Strong relief pitching helps Clemson baseball complete series win vs ACC rival Georgia Tech
Clemson baseball continues to enhance its postseason prospects.
The No. 4 Tigers rolled past Georgia Tech 9-3 in the finale of a three-game ACC series at Clemson’s Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Sunday.
The Tigers (36-10, 17-7) have won seven of their eight conference series this season, including each of the past three. They lead the Atlantic Division in the ACC standings by 2½ games over Florida State and share the overall ACC lead with North Carolina.
Clemson’s overall record is the best in the league, as is its 10-4 record in road games. Projected as a No. 3 overall seed by both Baseball America and D1 Baseball, the Tigers are predicted to host an NCAA tournament regional for a second consecutive year.
Clemson had 36 hits and scored 32 runs in its series victory against Georgia Tech (28-17, 12-12), which began with an 11-4 triumph in the first game of the series-opening doubleheader on Friday. The Yellow Jackets bounced back to win the second game 14-12, setting up Sunday’s tiebreaker.
Here are three takeaways from the series.
Clemson gets relief from the bullpen
After a late implosion by the Tigers' relief pitchers allowed Georgia Tech to score 11 runs in the final three innings en route to its win in Game 2, the bullpen came through in a big way Sunday.
Billy Barlow (5-1) relieved starter Aidan Knaak in the fifth inning and checked the Yellow Jackets on three hits and two runs in four innings. Freshman lefty Jacob McGovern, a Seneca High product, finished up with a scoreless, hitless inning; he has not allowed an earned run in seven innings this season.
“He’s just funky — he’s deceptive,” Clemson coach Erik Bakich said of McGovern. “He has a different type of delivery, a tough slot. Everyone you face now is in the mid-90s with hard breaking balls, and he’s a little bit of a downshift.”
McGovern typically delivers fastballs in the mid-to upper 80s, and curves and change-ups in the mid-70s.
“I don’t know if hitters don’t see it great or it’s just the way he throws,” Bakich said. “But he led the state in strikeouts in high school, so he’s doing something to get hitters to miss.”
Clemson's Tristan Bissetta filling in nicely
Redshirt sophomore Tristan Bissetta has seen his playing time increase since leftfielder Will Taylor broke a bone in his wrist while diving for a catch against NC State on April 14. Bissetta, who has made eight starts in left field and two as designated hitter in 11 games since, is batting .351 during that span, which is encouraging because the Tigers could be without Taylor until NCAA tournament play.
“The depth is good,” Bakich said. “We hate that we had to use it the way we’ve had to use it, but the mentality is what you would want as a coaching staff — as a team, picking each other up.”
Bissetta, a former Greenville News' Male Athlete-of-the-Year when he was at Greenville's J.L. Mann High School, is hitting .310 with four home runs and 20 RBIs in 30 games this season.
Clemson staring down season's home stretch
The Tigers have eight games remaining in the regular season, beginning Tuesday with a road game against Charlotte at Truist Park in downtown Charlotte — site of the ACC tournament for a second straight year.
Clemson then travels to Wake Forest for a three-game set before concluding the season with a road game at Coastal Carolina and a final ACC series at home against Boston College.
“It’s still head-down,” Bakich said. “We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us with four road games, four tough games. Wake was the No. 1 team in the country for a long time. We can’t look ahead. The guys have been really good about keeping their focus on the next thing.”
Scott Keepfer covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at skeepfer@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ScottKeepfer
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson baseball holding ACC lead as regular season winds down
