Series Preview and How to Watch/Stream/Listen: No. 4 Clemson at Louisville
With four weekends left in the regular season, Clemson heads to Louisville with the hope of continuing its dominant tear through the ACC.
The Tigers (32-8 overall, 13-5 ACC) are ranked No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll and are also No. 4 in the NCAA’s RPI rankings.
Coach Erik Bakich’s team has lost only one series in conference play — two weeks earlier against NC State — and has a chance to secure a top five national seed for the 2024 NCAA Division 1 Baseball Tournament over the course of the next month.
Clemson enters the weekend as the No. 3 overall seed in the latest Field of 64 projections from both D1Baseball and Baseball America. In keeping with this week’s Top 25 polls, only No. 1 Texas A&M and No. 2 Arkansas have higher projected seeds than Clemson.
The Tigers will try to keep rolling against a Louisville team that’s 24-16 overall and 9-9 in conference play, good for fifth in the ACC. The Cardinals’ .325 average as a club is the third highest tally in the league behind only Virginia (.347) and Florida State (.328). Louisville’s 6.16 ERA is 10th out of the 14 ACC baseball programs.
Shortstop Gavin Kilen has a .368/.402/.651 slash line, including seven home runs and 30 RBIs. Zion Rose (.391/.460/.591) has played in 29 games and is the team’s top hitter for average.
Coach Dan McDonnell’s team won two of three in its last weekend series against Miami. Two weeks before that, they swept then-No. 19 NC State in a weekend series. Those have been the only ACC series victories by the Cardinals this season.
Most recently, Louisville tallied 13 runs in the first inning of a 16-5 win over Western Kentucky in midweek play Tuesday. The Cardinals are averaging 8.7 runs per game.
Clemson is coming off a grueling, 15-inning loss at No. 17 Georgia on Tuesday. The Tigers won two of three in their ACC series against Pitt last week.
Clemson will start left-handers Tristan Smith and Ethan Darden on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Louisville will counter with Sebastian Gongora (4-3, 5.23) Friday and Ryan Webster (3-1, 3.23) Saturday.
Sunday’s probable starters have yet to be announced for either team.
The Tigers’ .286 average as a team ranks ninth in the ACC. Clemson leads the conference in pitching with a combined 3.83 ERA.
Second baseman Blake Wright is the only Clemson player to have started all 40 games this season. The senior from Clearwater, Fla. has a .322/.355/.655 slash line with a team-best 16 home runs and 52 RBIs.
Catcher Jimmy Obertop (.290/.450/.623) has 14 home runs to go with 31 driven in. Obertop had five home runs in two games in the Tigers’ series victory over Pitt.
Clemson is averaging 7.7 runs per game this season.
SERIES HISTORY
Clemson leads the all-time head to head series, 20-14. The two schools first met on the diamond in 1970. Clemson swept Louisville at Doug Kingsmore Stadium a year ago during the Tigers’ 17-game winning streak.
Where to Watch/Stream/Listen
Here’s a look at when, where, and how Clemsons fans can watch, stream, and listen to this weekend’s series against Louisville.
When: April 26-28
Where: John Patterson Stadium (Louisville)
Start Times (ET)
Friday, 6 p.m.
Saturday, 1 p.m.
Sunday, 4 p.m.
Broadcast Info
TV: ESPN2 (Sunday only)
Live Video Stream: ACC Network Extra, ESPN+ (Friday, Sunday)
Radio: Clemson Athletic Network | TuneIn App
Clemson Radio
Broadcast Teams
ACC Network Extra: Joey Lindstrom, Jack Kizer, Jeff Milby
ESPN2: Kevin Fitzgerald, Devon Travis
