson is 23-11 against Tennessee, with the last meeting in 1997. The Tigers lead 14-3 at Clemson and 12-2 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
• Clemson is 1-1 in the NCAA Tourney vs. Tennessee, a 3-1 Vol win in the 1995 CWS and a 12-5 Tiger win in the 1996 NCAA Regional at Clemson.
• Clemson and Tennessee split a home-and-home season series, with the home team winning each game, in its most-recent meetings in 1997.
• Clemson has a 14-3 record against Charlotte in a series that began in 1985. The Tigers are 9-2 in games played at Clemson.
• The Tigers downed Charlotte 9-5 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Feb. 21, 2023, as Clemson broke a 5-5 tie with four runs in the seventh inning.
• Charlotte Associate Head Coach Toby Bicknell was Clemson’s volunteer assistant coach in 2007 and 2008.
CLEMSON REGIONAL STRONG
• The four teams in the Clemson Regional have combined for 68 NCAA Tourney appearances (including 2023).
• Clemson is making its 45th appearance, followed by 13 by Tennessee, seven by Charlotte and three by Lipscomb
• In both 2015 and 2016, Clemson played in a regional with the most combined appearances by the teams (2015 Fullerton, 2016 Clemson).
• The 2017 Clemson Regional featured the third-most combined appearances, while the 2018 Clemson Regional was tied for third most.
TIGERS HOST REGIONAL FOR 17TH TIME
• Clemson is hosting an NCAA regional for the 17th time in history in 2023.
• Clemson last hosted a regional in 2018. From 1994 to 2011 (18 years), the Tigers hosted 11 times.
CLEMSON’S NCAA TOURNEY HISTORY
• The Tigers play in their 45th all-time NCAA regional when they compete in the 2023 Clemson Regional.
• The 45 appearances are fifth most in NCAA history, trailing only Texas (62), Florida State (59), Miami (Fla.) (49) and Oklahoma State (48).
• Clemson’s last NCAA Tournament appearance came in 2019.
• Clemson has made nine super regional appearances, with its last in 2010 by winning the Auburn Regional.
• The Tigers have made 12 trips to the College World Series, with its last in 2010.
• Clemson has a 121-95 record (.560) in NCAA Tournament games.
QUICK HITS
• Clemson has 23 come-from-behind wins among its 43 overall victories.
• Clemson’s bullpen has a 27-9 record, 16 saves, a 4.00 ERA, .258 opponents’ batting average and 291 strikeouts in 279.0 innings pitched.
• Clemson is 34-7 when outhitting its opponents and 16-1 when hitting multiple homers.
ACC TOURNAMENT CHAMPION
• Clemson won the ACC Tourney title with a 4-0 record, wins over Virginia Tech, No. 19 Boston College, North Carolina and No. 8 Miami (Fla.).
• It was Clemson’s first ACC Tournament title since 2016 and 11th overall, most among ACC teams.
• Clemson claimed its 16th ACC championship overall, as it won five ACC regular-season titles before the ACC Tourney began in the 1973 season.
• Clemson outscored the opposition 39-15 in the four games.
• Clemson hit .310 with six doubles, three triples, seven homers, a .538 slugging percentage, .420 on-base percentage and 13 steals.
• Clemson committed only one error in four games, good for a .993 fielding percentage.
• The pitching staff had a 3.50 ERA, .216 opponents’ batting average and 42 strikeouts against 16 walks in 36.0 innings pitched.
• Caden Grice was named ACC Tourney MVP by going 7-for-19 (.368) with two homers, nine RBIs and 7.0 strong innings to earn a win on the mound.
• Cooper Ingle earned All-ACC Tournament honors by going 7-for-17 (.412) with a double, RBI and six runs.
• Riley Bertram earned All-ACC Tourney honors by going 6-for-15 with a homer, six RBIs, five runs and a Tiger ACC Tourney record six steals.
