Can we talk? Feb. 23

We've got 24 days worth of results for college baseball season in South Carolina, which is enough time to make a few observations.

Clemson
* What's going well -- The Tigers have been offensively challenged so far, but they can flat run out some outstanding pitching. Clemson has scored just 21 runs in its 7-0 start, but having a 0.70- staff ERA can do wonders that for you.  Coach Monte Lee's squad has allowed five earned runs in 64 innings. There's been no paucity of strikeouts: 93. That's more than 13 per nine innings.
* What needs work --  Offense. Clemson is hitting .233 as a team. The Tigers have three one-run victories and haven't scored more than three runs in a game since getting five on opening day. They've committed 12 errors, and that won't cut it against ACC competition.

South Carolina
* What's going well -- Five of the seven starts have been high-quality. Carmen Mlodzinski, so far, has shown the skills that have helped him climb on the MLB Draft prospects list. Andrew Eyster, the only regular to hit above .300 in a 28-28 season last year, is leading the team again.  George Callil, Noah Campbell and Wes Clarke, who hit a combined .230 last season, are at .338 this season. Campbell already has matched his eight stolen bases of a year ago.
* What needs work -- The inability to manufacture runs and control problems out of the bullpen were two of the big weaknesses in 2019, and that doesn't seem to have changed much this season. Wildness contributed to a pair of 10th-inning losses to Northwestern. While the Wildcats showed some individual talent, South Carolina can't afford series losses to programs that haven't had a winning record since 2000 if it expects to climb back into the national consciousness.

Conclusion
Carolina and Clemson meet three times next weekend. Based on the offensive struggles early, scoring may be at a premium.

Elsewhere:
* Columbia International, a first-year NAIA program led by former Major League pitcher Jonathan Johnson, has acquitted itself pretty well so far, going 6-9 (one win was against Juco program USC Salkehatchie). The Rams split a series with an established USC Beaufort program, and were competitive in losing twice to NAIA preseason No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan over the weekend. Sophomore pitcher Justin Parish has emerged as CIU's ace. He stuck out 10 in six innings against Tennessee Wesleyan and has a 2-2 record, a 1.54 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings for the season.

* North Greenville stumbled in a midweek loss to Anderson, but rebounded with a three-game sweep of Barton to open Conference Carolinas play. The game was moved from Wilson, NC, to Tigerville because of field conditions/weather concerns. Coach Landon Powell's club is batting .337 as a team, led by Jeremy Whitehead's .453 mark. The Crusaders have won 12 of their last 13.

* Speaking of Anderson, Nick Vella is hitting .563 (27-for-48) with 23 runs scored in 12 games. Coach P.J. Zocchi's team has received outstanding pitching from Lucas Smith, who has a 3-0 record and 1.29 ERA. He has pitched two complete games and struck out 34 in 28 innings.

* Benedict coach Selwyn Young likes for his club to run, and the Tigers are off to another solid start. They've stolen 20 stolen bases in four games. After a 23-2 loss to Post to open the season on Friday, they rebounded with three wins over Piedmont International.

* Josh Bobrowski of Francis Marion has pitched in tough luck. He has a 1.54 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 23 innings, but a 1-3 record. He went five innings in a combined 10-0 shutout of Mars Hill in his first outing, Since then, the Patriots have scored 2, 1 and 0 runs in his last three starts.

* NJCAA Region 10 play doesn't begin until March 6, but it looks like another competitive season.  USC Lancaster is riding an 11-game winning streak. USC Sumter got wins over traditional playoff teams Potomac State and Walters State over the weekend. Florence-Darlington Tech dropped four of five at a challenging tournament in Florida after a 7-1 start.  USC Union signaled it may be a tougher challenge in league play with a nonregion doubleheader split with Spartanburg Methodist. USC Salkehatchie has shown recent improvement under first-year coach Jeremy Joye, a former SMC assistant. Louisburg, the only North Carolina team in the league, is off to a 7-2 start.

* Wofford has three walk-off wins during its 7-1 start. The Terriers as 23-for-24 in stolen bases.

* John Michael Bertrand has had two dandy starts for Furman. He's 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 12 innings.

* A 1.16 staff ERA has been a major factor in USC Upstate's 6-1 start.

* Winthrop's 7-0 start was aided by 3 one-run victories this week.

Teams trending up
Anderson, Benedict, College of Charleston, Furman, North Greenville, USC Lancaster, USC Upstate. Winthrop, Wofford.

Teams trending down
Coker, Florence-Darlington Tech, Francis Marion, Limestone, Morris, Southern Wesleyan, USC Aiken, Voorhees.

Whadya think?