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The Clemson Tigers are one of the top college baseball teams in the nation this season with a 37-12 record and have found their place within the top five on various ranking sites. They currently lead the ACC Atlantic Division standings at 17-9 and have a great chance of becoming one of the top two seeds in this year's ACC Tournament.
The Tigers have the fourth-best odds of winning the College World Series as per BetMGM.com at +1200 due to their amazing run in the 2024 regular season.
Clemson, which has appeared in 12 College World Series, started the year winning seven of their first eight games, including a 14-3 victory over the Xavier University Musketeers in their season opener.
The Tigers continued to roar into March as they went 17-2 during the month, bringing their overall record to 24-3. Among the standout series wins for Clemson that month were a three-game sweep of No. 12 Florida State and a 2-0 series triumph over archrivals South Carolina. They also won their series against ACC foe Duke.
The Tigers won four more in April to bring their record to 28-3 and peaked at No. 2 in the rankings. Then, they hit a speed bump and went 6-6 in 12 games to end the month with a 34-9 record and fell to No. 5.
They began the month of May with a 2-1 series win at home over Georgia Tech in which they blitzed the Yellow Jackets with an average of 10.6 runs.
The ballclub is in the midst of a five-game stretch where they will play away games against Charlotte, Wake Forest and Coastal Carolina. They won against Charlotte but dropped their next two against Wake Forest, falling to 37-12 and 17-9 in the ACC.
Clemson needs to finish strong going into the College World Series
With the regular season about to conclude, Clemson must sweep its remaining games against Wake Forest, Coastal Carolina and Boston College. Winning against conference foes Wake Forest and Boston College would give them at least the No. 2 seeding and an easier schedule into the ACC Tournament.
The victories could also boost their ranking in the Field of 64 as the selectors would take note of their overall performances in determining their final seedings in the knockout phase of the 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament.
Blake Wright, who leads the team in home runs (19) and runs batted in (66), will be the heart and soul of the Tigers' offense in the coming tournament while Jacob Hinderleider and Jimmy Obertop are expected to back up Wright in offense.
Alden Mathes and Cam Cannarella can also slug and give timely hits for Clemson in the last part of the regular season and the tournament phase.
Aidan Knaak (4-0, 2.59 ERA) will lead Clemson's pitching corps and is supported by Billy Barlow (4-1, 4.25 ERA) and Ethan Darden (5-3, 4.24 ERA). Austin Gordon has pitched effectively as the closer, recording eight saves throughout the season.
Clemson needs to find the right mix of offense and defense in the final part of the season to stand a chance of claiming their first College World Series title in team history.
