* I keep thinking Clemson is going to snap out of its funk and the Tigers keep proving me wrong.
Leadoff batter Tyler Slaton singled and scored in the first inning and Clemson got nothing else offensively in losing to Notre Dame, 5-1, in the rubber-game of the three-game ACC series. In fact, the run was unearned because of a bad throw on a pickoff attempt.
Perhaps even more troubling than the current offensive woes are the defensive struggles and baserunning gaffes.
Clemson (2-4 ACC, 9-9 overall) committed three errors Sunday and nine for the three-game series. The Tigers have made 28 errors in 18 games. The most successful college teams rarely average more than an error a game.
Two of Notre Dame's four double plays Sunday came when Clemson players were doubled off on a fly ball and a line drive. Tigers coach Jack Leggett has always coached his players to be aggressive on the basepaths. Aggressiveness and lack of awareness are not the same.
As bad as all that is, Clemson has seen starting pitchers Zack Erwin and Brody Koerner be less effective the past two weeks than they were prior to that. Matthew Crownover has remained solid.
The Tigers bullpen - like the defense an undependable part of last year's team - has shown signs of struggling again. After Clemson rallied from a 6-0 deficit to tie Saturday's game, the bullpen promptly surrendered the lead and the Fighting Irish went on to win, 11-6.
Notre Dame is not a bad baseball program, but it's also not the caliber of program that should be winning two of three over the Tigers on a regular basis. This season marked the second straight 2-1 series victory for the Irish.
We're not quite one-third of the way through the regular season things could turn around, but so far the players haven't done much to take the heat off Leggett after the public chiding he got from Athletic Director Dan Radakovich last summer.
Imagine how Leggett's critics would be feelking if the Tigers hadn't won two of three against South Carolina.
Two weekends into ACC play, Clemson is three games behind co-leaders Florida State and Louisville in the Atlantic Division standings. Up next is a trip to Virginia Tech. How are the Hokies doing? They swept No. 1 Virginia this weekend.
* South Carolina is on a 10-game winning streak, but the Gamecocks (3-0 SEC, 17-3 overall) shouldn't be feeling too full of themselves.
They're also having defensive struggles. They swept Kentucky despite making seven errors in three games. USC has made 27 errors in 20 games - not a good ratio.
USC also is struggling in offense. The Gamecocks hit. 207 in the Kentucky series, and needed som well-timed homeruns to keep their streak alive. Two-run homers by Alex Destino and Elliott Caldwell provided all the offense in Saturday's 4-3 victory.
Relievers Cody Mincey and Taylor Widener were unable to protect a 3-2 lead on Sunday and Kentuck took a 4-3 lead in the ninth inning. Caldwell tied the game in the bottom of the inning.
To Widener's credit, he was able to pitch himself out of a self-inflicted bases-loaded situation in the 10th. The Gamecocks escaped with the win when Kyle Martin hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning.
Schmidt's emergence as a dependable No. 3 starter and Caldwell's sudden pop - he had no career homers before Saturday - are positives USC can take from the weekend. But it needs to step up the offense and tighten up its defense.
Up next is a road trip to Missouri. The Tigers swept Georgia in Athens over the weekend.
* Lander has been struggling this season, but the Bearcats had a good time Sunday. They beat GRU Augusta 21-5 and 17-4 in a doubleheader. The Bearcats 41 hits, including 8 doubles, 3 triples and 4 home runs.
* Spartanburg Methodist is back where it frequently is this time of the season: atop the NJCAA Region 10 standings.
Coach Tim Wallace's Pioneers entered the weekend a game behind USC Salkehatchie as they visited Allendale. All SMC did was sweep the four-game series to improve to 7-1 in the region. Included was a complete-game, 10-strikeout one-hitter by Tyler Thornton.
* USC Sumter also had a profitable weekend, winning four games at Louisburg.
* Claflin got complete games from Justin Vreeland and Darius Boykins in a Sunday doubleheader sweep at Clark Atlanta in SIAC play.
* Newberry was a half-inning away from being swept in a SAC series at Brevard when the Wolves put together a six-run ninth inning to win, 8-5.
* Zach Smith had three homers and drove in 10 runs as Erskine swept a Saturday doubleheader at Southern Wesleyan.
* Wofford continued its strong start, sweeping a pair of doubleheaders with Iona.
* Winthrop went 2-1 in a challenging home series with a good Kennesaw State program. The Eagles get a chance at South Carolina on Tuesday.
* College of Charleston ace Taylor Clarke had another solid start - 10 strikeouts, five hits and two earrned runs in seven innings - but was on the hook for a 6-1 loss to High Point on Friday. The Cougars also lost the Sunday game to drop the series, 2-1.
* The only positive out of all of the rainouts this weekend and earlier in the season is there's an 11-game schedule for Monday. Ten of the games are makeups for earlier rainouts.
No comments:
Post a Comment