Tiger Baseball Hosts Furman Tuesday

CLEMSON, S.C. (CU SID) — The Tigers return home to play Furman and Winthrop in midweek games. GAMES SETUP “¢ Who – Furman (11-17) & Winthrop (14-15 entering Tuesday‘s game at Davidson) vs. Clemson (17-9) “¢ Rankings – FUR – NR; WIN – NR; CU – No. 16 BA, No. 23 CB, No. 15 USA “¢ When – Tuesday (6:30 p.m.), Wednesday (6:30 p.m.) “¢ Where – Clemson, S.C. (Doug Kingsmore Stadium) “¢ Watch – TigerCast “¢ Listen – TigerCast “¢ Live Stats – ClemsonTigers.com “¢ Social Media – Twitter/Instagram (@ClemsonBaseball) “¢ Tickets – ClemsonTigers.com, 1-800-CLEMSON “¢ Promotion (Tuesday) – Two For Tuesday – All tickets are buy one, get one free. “¢ Promotion (Wednesday) – Get a Family Four Pack of tickets (two adults, two youth) for only $20 online at ClemsonTigers.com or at the gate. SERIES HISTORY (FURMAN) “¢ Overall Record – Clemson leads 142-57-4 (1896-2013) “¢ Record at Clemson – Clemson leads 77-26-1 (1896-2012) SERIES HISTORY (WINTHROP) “¢ Overall Record – Clemson leads 18-5 (1981-13) “¢ Record at Clemson – Clemson leads 14-4 (1981-13) STARTING PITCHERS “¢ Tuesday – LHP Billy Greenfield (FUR) vs. RHP Jake Long (CU) “¢ Wednesday – TBA (WIN) vs. TBA (CU) CLEMSON OVERVIEW “¢ Clemson is coming off two victories in two games in a rain-shortened series at No. 25 Maryland over the weekend. “¢ The Tigers are averaging 6.9 runs per game and hitting .300 with a .369 on-base percentage and 48 steals. “¢ The pitching staff has a 4.32 ERA, .250 opponents‘ batting average, 2.21 strikeout-to-walk ratio and .962 fielding percentage. FURMAN OVERVIEW “¢ Furman is led by 21st-year Head Coach Ron Smith. “¢ The Paladins won one of three games at Samford last weekend. They are hitting .289 and have a 5.76 ERA and .963 fielding percentage. “¢ Hunter Burton is hitting a team-high .336 with a .427 on-base percentage and 23 steals. WINTHROP OVERVIEW “¢ Winthrop is led by fourth-year Head Coach Tom Riginos. “¢ The Eagles won two games at home over UNC Asheville last weekend. They are hitting .235 and have a 3.46 ERA and .966 fielding percentage. “¢ TJ Olesczuk is hitting a team-high .414 with 11 doubles, one triple, 15 RBIs, a .469 on-base percentage and five steals. QUICK HITS “¢ All nine of Clemson‘s starters are hitting .280 or better. Seven of the nine are hitting .312 or better. “¢ In the last five ACC games, Tiger starters have combined to allow just four earned runs in 33.0 innings pitched. (1.09 ERA). “¢ Clemson hit 17 extra-base hits in its three games, all on the road, last week. “¢ Winthrop Head Coach Tom Riginos served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Clemson for eight seasons (2003-10). ACC STANDINGS “¢ Clemson is in second place in the ACC Atlantic Division standings with an 8-3 league record behind first-place Florida State (10-2). “¢ In the overall ACC standings, Clemson is in third place behind Florida State and Virginia (10-2). KENNEDY MAKES SPLASH WITH RETURN “¢ Senior utility player Shane Kennedy tore his ACL on October 20, 2013, but made a quick recovery and only missed the first 18 games. “¢ He has taken over the starting job at first base and is hitting .346 with one double, one triple, one homer, five RBIs and three steals. “¢ In the first game of a doubleheader at Maryland on March 28, he went 4-for-4 with a homer and the go-ahead, run-scoring triple in the ninth. TWO FORMER TIGERS ON MLB ROSTERS “¢ Former Tiger infielder Jeff Baker (2000-02) and former Tiger shortstop Brad Miller (2009-11) are both on major league rosters in 2014. “¢ Baker (Marlins) is in his 10th MLB season, while Miller (Mariners) is in his second MLB season as the starting shortstop. “¢ Baker batted .334 in his Clemson career, is tied for the Tiger record with 59 career homers and was a two-time, first-team All-American. “¢ Miller, the 2011 ACC Player-of-the-Year, hit .339 with 36 doubles, eight triples, 16 homers, 135 RBIs and 46 steals in 191 games as a Tiger.