Thoughts on the Clemson Regional

Of the big three sports, playoffs in baseball probably end up being the least accurate gauge of the truly best team. I think in football, and to a lesser extent basketball, even over the course of a single game you generally get a good idea of which is the better team. In baseball though, there's too much randomness contributing to a game winner that it can be difficult to determine the better team through a single or even a series of games. For example, in terms of skill level, Clemson should probably beat Tennessee Tech just about every time they play. But in baseball, a Tenn. Tech pitcher could sneak a hanging curve past Ben Paulsen while a perfectly placed slider that paints the outside corner at the knees from Trey Delk gets tagged for a triple down. String a couple of these kinds of hits together, and Clemson, or any team for that matter, is suddenly looking at tournament-torpedoing loss.

On paper, Clemson is the favorite, if not overwhelming favorite to take the regional. I think this is a pretty friendly draw for the Tigers--they have the clear edge in pitching and hitting over each team. Not to take away from an Alabama squad that's put together a fine year, but 3B Jake Smith, their second best hitter (and a pretty decent pitcher out of the 'pen), is out for the season with an ankle tear. Additionally, while Austin Hyatt has been a standout starting pitcher, throwing 100+ innings and racking up 86 K's against just 13 walks, the team just doesn't have much to turn to after him. If anything, I'm a little more scared of Oklahoma State, they have some live arms (Oliver and Blandford) capable of controlling a game, although they struggle with their control. They also have a solid bullpen capable of protecting slim leads and an offense that hits for a good average and some power if lacking some patience. I think this is the kind of team that profiles well against Clemson; taking away the stronger facet of our team and tries to put a few balls in play against a defense that's probably a shade below average.

In the end, though, the baseball playoffs consist of a sample size too small for even a heavy favorite to rest comfortably; in other words, gambling on baseball is a fool's game. The beautiful flip side to this, however, is that Clemson is good enough to ride a "hot" (or "lucky", if you prefer) streak to Omaha this year.

LET'S GO TIGERS!!!