SERIES SETUP • Who - Boston College (9-13, 4-5 ACC) vs. Clemson (19-6, 5-4 ACC) • Best Rankings - BOC - NR; CU - No. 8 CB • When - Thursday (4 p.m.), Friday (6:30 p.m.), Saturday (2 p.m.) • Where - Clemson, S.C. (Doug Kingsmore Stadium) • Watch - ACC Network Extra • Video Announcers - Kyle Parker, Pete Yanity • Listen - TigerCast, Clemson Tigers Network • Live Stats - ClemsonTigers.com • Social Media - ClemsonBaseball • Tickets - ClemsonTigers.com, 1-800-CLEMSON • Promotion (Friday) - The first 1,000 fans receive trading cards of Tiger players and coaches. • Promotion (Saturday) - Young fans can stand on the field during the national anthem and run the bases after the game.
SERIES HISTORY • Overall Record - Clemson leads 28-8 (2006-17) • Record at Clemson - Clemson leads 13-5 (2007-16)
STARTING PITCHERS • Thursday - RHP Jacob Stevens (BC - 3-2, 3.21 ERA) vs. LHP Jacob Hennessy (CU - 2-1, 2.27) • Friday - LHP Dan Metzdorf (BC) vs. RHP Brooks Crawford (CU - 1-1, 3.08) • Saturday - RHP Brian Rapp (BC) vs. LHP Jake Higginbotham (CU - 3-1, 3.94)
CLEMSON OVERVIEW • Clemson defeated Furman 10-5 on Tuesday night at Fluor Field behind a grand slam and five RBIs by Seth Beer. • The Tigers are averaging 5.8 runs per game and hitting .245 with a .365 on-base percentage and 16 steals. • The pitching staff has a 3.28 ERA, .243 opponents’ batting average and 2.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio and Clemson is fielding .975.
BOSTON COLLEGE OVERVIEW • Boston College is led by eighth-year head coach Mike Gambino. • The Eagles fell to Connecticut 4-0 at home on Tuesday. They are hitting .267 and have a 5.64 ERA and .971 fielding percentage. • Jake Palomaki is batting .415 with two homers, 19 RBIs and 10 steals, while Chris Galland is hitting .357 with 13 steals.
QUICK HITS • Clemson is 18-2 when scoring three or more runs and 1-4 when scoring less than three runs in 2018. • Tiger opponents have committed just 19 errors in 25 games, good for a .978 fielding percentage, in 2018. • A total of 15 Tigers have started at least one game at a non-pitching position in 2018.
GILLIAM CLOSING THE DEAL • Junior righthander Ryley Gilliam has been the team's closer each of the last two seasons and has a team-tying-high three saves in 2018. • He is 2-1 with a 1.69 ERA, .184 opponents' batting average and 17 strikeouts against six walks in 10.2 innings pitched over 10 appearances. • In his career, he is 8-4 with seven saves, a 3.87 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 76.2 innings pitched over 52 appearances (six starts).
HENNESSY LEADING ROTATION • Sophomore left-hander Jacob Hennessy was a reliever as a freshman in 2017, but has become the Friday starter in 2018. • He is 2-1 with a 2.27 ERA, .218 opponents' batting average and 36 strikeouts against nine walks in 35.2 innings pitched over six starts. • He is holding opponents to a .150 batting average with two outs. • In the first four innings of games in 2018, he has allowed 16 hits, three runs and five walks with 25 strikeouts in 24.0 innings pitched. • In his career, he is 4-2 with a 2.98 ERA and 73 strikeouts against 20 walks in 66.1 innings pitched over 32 appearances (six starts).
BEER HAS 41 CAREER HOME RUNS • Junior Seth Beer had 18 homers in 2016, 16 home runs in 2017 and has a team-high seven homers in 2018, meaning he has 41 career homers. • He is hitting .259 with seven homers, three doubles, 17 RBIs, 22 runs, a .425 on-base percentage and a steal in 25 games in 2018. • He hit one home run in each of the three games of the Georgia Tech series on March 9, 10. • He has reached base via a hit, walk or hit-by-pitch in 23 of the 25 games in 2018. • In his career, he is hitting .320 with 33 doubles, a triple, 41 homers, 140 RBIs, 130 runs and a .493 on-base percentage in 150 games. • He has 148 career walks, tied for fifth most in Clemson history, while his one walk every 3.42 at-bats is first in Tiger history. • He has reached base via a hit, walk or hit-by-pitch in 143 of his last 148 games with a plate appearance. • He has reached via a hit, walk or hit-by-pitch in 88 of his 91 career games with a plate appearance against ACC (72) and SEC (16) teams.