Tigers Begin ACC Play vs. ND

The Tigers begin ACC play with a three-game home series against Notre Dame, the same team they ended the 2016 regular season against.

SERIES SETUP• Who – Notre Dame (3-8, 0-0 ACC) vs. Clemson (9-3, 0-0 ACC)• Rankings – UND – NR; CU – No. 9 BA, No. 15 CB, No. 11 USA• When – Friday (6:30 p.m.), Saturday (4 p.m.), Sunday (1 p.m.)• Where – Clemson, S.C. (Doug Kingsmore Stadium)• Watch – ACC Network Extra• TV Announcers – Marty Clary, Pete Yanity• Listen – TigerCast, Clemson Tiger Sports Network• Live Stats – ClemsonTigers.com• Social Media – ClemsonBaseball• Tickets – ClemsonTigers.com, 1-800-CLEMSON• Promotion (Friday) – Greek Night – Watch Clemson sororities and fraternities battle throughout the night to determine a champion.• Promotion (Friday) – Baseball Trading Cards – The first 1,000 fans receive player trading cards (part of a set of the entire roster).

SERIES HISTORY• Overall Record – Tied 5-5 (1994-16)• Record at Clemson – Notre Dame leads 3-1 (1994-15)

STARTING PITCHERS• Friday – RHP Brandon Bielak (UND) vs. LHP Charlie Barnes (CU)• Saturday – RHP Peter Solomon (UND) vs. LHP Pat Krall (CU)• Sunday – RHP Brad Bass (UND) vs. RHP Alex Eubanks (CU)

CLEMSON OVERVIEW• Clemson, who was won eight of its last nine games, defeated Michigan State 9-2 at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C., on Wednesday night.• The Tigers are averaging 5.9 runs per game and hitting .274 with a .393 on-base percentage and 14 steals.• The pitching staff has a 2.68 ERA, .239 opponents’ batting average and 4.69 strikeout-to-walk ratio and Clemson is fielding .968.

NOTRE DAME OVERVIEW• Notre Dame is led by seventh-year head coach Mike Aoki.• The Fighting Irish have won two games in a row. They are hitting .234 and have a 6.75 ERA and .945 fielding percentage.• Daniel Jung is hitting a team-high .474 with two homers, while Nick Podkul is batting .341. Matt Vierling has added two homers and 12 RBIs.

QUICK HITS• Chris Williams’ extra-inning home run in the series opener at Notre Dame late in 2016 keyed Clemson’s series sweep and postseason run.• Logan Davidson and Reed Rohlman have both reached base in each of the Tigers’ 12 games in 2017.• Robert Jolly, who played 10 games with seven starts, leads the team in runs (11).

GILLIAM PROVIDING RELIEF• Sophomore righthander Ryley Gilliam has cemented his role as the Tiger closer in 2017.• He is 1-0 with one save, an 0.82 ERA and 18 strikeouts against four walks in 11.0 innings pitched over five relief outings.• He has allowed only four hits and has a .114 opponents’ batting average, while opponents are 0-for-11 with two outs.• In the 1-0 win over Elon on Feb. 24, he allowed just one hit, no runs and no walks with nine strikeouts in 4.1 innings pitched in relief.• He combined with Charlie Barnes and Brooks Crawford for a school-record 23 strikeouts against no walks versus Elon on Feb. 24.• He gave up two hits and one earned run with four strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched in two Tiger wins over No. 4 South Carolina on March 4,5.• In his career, he is 4-2 with a save, 4.71 ERA, .203 opponent’s batting average and 34 strikeouts in 42.0 innings pitched over 20 outings.