Clemson Pitching Dominates to Continue Undefeated Start

Clemson baseball is in full swing, going into its second weekend of playing games, and one thing has stood out as an important difference: pitching.

To begin the year, the Tigers have recorded a 0.43 ERA in five games played, all games that they’ve won inside Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The team did it again on Friday night, defeating Bryant 9-3 through a six-run eighth inning.

However, none of those runs came earned for the four pitchers that played. They all came from errors, only allowing two hits and walking three batters.

The Bulldogs aren’t a pushover either, a strong favorite to win the America East Conference. Starting pitcher Aidan Knaak said that the team strictly is doing what the coaching staff is asking of them: attacking opponents.

“I would say just doing what the coaching staff preaches,” Knaak said after the game. “Remember to pursuit on the strike zone, just keep attacking guys and things will work out. Just stay in our game, just keep attacking, that’s our main goal right now.”

Knaak finished with eight strikeouts in the win across five innings, increasing his volume after a three-inning outing in his first start after recovering from the flu. Besides an inside-the-park home run in the second inning from an error by outfielder Bryce Clavon, Bryant batters never seemed to have any chance of scoring with the junior on the bump.

Head coach Erik Bakich even thought about keeping him in another inning, just to keep his momentum.

“I think his pitch count was a little bit higher than 75, but just feel like they’d gone two time through the order, but he was sharp,” Bakich said after the game. “I think he would even say he wasn’t as sharp as he could be.”

After another two errors that were unearned, the rest of the relief staff did its job. Justin LeGuernic relieved Knaak in the sixth, and after getting into a little bit of trouble in the eight, senior Joe Allen slammed the door on that opportunity. Nathan Dvorsky retired the side in the ninth inning.

Even though Knaak didn’t go that extra inning, he always had confidence about the guys that come in behind him.

“Everyone on the pitching staff is going to have your back,” he said. “So, just knowing that, going into it, just being able to leave it all on the line. . .yeah, very confident out there, those guys behind my back.”

Last season, Clemson finished with a 5.09 ERA, allowing opponents at times to score bunches of runs to have to win by using offense. So far, the Tigers have played complimentary on the diamond to begin the season, and that’s going to win plenty of games over the course of this season.

Perhaps some of those swing games last season, especially in the postseason, will have a different outcome with some standout pitching down the stretch. That’s what Clemson has shown thus far.

Knaak says the best is yet to come for him before he gets in his prime form this season.

“The way I look at it, I want to be at the best I’m going to be at the end of the season,” he said. “So, just slowly building towards that, learning from each outing and just getting where we want to be at the end of the season.”

Clemson will be back in action on Saturday afternoon, looking to win its second series of the year against the Bulldogs.