Media Guide
The 129th edition of baseball at Clemson features a veteran pitching staff and a program that is looking to take the next step under Head Coach Erik Bakich, whose 133 wins the last three years are tied for seventh most in the nation. Clemson is ranked as high as No. 19 in the nation in the preseason by D1Baseball.
Nick Schnabel, Jimmy Belanger and Griffin Mazur are all in their fourth season as assistant coaches at Clemson, one of only two programs to total 44+ wins each of the last three years and one of two programs to host a regional each of the last three seasons.
Tiger players who accounted for 54 percent of the starts in the 2025 season return in 2026. The Tigers must replace All-American and No. 43 overall draft pick Cam Cannarella in center field and first-team All-American and closer Lucas Mahlstedt along with veteran hitters Andrew Ciufo, Dominic Listi and Josh Paino as well as righthander Reed Garris in the bullpen.
The 2026 schedule features 30 home games and seven combined games at six different minor league parks. The ACC Tournament returns to Charlotte, N.C. for the fourth time overall and first time since 2024.
CATCHERS
Senior Jacob Jarrell (Florence, S.C.) is the returning starter at catcher and one of the team’s best leaders, as he was a team co-captain in 2024 and 2025. The 2025 strength & conditioning All-American led the 2025 team in homers (15) and has 26 long balls in 122 games (110 starts) in his career.
Junior Ty Marshall (Cayce, S.C.) is in his third year in the program and has played 15 games. He will provide depth behind the plate and is a switch-hitter, Clemson’s lone catcher who can bat lefthanded.
Sophomore Nate Savoie (Newport Beach, Calif.) is a first-year transfer from Loyola Marymount who will compete for playing time at catcher as well as in the outfield. He was the 2025 West Coast Conference Freshman-of-the-Year and a First-Team All-WCC selection thanks to hitting .300 with 20 homers and 61 RBIs in 53 games.
INFIELDERS
The Tigers return five junior infielders, including Jarren Purify (Detroit, Mich.), who is the veteran leader of the infield at second base. In 2025, the team co-captain hit .298 with six homers, 35 RBIs, 54 runs, a .417 on-base percentage and a team-high 29 steals along with a .950 fielding percentage.
Junior Collin Priest (Mount Dora, Fla.) is one of the team’s strongest players who hits for power to all fields. In his first season at Clemson in 2025, he was a Third-Team All-ACC selection thanks to totaling 12 homers, 52 RBIs and a .407 on-base percentage in 59 games.
Junior Luke Gaffney (Danville, Ky.) was the primary starter at first base in his first year at Clemson in 2025. In two years at the collegiate level, he is a .317 hitter with 18 homers, 103 RBIs and 88 runs in 107 games. He will also provide depth behind the plate.
Junior Tryston McCladdie (Harlem, Ga.) has the versatility to play multiple infield positions as well as in the outfield, as he started at five different positions in 2025. He is a career .279 hitter with a .468 slugging percentage in 49 games (29 starts).
Junior Jay Dillard (Anderson, S.C.) will compete for playing time at multiple positions. The local product has played 19 games in his first two active seasons.
First-year transfer and sophomore Tyler Lichtenberger (Boca Raton, Fla.) will compete for the starting shortstop spot in 2026. He was the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Freshman-of-the-Year who hit .341 with 37 RBIs.
Jason Fultz Jr. (Harborcreek, Pa.) and Jackson Taylor (Marietta, Ga.) are freshmen who will compete for playing time. Fultz was rated the No. 72 freshman in the nation in the preseason by Perfect Game after playing at P27 Academy in Lexington, S.C. Taylor was a member of the state championship team at Walton High School and was rated the No. 11 shortstop in Georgia by Perfect Game.
OUTFIELDERS
Senior Jack Crighton (Rochester Hills, Mich.), who has also logged playing time at first base, is a candidate to start in the outfield and is the most experienced returning outfielder. The three-time All-ACC Academic selection has had a knack for his late-season prowess at the plate and is a career .302 hitter in 56 ACC regular-season games.
Redshirt freshman Briggs Sullivan (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) sat out the 2025 season while recovering from injury and will compete for playing time in the outfield after being rated the No. 11 player in South Carolina out of high school.
Senior Ty Dalley (Vidalia, Ga.) and sophomore Bryce Clavon (Stockbridge, Ga.) are first-year transfers who will compete for starting spots in the outfield in 2026. Dalley was rated the No. 31 transfer hitter in the nation in the preseason after three outstanding seasons at Mercer, where he hit .284 with 48 doubles, a school-record 58 homers, 188 RBIs, 132 runs and a .627 slugging percentage in 175 games. He was a three-time All-SoCon selection as well. Clavon played 27 games at Georgia in 2025 after earning all-state honors at Kell High School.
Freshman Jackson Moore (Hartsville, S.C.) was a North/South Palmetto Games participant who hails from the same hometown as former Tiger All-American Cam Cannarella (2023-25). He is also the stepson of former Tiger Daniel Pritchard (2003-05).
