Ugly uniforms, ugly game, ugly tournament for Clemson

The only thing uglier than the uniforms Virginia Tech wore against Clemson in Friday’s ACC Tournament matchup was the game itself. There were a combined six errors and eight pitchers used in the Hokies 9-8 win over the Tigers. The loss drops Clemson to 0-2 in the ACC Tournament. Virginia Tech is 2-0.

Clemson coach Jack Leggett’s postgame comments

Leggett

The Tigers entered this tournament with visions of building on an Atlantic Division title hosting an NCAA Regional and picking up valuable momentum heading into the postseason. They will leave town (after a meaningless game with Georgia Tech Saturday at 4:00) with more questions than answers about.

Scott Wiseman only lasted three innings

The biggest question will be pitching. Who on this team can the count on to give them a quality start? Casey Harman didn’t get it done Wednesday against N.C. State and Scott Weismann didn’t make it out of the fourth inning against the Hokies. Scott Firth did a decent job out of the bullpen (4 innings, five hits and two earned runs), but by and large the staff was atrocious in the first two games of the tournament.

The next lingering question is the defense. The Tigers committed two errors against Virginia Tech and one against N.C. State. They have committed 88 on the season. The staple of Clemson baseball has always been pitching and defense and both of those are shaky at best right now.

This is a strange Tiger team to say the least. At times they look like a team that can play with and beat anyone and others they look like a team that doesn’t belong in the postseason. We know they have done enough to get a regional bid, although it will be on the road. The only hope now is that they can somehow manage to put everything together for an improbable run in the postseason.

Stranger things have happened, although after watching this team play the past two games it is hard to imagine them getting out of a road regional.

**Side notes:

• Outfielder Wilson Boyd missed his second straight game because of a shoulder stinger. He did pinch run but it seems unlikely he will play against Georgia Tech. Especially since that game is meaningless for the Tigers.
• Tomorrow’s game against Georgia Tech will start at 4:00

Kyle Parker takes a pitch in first inning against N.C. State

This isn’t the kind of start the Clemson baseball team wanted here in Greensboro. The Tigers dropped their opening game of the tournament Wednesday night with a 13-8 loss to N.C. State. The loss puts Clemson a game down in their pool and makes their quest for a home regional even tougher.

Clemson postgame(Jack Leggett, Brad Miller and Jeff Schaus)

CU post

Everything seemed to be shaping up perfectly for the Tigers entering this tournament. They were fresh off a sweep against Florida State and entered the tourney as the Atlantic division champs and the number two seed in the tournament. Add to that the fact they swept the Wolfpack during their regular season series.

It looked too good to be true. And apparently it was.

Clemson’s pitching never found its groove, from starter Casey Harman (four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings) to Alex Fredrick (four earned runs in just 1/3 inning) to Tomas Cruz (two earned runs in one inning), almost everyone Jack Leggett sent to the mound had problems getting people out.

So now Clemson will get a day off to recover and refocus and get ready to return to action. The Tigers Friday at 4:00 against Virginia Tech. They will face Georgia Tech Saturday at 4:00.

This is pool play and there are too many tie breakers to explain, but suffice it to say Clemson needs some help. Obviously the Tigers need to win out and hope N.C. State drops at least one game. By virtue of having the number two seed Clemson does own the advantage in a lot of the tiebreakers. However, if they don’t play better than they did Wednesday night it isn’t going to come down to a tiebreaker.