Clemson Visits Pittsburgh To Close Regular Season

CLEMSON, S.C. - The Tigers close the 2018 regular season with a Thursday-Saturday series at Pittsburgh.

SERIES SETUP

• Who - Clemson (40-13, 19-8 ACC) vs. Pittsburgh (27-22, 11-16 ACC)

• Best Rankings - CU - No. 4 Collegiate Baseball; PIT - NR

• When - Thursday (6 p.m.), Friday (3 p.m.), Saturday (1 p.m.)

• Where - Pittsburgh, Pa. (Charles L. Cost Field)

• Watch - ACC Network Extra

• Video Announcers - Jeff Hatthorn, Josh Rowntree

• Listen (Radio) - WCCP (105.5 FM), ESPN Upstate

• Listen (Internet) - ClemsonTigers.com, TuneIn

• Live Stats - ClemsonTigers.com

SERIES HISTORY

Overall Record - Clemson leads 4-2 (2014-16)

Record at Pittsburgh - Clemson leads 2-1 (2014)

STARTING PITCHERS

• Thursday - RHP Spencer Strider (CU) vs. RHP Dan Hammer (PIT)
• Friday - RHP Brooks Crawford (CU) vs. RHP Matt Pidich (PIT)
• Saturday - LHP Jake Higginbotham (CU) vs. TBA (PIT)

CLEMSON OVERVIEW

• Clemson defeated Kennesaw State on the road 7-2 on Tuesday night.
• The Tigers are averaging 6.2 runs per game and hitting .256 with a .374 on-base percentage and 47 steals.
• The pitching staff has a 3.41 ERA, .233 opponents’ batting average and 2.28 strikeout-to-walk ratio and Clemson is fielding .974.

PITTSBURGH OVERVIEW

• Pittsburgh is led by 21st-year head coach Joe Jordano.
• The Panthers were swept at home by Louisville last weekend. They are hitting .240 and have a 4.27 ERA and .976 fielding percentage.
• Liam Sabino is hitting .299 with 15 homers, 16 doubles, 43 RBIs and 18 steals, while Frank Maldonado is batting .295 with five homers.

QUICK HITS

• Clemson’s eight-game winning streak in ACC regular-season road games is its longest since winning 10 in a row from 1994 (1) to 1995 (9).
• Clemson’s 40 regular-season wins are its most since the 2006 team totaled 43 regular-season victories.
• Clemson finished its non-conference schedule with a 21-5 record in 2018. The Tigers were 22-4 in both 2016 and 2017 in non-conference games.

TIGERS RECOGNIZED FOR APR SCORE

• Baseball was one of seven Tiger programs in the top-10 percent of their sport in the eligibility, graduation and retention metric.
• It was the second year in a row the Clemson baseball program was lauded by the NCAA for its APR.
• Clemson was one of only three ACC institutions (Notre Dame, Virginia Tech) to earn recognition for baseball.

STRIDER PITCHING AS TOP FRESHMAN

• Righthander Spencer Strider has been Clemson's most impactful freshman in 2018 as a reliever and spot starter.
• He is 4-1 with a save, a 3.67 ERA, .195 opponents' batting average and 60 strikeouts in 41.2 innings pitched over 19 outings (three starts).
• He leads the team in strikeouts and has allowed four extra-base hits, including only one home run.
• In ACC regular-season games, he is 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 16.0 innings pitched over eight relief appearances.