PITCHERS
Pitchers who accounted for 48 of the 63 starts (76 percent) return from the 2025 team, led by junior righty and preseason first-team All-American Aidan Knaak (Fort Myers, Fla.). He became the first Tiger pitcher in history to earn First-Team All-ACC honors in his first two seasons. He is 14-2 with a 3.78 ERA and 218 strikeouts against 58 walks in 173.2 innings pitched over 31 career starts, as Clemson has a 26-5 record in his starts.
Junior righty Drew Titsworth (Frankenmuth, Mich.) emerged as a weekend starter in 2025, when he was 5-1 with a 4.28 ERA. He was rated the No. 98 college prospect for the 2026 draft in the preseason by D1Baseball and has a 9-1 record and 3.98 ERA in 39 appearances (seven starts) in his career.
Another candidate to claim a starting spot on the weekend is sophomore lefthander Talan Bell (Oviedo, Fla.). He recovered from an injury to pitch during the second half of the 2025 season, when Clemson had a 6-2 record in his eight starts.
Senior righty Joe Allen (Hampton Falls, N.H.) has pitched 81.2 innings over three seasons and is a three-time All-ACC Academic selection. He has solidified Clemson’s bullpen in recent years and figures to do the same in 2026 with his 9-0 record, 3.86 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 81.2 innings pitched in his career.
Junior lefty Jacob McGovern (Seneca, S.C.) has proven to be one of the Tigers’ best relievers in recent years. He is 6-1 with a 3.21 ERA, .176 opponents’ batting average and 64 strikeouts in 53.1 innings pitched over 31 appearances in his career.
Senior righty Nathan Dvorsky (Suwanee, Ga.) has been a valuable righthander out of the bullpen for three seasons. He has a 5-0 record in 28 appearances while holding opponents to a .231 batting average in his career.
Junior righty Chance Fitzgerald (Sanford, Fla.) is another veteran reliever who has pitched in crucial situations. He has a 4-1 record in 23 career appearances.
Juniors Justin LeGuernic (Dix Hills, N.Y.) and Noah Samol (Mason, Ohio) are imposing lefties. LeGuernic was a starter during the first half of the 2025 season, while Samol pitched 7.1 innings in 2025 after missing the 2024 season due to injury.
Redshirt freshman lefty Brendon Bennett (Novi, Mich.) had his 2025 season cut short due to injury while he was slated to be Clemson’s primary midweek starter.
Sophomore righty Dion Brown (York, S.C.) is a hard-throwing reliever who saw limited action in 2025, but showed a live arm in the fall.
Two righthanders redshirted in 2025. Redshirt freshman Dane Moehler (Marietta, Ga.), who was scheduled to be a weekend starter in 2025 before suffering a season-ending injury in early February, returns and will compete for innings on the mound when healthy. Luke Kissenberth (Greenville, S.C.) suffered an injury prior to the 2025 season and missed the year. He is in his sixth collegiate season in 2026.
The Tigers signed three transfers, including lefthander Michael Sharman (Woodstock, Ga.). He played one season (2025) at Tennessee, where he was 3-1 with a 3.18 ERA, .229 opponents’ batting average and 25 strikeouts in 22.2 innings pitched.
Junior righthanders Hayden Simmerson (Salisbury, N.C.) and Ariston Veasey (Peachtree City, Ga.) are also in the mix in 2026. Simmerson was an All-American at Catawba, where he had 146 strikeouts in 126.2 innings pitched over two seasons. The hard-throwing Veasey played two seasons at Alabama after being a decorated two-way standout at Starr’s Mill High School.
The Tigers also feature eight freshman pitchers, including five from the right side. Righty Dylan Harrison (Fontana, Calif.), who can also play on the infield, was rated the No. 80 freshman in the nation in the preseason by Perfect Game.
Righthander Landon Fowler (Easley, S.C.) was rated the No. 448 prospect for the 2025 draft by Perfect Game, while righty Peyton Miller (Phoenix, Md.) was rated the No. 206 freshman in the nation in the preseason by Perfect Game after playing at IMG Academy.
Righthander Danny Nelson (Hershey, Pa.) impressed the staff in the fall as a candidate for a back-end spot in the bullpen and was rated the No. 196 righty in the nation by Perfect Game. Eston Simpson (Jefferson, Ga.) is another righthander who has showed promise and was rated the No. 259 freshman in the nation in the preseason by Perfect Game.
Nick Frusco (Miller Place, N.Y.) is one of three freshman lefthanders who will compete for innings on the mound in 2026. He was rated the No. 100 freshman in the nation in the preseason by D1Baseball.
Lefthander Dan Margolies (Cheshire, Conn.) was rated the No. 153 freshman in the nation in the preseason by Perfect Game, while lefty Jake Morris (Lugoff, S.C.) was a two-time all-region selection at Lugoff-Elgin High School.
