Righthander who had one of the best seasons by a Tiger freshman pitcher in history in 2024.
Career Stats
2024: National Freshman Pitcher-of-the-Year by NCBWA; became the second Tiger to earn a national freshman-of-the-year honor, joining Seth Beer (2016) … third-team All-American by Baseball America, D1Baseball and NCBWA; became the fourth Tiger freshman and first Tiger freshman pitcher to earn All-America honors … first-team freshman All-American by Baseball America, D1Baseball, NCBWA and Perfect Game … second-team All-Atlantic Region by ABCA … First-Team All-ACC selection; became the first Tiger freshman pitcher to earn First-Team All-ACC honors since 1997 (Ryan Mottl) … All-ACC Freshman selection … won the team’s Newcomer Award … All-ACC Academic selection … ACC Academic Honor Roll member … had a 5-1 record and 3.35 ERA in 15 starts … in 83.1 innings pitched, he allowed 67 hits (.221 opponents’ batting average) and 29 walks with 108 strikeouts … second in the nation among freshmen in ERA, strikeouts, strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.72) and WHIP (1.15) … third in the ACC in strikeouts and hits allowed per nine innings pitched (7.24), fourth in ERA and opponents’ batting average, fifth in strikeouts per nine innings pitched (11.66), seventh in innings pitched and tied for eighth in starts on the mound … led the team in ERA, innings pitched, starts on the mound, strikeouts and opponents’ batting average … his 108 strikeouts were the most by a Tiger freshman in history and the most by any Tiger since Charlie Barnes had 113 strikeouts in 2017 … only allowed 14 extra-base hits … had a 4-1 record, 2.55 ERA, .208 opponents’ batting average and 75 strikeouts against 15 walks in 53.0 innings pitched in nine ACC regular-season starts; only allowed 10 extra-base hits … in 53.1 innings pitched after the second inning, he allowed 15 earned runs (2.53 ERA) and 19 walks with 60 strikeouts … had a 2.96 ERA, .211 opponents’ batting average and 32 strikeouts against seven walks in 24.1 innings pitched over four road starts … pitched 6.0 innings in a starting role, allowing three hits, no runs and one walk with five strikeouts to earn his first career win against Kennesaw State on Feb. 25; did not allow a runner past second base … pitched 6.0 innings in a starting role, allowing four hits and one earned run with six strikeouts against UNC Greensboro on March 10 … pitched 6.1 innings in a starting role, allowing one earned run and no walks with nine strikeouts at No. 3 Duke on March 17 … pitched 7.0 innings in a starting role, allowing two hits, no runs and one walk with 10 strikeouts to earn the win at Miami (Fla.) on March 30; did not allow a runner past second base and allowed only one past first base … pitched 7.0 innings in a starting role, allowing three hits, one earned run and no walks with nine strikeouts at Notre Dame on April 7; allowed his first hit in the seventh inning; named ACC Co-Pitcher-of-the-Week; became the first Tiger freshman to earn ACC Pitcher-of-the-Week honors since 2016 and first Tiger first-year freshman since 2013 … pitched 8.0 innings in a starting role, allowing two hits (both infield singles), no runs and one walk with 10 strikeouts to earn the win against NC State on April 14; faced just two batters over the minimum; retired the first 14 batters; did not allow a baserunner past second base and allowed just one past first base; named ACC Pitcher-of-the-Week for the second week in a row; became the first Tiger pitcher to earn ACC weekly honors twice in one year since 2016 and the first in back-to-back weeks since 2005 … pitched 5.2 innings in a starting role, allowing four hits and no runs with eight strikeouts to earn the win in the second game of a doubleheader against Pittsburgh on April 20; did not allow a baserunner past second base … pitched 4.0 innings in a starting role, allowing two hits and one run with seven strikeouts against Georgia Tech on May 5 … pitched 6.0 innings in a starting role, allowing no runs and no walks with a team-season-high 11 strikeouts to earn the win against Boston College on May 18 … pitched 6.0 innings in a starting role, allowing six hits, two runs and no walks with six strikeouts against Coastal Carolina in the Clemson Regional on June 1 … No. 74 freshman in the nation in the preseason by Perfect Game … No. 44 freshman in the ACC in the preseason by D1Baseball … No. 14 ACC prospect for the 2026 draft in the preseason by Perfect Game … invited to the USA Collegiate National Team Training Camp in June.
Before Clemson: No. 102 player and No. 26 righthander in the nation by Perfect Game … No. 18 player and No. 6 righthander in Florida by Perfect Game … No. 308 prospect for the 2023 draft by Perfect Game … selected to the Senior All-Star Game … Lee County pitcher-of-the-year … lettered four times in baseball at Bishop Verot Catholic High School, where he was coached by Casey Scott.
Personal: His father, Robert, played baseball at Cal Poly (1991-94) … pronounced kuh-NOCK … majoring in pre-business … born Aidan Robert Knaak on Sept. 19, 2004 in Sarasota, Fla.
I am a freshman baseball player at Clemson University. I enjoy being outdoors in activities like golfing, fishing, and fitness.
Major: Pre-Business
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