Pitching Caused Clemson to Miss Out of NCAAs for 2nd Straight Year

9 times opponents scored 10 or more runs in a game

CLEMSON, S.C. — When Clemson opened the 2022 season with a 14-0 record, talk about the Tigers possibly returning to the lofty status it once owned in college baseball seemed like a real possibility.

Clemson had just swept archrival South Carolina in a three-game series for the first time, and its 14-0 start was the program’s best in 20 years.

So, what happened?

On Sunday, the Tigers officially learned they will not play in the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year, a first for the program since the Ronald Reagan administration. This is coming off a 2021 season in which Clemson suffered its first losing season since 1957.

Again, what happened? How did the Tigers go from 14-0 to not making the tournament?

It is simple – pitching.

Clemson’s pitching was awful in 2022. There is just no better way of saying it.

The Tigers allowed 5.5 runs per game and had an earned run average of 4.86, which ranked eighth in the ACC.

The main issue lied in the starting pitching, where the Tigers never truly found a Saturday or Sunday starter. Clemson’s ace Mack Anglin held his own, but his 6-6 record and 4.48 ERA was nothing to write home about, either.

Clemson, which finished the season 35-23, could not find any real consistency from its starters, and as a result, it wore down its bullpen by midseason.

Granted, the ACC had one of its best seasons in league history at the plate. The Tigers averaged 7.58 runs per game this season, the program’s best since it went to the College World Series in 2006. However, Clemson ranked just eighth in the conference.

Add to that the Tigers played seven of the league’s nine tournament teams in the regular season and then ACC regular season champion Virginia Tech and eventual tournament champion North Carolina in the ACC Tournament.

During its 14-0 start, Clemson pitching allowed just one team to score six runs. But in the last 44 games, the Tigers allowed 20 teams to score at least six runs and nine of those 20 scored 10 or more runs.