Big game for the Tigers

By: Will Vandervort

Clemson’s road to the ACC Tournament Championship game got a little harder following Thursday night’s 6-5 loss to Virginia, but there is still a chance for the 13th-ranked Tigers.

First of all, Clemson (39-18) has to take care of business against Duke this afternoon. Not an easy as a task as it sounds. Though the Tigers beat Duke two of three games earlier this season, the Blue Devils are a tough out.

They will send their ace, senior right-hander Andrew Wolcott (7-3, 2.79 ERA), to the mound in hopes of knocking Clemson out of the running for the championship. Wolcott has made 12 starts and one relief appearance for a total of 87.0 innings pitched. He has yielded 81 hits and 18 walks with 67 strikeouts. He has also given up just three home runs and has pitched two complete games.

Wolcott already owns a win against the Tigers this year after pitching six complete innings and giving up three runs (two earned) in a 10-7 victory at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on April 4.

If the Tigers get past the Blue Devils, they then have to hope North Carolina beats Virginia tonight. That would make the Tar Heels 2-0 with Clemson left to play on Saturday, while the Cavaliers will be 1-1 with Duke left to play.

If those two scenarios happen, then Clemson needs to beat the Tar Heels on Saturday, which it has already done once and nearly did a second time before a ninth-inning rally by UNC at Chapel Hill in the third-game of their three-game series back in March. If they do that, then they will need Duke to knock off Virginia in the night game to advance to the championship game on Sunday, where Florida State is already penciled in.

I know that sounds crazy to say Florida State in already in because it’s just Friday, but that’s the ACC Tournament for you. The Seminoles punched their ticket by beating Miami Thursday, coupled with Boston College’s win over Georgia Tech.

Now back Duke. Today’s game is also important for Clemson in regards to hosting a regional in next week’s NCAA Tournament. The Tigers can reach 40 wins with a victory today and in the past that usually nails down a spot for most teams.

Clemson doesn’t want to have to go into Saturday’s game against No. 4 North Carolina needing a win to get 40. Currently 15 teams across the country have recorded 40 or more wins, including Virginia with last night’s win over Clemson. Though I think Clemson is almost assured a regional bid, it would not look good for the Tigers to go 0-3 in the ACC Tournament with one of those losses coming from one of the teams (Virginia) that they are in competition with for a regional site.

So believe it or not, a baseball game against Duke of all teams is probably the biggest one Clemson has had in the last two years.