Clemson baseball brings winning streak into ACC opener against Duke

Mar 17, 2023 - 1:25 PM

Ahh, I love this time of year. It’s St. Patrick’s Day weekend and the best sporting event of the year: the start of ACC baseball. Oh, yeah, I guess basketball is also happening. Now that I think about it, the group of Duke fans I saw heading to the bar in metro Atlanta were probably going to watch basketball, and not just really pumped for this weekend series like I thought. That may explain why they looked funny when I suggested Duke had non-basketball sports. They also got out of a Tahoe with UGA stickers and didn’t seem to know anything about Durham.

Anyway, the Tigers are bringing a four game win streak into the game with the Devils. Clemson got things going last weekend with a walk-off grand slam win over Georgia State, and then beat the Panthers in a Saturday double-header with relative ease. Tuesday, Clemson once again fell behind early to College of Charleston but rallied against Cougar closer Will Privette, who many are saying is the nation’s best closer. It was Privette’s first career blown save. There was also a bit of controversy at the end, and our old pal Chad Holbrook was big mad.

So, what do we know about the Devils? Well, they got some bats. Back in their February series with Baylor they scored 22 runs and 20 runs in each of the first games, and 10 in game three to earn the sweep. Granted, that Baylor team isn’t great this year, but Duke followed that up with a 9-0 shutout of then #9 ECU.

Last week Duke lost 2 of 3 to No. 5 Wake Forest, and this week they took their first road trip of the season, heading down to Clinton to face Presbyterian, where they won 15-2. Smart move not having Clemson as your first road test, but, and I mean no disrespect to our Blue Hose friends, but I’m not sure if that’s going to prepare you for a series at Doug Kingsmore — although, the students are leaving for spring break.

Friday looks like it has rain in the forecast so we’ll see if we get the game in, but Saturday and Sunday look clear, and maybe just a bit chilly. Should be another fun weekend in TigerTown.