By Justin Gray
For Clemson, the “Road to Omaha” starts right here at Doug Kingsmore Stadium this Friday, May 30 at 6 p.m. in a matchup with a familiar foe, USC Upstate.
The Tigers and Spartans have squared off once this season in Greenville, S.C. at Fluor Field, where Clemson won the game 7-0.
The other two teams in the Clemson Regional are the two-seed West Virginia and the three-seed Kentucky.
Let’s preview all four teams in the regional.
1. Clemson (11th overall seed)
Record: 44-16 (18-12 ACC)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 47 (Fifth most in NCAA)
Season Outlook: Clemson fell this past Sunday to North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, 14-4 after winning the previous three games over Virginia Tech, North Carolina State and Georgia Tech to get to that point. After defeating Georgia in the midweek to improve to 36-7 at the end of April the Tigers hit their first tough stretch dropping eight of the next ten. A trip to Pittsburgh to end the season proved therapeutic for Erik Bakich’s squad as it swept with a no-hitter in the mix. Now, it feels like the Tigers are getting back to the form it had in the first half of the season.
Players to watch:
Cam Cannarella (CF)- The centerfielder became a superstar last season with his performance against Florida in the super regionals, making highlight reel plays in centerfield and hitting a game-tying three-run home run with the Tigers season on the line. Cannarella comes into the regional scorching hot raising his batting average all the way to .339 over the last three weeks. Everyone is looking forward to seeing what he has for us here in what could be his last weekend in DKS.
Aidan Knaak (SP)- It’s as simple as this, Clemson will go as far as Aidan Knaak puts them in position to go. He’s 9-1 on the season and every start he has this postseason is a must-win with the lack of depth this staff has. He’s been the stability for this staff especially since they lost their number two guy in Ethan Darden.
2. West Virginia
Record: 44-14 (19-9 Big 12)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 16
Season Outlook: The Mountaineers finished the regular season with the best record in the Big 12, but was eliminated by the four-seed Arizona in the semifinals, 12-1. A lot like Clemson, this team was elite in the first half of the season and 42 games in had a 37-5 record. They hit a wall at that point and lost the last nine of 13 to end the season. West Virginia is a very balanced squad, and given the right momentum they could make a deep run in this tournament.
Players to watch:
Griffin Kirn (SP)- The stud starter for the Mountaineers has a 3.32 ERA this season with a 5-2 record. He’s hurled 86.2 innings, racking up 92 strikeouts to only 27 walks. He’ll get the ball for the Mountaineers in game one against Kentucky and he can jump start this team's tournament run.
Kyle West (INF/OF)- With an OPS of 1.128, West will be able to knock the ball out of the yard at DKS. He’s got 10 home runs on the season on top of an impressive .354 batting average, he and Sam White will lead the charge for the WVU offense.
3. Kentucky
Record: 29-24 (13-17 SEC)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 10
Season Outlook: The Wildcats of Kentucky had a little bit of a down year this season after making it to Omaha for the first time in school history last year. There’s been plenty of ups and downs for this team. They had a series win at Tennessee and a sweep of Oklahoma during the regular season, and they were swept by both Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. So, they’ve shown the ability to compete at the highest level, just not consistently. The Wildcats have struggled on the road as well with a 10-13 record in that aspect. This team doesn’t have much of a calling card, as they can’t outhit you and won’t dominate you on the mound.
Players to watch:
Cole Hage (UTIL)- The Senior has slugged 12 home runs on the season and is another bomber that could potentially have a fun weekend at DKS. He transferred in from Columbia in the offseason and this will be only his second NCAA tournament as he made it back in the 2022 season with the Lions.
Tyler Bell (INF)- The infielder is probably the best overall hitter in the Wildcats lineup and he will have a big task of helping lead this team’s offense in the postseason. The Freshman has had an impressive opening season as a Wildcat and they will look to him for the spark they need to go on a run.
4. USC Upstate
Record: 36-23 (19-5 Big South)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1
Season Outlook: For the first time in school history, the Spartans are in the NCAA tournament field. They slugged and swept their way through the Big South tournament as the one-seed with wins over Winthrop, High Point, and Charleston Southern, scoring 34 runs in three games. That’s exactly how this team wins, hitting the baseball. They are second in the nation in runs scored and seventh in batting average, not to mention they also are tied with Duke for the 14th most home runs. On the mound, it’s a struggle with a team earned run average of 5.40, but if you put this team in a smaller park where the ball flies like DKS, it could cause some problems for the host Tigers.
Players to watch:
Johnny Sweeney (INF)- The Upstate infielder is just a slugger and can do major damage. You can see it in his numbers with 17 home runs and 81 runs batted in. His RBI number is good enough for third in the nation. He and the rest of this offense can score a bunch of runs in a hurry.
Scott Newman (OF)- It’s so hard to choose just two players from this offense because it is such a potent lineup, but Scott Newman is another bomber just like Sweeney and can hit the ball a long ways, he has 18 home runs on the season, the highest on the team. He’s another player to key in on when he’s at the plate.
Regional Outlook/Prediction:
From a Clemson perspective, you couldn’t have asked for a better draw. It seems for years now Clemson has been given a SEC team that could have hosted or someone who was a preseason favorite and never figured it out until the end of the season. West Virginia is the toughest potential opponent in the regional, but I truly believe that USC Upstate is very sneaky and if the Tigers sleepwalk, they could find themselves in the loser’s bracket after day one. I don’t think that will happen because I believe the DKS crowd will be rowdy and ready for anything on Friday night. Overall, Kentucky is the worst team in this regional in my eyes and I see them going 0-2 in the regional. My prediction is that Drew Titsworth will be able to slow down the Upstate offense enough to outscore them in game one. Knaak will go on Saturday and he will be able to give Clemson the advantage over WVU for a nice 2-0 start to the regional and whatever opponent arrives in the regional championship won’t be able to hold down the Tiger offense, especially twice and Erik Bakich’s team will move on to the supers for a second consecutive season.
