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CUTrevor
2025-05-21 10:39:14
CLEMSON, S.C. - The Tigers travel to the 51st ACC Tournament as the No. 5 seed at Durham (N.C.) Bulls Athletic Park. TOURNAMENT SETUP • Who - Virginia Tech (31-24) vs. Clemson (41-15) • Best Ranking - VAT - NR; CU - No. 12 Perfect Game, USA Today • When - Wednesday (1 p.m.) • Where - Durham, N.C. (Durham Bulls Athletic Park) • Watch - ACC Network • Video Announcers - Chris Cotter, Devon Travis • Listen (Radio) - Clemson Athletic Network (locally on WCCP (105.5 FM)) • Listen (Internet) - ClemsonTigers.com • Live Stats - ClemsonTigers.com • Social Media - ClemsonBaseball SERIES HISTORY • Overall Record - Clemson leads 53-26-2 (1902-2023) • Record at Neutral - Clemson leads 6-3 (1902-2023) • Record in ACC Tournament - Virginia Tech leads 2-1 (2010-23) STARTING PITCHERS • TBA (VAT) vs. TBA (CU) CLEMSON OVERVIEW • Clemson, which has a 5-1 neutral record, swept Pittsburgh on the road in three games last weekend. • The Tigers are averaging 7.2 runs per game and hitting .276 with a .449 slugging percentage, .409 on-base percentage and 73 steals. • The pitching staff has a 4.91 ERA, .248 opponents’ batting average and 2.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and Clemson is fielding .976. VIRGINIA TECH OVERVIEW • Virginia Tech, which has a 3-0 neutral record and is averaging 6.8 runs per game, is led by eighth-year Head Coach John Szefc. • The Hokies defeated Stanford 7-4 in the ACC Tournament on Tuesday. They are hitting .271 and have a 5.20 ERA and .974 fielding percentage. • Sam Tackett is hitting .317 with 14 homers and 44 RBIs, while Grant Manning has a team-high five saves. QUICK HITS • Virginia Tech was one of five ACC teams Clemson did not play in the regular season. • Clemson's 41 overall wins are two more than any other ACC team. • Clemson has a .976 fielding percentage, just behind the school record of .977, set by the 2023 team. TIGERS TO PLAY IN 51ST ACC TOURNEY • Clemson (41-15), the No. 5 seed, opens its ACC Tourney by playing No. 12 seed Virginia Tech (31-24) on Wednesday at 1 p.m. on ACC Network. • The better seed is the designated home team throughout the ACC Tournament, and home team is in the third-base dugout for each game. • The games are played at Durham (N.C.) Bulls Athletic Park. • It is the 14th time the ACC Baseball Tournament is held in Durham after last being held there in 2023. • Clemson won the 2023 ACC Tournament in Durham and also won the 2016 ACC Tournament in Durham. • All 16 ACC teams are playing in the 2025 ACC Tourney and is in its first year of a single-elimination format. • Seeds 1-4 receive a double bye and seeds 5-8 receive single byes. • No. 1 seed Georgia Tech, No. 2 seed Florida State, No. 3 seed North Carolina and No. 4 seed NC State all receive a double bye. • No. 5 seed Clemson, No. 6 seed Virginia, No. 7 seed Duke and No. 8 seed Wake Forest all receive a single bye. • The other eight seeds all must win five games to win the tournament title. • There are four games on both Tuesday and Wednesday, and two games each on Thursday, Friday (quarterfinals) and Saturday (semifinals). • The ACC Championship Game is Sunday at noon on ESPN2, and the winner of the game receives an automatic bid into the 2025 NCAA Tournament. • All of Clemson’s ACC Tournament games are broadcast live on the radio by Clemson Athletic Network. • Live stats are available at ClemsonTigers.com for all Tiger games. CLEMSON’S ACC TOURNEY HISTORY • This is the 51st ACC Tournament, and Clemson has been to the finals in 23 of the previous 50 tournaments, eight more than any other school. • Clemson has won an ACC-high 11 ACC Tournament titles in history, including 