Clemson listed as National Seed in latest tournament projection
CLEMSON -- Two weeks ago, Clemson baseball coach Monte Lee had a long conversation with his team.
The Tigers had just lost a brutal game to Georgia 6-1 in Athens to drop four of their last five contests. Lee pulled his team to the side and sat out in left field for about 20 minutes after the game was over on that Tuesday night.
The consensus after that conversation was simple: Clemson had to be better. And Lee told us it all began with himself.
The Tigers needed to get back to their consistency at the plate and dig in as the final stretch of the season approached. Things looked bleak, but Logan Davidson turned to us before he walked toward the team bus back to Clemson with one final thought.
“We’ll get there,” Davidson said.
Well, as frustrating as it was for Clemson fans to watch their team struggle during that slump, they are just as jubilated now that Clemson has rattled off eight consecutive wins in a 14-day span.
Clemson looks like it has gotten its groove back.
The Tigers swept Virginia and Wake Forest, both on the road, and picked up two mid-week victories against Presbetyrian College and Kennesaw State. Clemson won all three games in Charlottesville by one run pushing the overall record in one-run games this year to 12-3. Remarkable.
Just when you began to think this team looked dead in its track, they responded and have now put themselves in a strong position to finish the season strong.
It all starts this weekend against Florida State.
The outsiders have noticed Clemson getting back to its consistency over the last two weeks. D1baseball.com released their latest projection for the 64-team field for the postseason and Clemson currently in as a No. 8 national seed.
The three other teams projected in Clemson’s regional are Wagner, Missouri State, and a familiar foe in Coastal Carolina.
The Seminoles, who are sitting at a 31-14 (13-10) record, are just outside as a No. 9 national seed. If that doesn’t tell you how important these next three games are for both teams, then I don’t know what will.
The Tigers are currently No. 10 in RPI and are No. 10 in the country. One factor that is hurting Clemson is its 1-6 record against top 25 teams in the RPI. The big task will come this weekend against Florida State as Clemson looks to continue its roll.
Clemson has a 10-2 record on the road in ACC play, but only a 7-5 record at home.
First pitch of the big weekend series will be Saturday at 6:30 PM. Monte Lee will be talking with us Thursday afternoon to preview the series.
We expect to be joined by D1Baseball's Aaron Fitt later today on Clemson Sports Talk's two-hour radio show in Myrtle Beach on Fox Sports Radio 101.9 FM, 1050 AM, and in Columbia on 1400 AM which can be heard on iHeart Radio coast to coast.