“Offensively, the middle of the order was the story for us,” said Head Coach Monte Lee while summing up his baseball team’s resounding sweep of the James Madison Dukes this past weekend.” 

While gratuitous, Lee’s compliment sold the Tigers short. The entire lineup’s offense has been the big story for the beginning of the whole of Clemson’s 2016 campaign, not just the James Madison series.

Since dropping their opening game to the Maine Black Bears by a score of 4-3, the Tigers have been on a roll from the plate, surpassing five runs in every game since. Moving to 6-1 on the young season with Tuesday’s home victory over the Wofford Terriers, the Tigers are already showing clear signs of improvement under first-year Coach Lee.

Braced by ace pitching last season, the Tigers struggled to produce from the plate. Furthermore, even in games featuring an abundance of runs scored by the Tigers, the sporadic nature of the scoring was too difficult to ignore.

So far in 2016, Clemson is stringing together several run-scoring innings per game and appears to be well-balanced from the top to the bottom of the batting order. Junior second baseman Weston Wilson, one of the veteran leaders of this youthful Clemson squad, has been phenomenal from the plate to start the year off, hitting .462 as of now.

However, two youngsters have been the talk of Tigertown through the opening act of the 2016 slate. 

Freshman designated hitter Seth Beer and sophomore centerfielder Chase Pinder have catalyzed the Tigers and show signs of being able to propel this team to new heights. Pinder is leading the Tigers with three home runs, and Beer has two himself. Both players are forces to be reckoned with when bats are in their hands, and both seem to grow more comfortable at the plate with each passing game.

The Tigers will square off against the South Carolina Gamecocks this weekend in what will be their first true test of the season. Like Clemson, South Carolina scores runs in droves, so expect an offensive clash in that series. Clemson appears poised to put together a successful season and definitely looks to exceed expectations. 

While head coach of the Charleston Cougars, Lee gained a reputation for his hitting prowess, and his new team has displayed as much through the first few weeks of the season. All eyes will be on the Tigers this weekend, though, and it will be interesting to see whether or not that offensive firepower persists against a solid opponent.