2023, when it beat Miami (Fla.) 11-5 in the title game. • Clemson’s 11 ACC Tournament titles came in 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2006, 2016, 2023. • Clemson has a 119-76 record (.610) in ACC Tournament games. The Tigers have the most All-ACC Tournament selections (69) in history. • Clemson’s 119 ACC Tournament wins are 27 more than any other team (NC State (92), North Carolina (92)). • Only Florida State (66.2) has a better winning percentage than Clemson (61.0) in ACC Tournament play. • Clemson is one of only two teams to play in all 51 ACC Tournaments. The Tigers join Virginia as the only teams to play in every ACC Tourney. • The ACC Tournament began in 1973 and has been held every year but two (1979, 2020) since then. NO-HITTER • Three Tigers, Aidan Knaak, Joe Allen and Lucas Mahlstedt, combined on a no-hitter in Clemson's 6-1 win at Pittsburgh on May 15, 2025. • Aidan Knaak pitched 7.1 innings and had 12 strikeouts, then Joe Allen pitched 1.1 innings and Lucas Mahlstedt retired the last batter. • It was Clemson's 15th no-hitter in history, third in an ACC game and first in an ACC road game. • It was Clemson's first no-hitter since March 18, 2009, when the Tigers no-hit USC Upstate in a 14-0 win at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. • It was Clemson's first no-hitter in an ACC game since April 17, 1976, when Clemson no-hit Virginia in a 9-0 win at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. SERIES SUCCESS • Clemson won 11 of its 14 weekend series (including tournaments) in 2025. • Clemson won its first 10 weekend series (including tournaments) in 2025, including the first six ACC series. • In each of those 10 weekend series wins, Clemson won the weekend opener all 10 times. • Clemson won seven of its 10 ACC series, tied for the most ACC series wins with Georgia Tech and North Carolina. FOUR TIGERS NAMED ALL-ACC • Aidan Knaak (SP) and Lucas Mahlstedt (RP) earned First-Team All-ACC honors. • Cam Cannarella (OF) earned Second-Team All-ACC honors, while Collin Priest (DH/UT) earned Third-Team All-ACC accolades. • It marked the third time in Clemson history and first time since 1995 that two Tiger pitchers were named First-Team All-ACC. • Knaak became the first Tiger pitcher in history to earn First-Team All-ACC honors in each of his first two seasons. • Knaak became the fourth Tiger pitcher and first since Steve Reba (2001,02) to be a multiple First-Team All-ACC selection. • Knaak became the 14th Tiger pitcher and first since Pat Krall (2016,17) to earn multiple All-ACC selections. • Mahlstedt became the first Tiger reliever to earn First-Team All-ACC honors since 2018 (Ryley Gilliam). • Mahlstedt became the first Tiger reliever to earn All-ACC accolades since 2019 (Carson Spiers). • Cannarella became the first Tiger to be a three-time All-ACC selection since Seth Beer (2016-18). • Cannarella was a First-Team All-ACC selection in 2023 and Third-Team All-ACC pick in 2024. CRIGHTON STRONG LATE IN SEASON • Junior outfielder and infielder Jack Crighton has had a penchant for his hot bat late in each of his three seasons at Clemson. • He is hitting .302 with a homer, triple, five doubles, 17 RBIs, a .390 on-base percentage and five steals in 41 games (30 starts) in 2025. • He hit .317 in ACC regular-season games. • He was 9-for-13 (.692) with six runs, a walk and hit-by-pitch in three games at Pittsburgh from May 15-17. • In the series at Pittsburgh, he reached base in 10 consecutive plate appearances and had a hit in eight consecutive at-bats. • He hit a triple and three doubles at Pittsburgh on May 17 to tie a school record for doubles in a game. • He entered that game with three extra-base hits on the season. |