• Cam Cannarella earned All-ACC Tournament honors by going 5-for-17 (.294) with a homer, two triples, a double, four RBIs and six runs.
WINNING STREAK
• Clemson has won 16 games in a row. Its last loss was a 3-1 defeat in the second game of a doubleheader at No. 11 Boston College on April 28.
• The 16-game winning streak is sixth longest in school history and its longest since winning 17 games in a row in the second half of 2006.
• The 16-game winning streak is the second-longest active streak in the country, trailing on Oral Roberts (18).
• The 16-game winning streak is tied for the third longest in the nation in 2023.
• Clemson is hitting .339 with a .525 slugging percentage, .434 on-base percentage and 33 steals during its 16-game winning streak.
• Clemson is averaging 8.9 runs per game, outscoring the opposition 142-65 during the winning streak, and is fielding .983 during the streak.
• Clemson has a 3.59 ERA, .235 opponents’ batting average and 150 strikeouts against 70 walks in 143.0 innings pitched during the streak.
• Clemson has also won 21 of its last 22 games and 26 of its last 29 games.
• Clemson had a 15-0 record in May.
• Other than the month of February, the undefeated month was Clemson’s first in a month it played at least one game since May 1976.
• In May 1976, Clemson was 3-0 in three NCAA Atlantic Regional games at Columbia, S.C., its only three games that month.
ALL-AMERICA HONORS
• Billy Amick and Caden Grice were both named first-team All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball.
• They became the 65th and 66 All-Americans in Clemson history and 30th and 31st first-team All-Americans in Tiger history.
• It marks the first time since 2018 (Seth Beer, Logan Davidson, Ryley Gilliam) that Clemson has multiple All-Americans in one season.
• It marks the first time since 2016 (Seth Beer, Pat Krall, Chris Okey) that Clemson has multiple first-team All-Americans in one season.
NCAA TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE
• Three Tigers on the 2023 roster have NCAA Tournament experience.
• Chad Fairey is the lone 2023 Tiger to play in an NCAA Tournament game in a Clemson uniform, as he did so in the 2019 Oxford (Miss.) Regional.
• Fairey, who is not on the active postseason roster, went 0-for-2 with two walks in his only regional game in the 8-4 win over Illinois.
• Righthander Jackson Lindley was on the active roster for the 2019 Oxford Regional, but did not make an appearance in the regional.
• Riley Bertram and Willie Weiss have NCAA Tournament experience, including in the College World Series, from their playing days at Michigan.
• Bertram and Weiss were on the Michigan team that played in the 2019 College World Series Championship Series under Head Coach Erik Bakich.
• Bertram is 15-for-37 (.405) with three doubles, four RBIs, five runs, a .500 on-base percentage and two steals in 12 NCAA Tournament games.
• Weiss has a 3.60 ERA and has allowed only two hits in 5.0 innings pitched over five relief appearances in NCAA Tournament games.
FIRST-YEAR COACHES & ACC TITLES
• Since the ACC was formed during the 1953-54 academic year, Clemson, who has won 16 ACC championships, has had five head coaches.
• Bob Smith was in his third year as head coach in 1954, when Clemson won the ACC title in the league’s first baseball season.
• The next four head coaches at Clemson all won the ACC title in their first year as head coach of the Tiger program.
• Bill Wilhelm led Clemson to the ACC championship and College World Series in the first of his 36 seasons as head coach in 1958.
• Jack Leggett led the Tigers to the 1994 ACC championship by winning the ACC Tourney in the first of his 22 seasons as head coach at Clemson.
• Monte Lee led the Tigers to the 2016 ACC championship by winning the ACC Tourney in the first of his seven seasons as head coach at Clemson.
• Erik Bakich led the Tigers to the 2023 ACC championship by winning the ACC Tournament in his first season as head coach at Clemson.
• Leggett, Lee and Bakich are the only head coaches in the 49 years of the ACC Tourney to win the event in their first season as head coach.
