Virginia Tech has a chance to put itself on the right side of the bubble this weekend. That all starts with winning at least two of the three games the Hokies will play against No. 16 Clemson.
The Hokies are currently the second team out (No. 66) in D1 Baseball’s latest NCAA tournament projection that was released on Wednesday — moving up two spots in the days following the North Carolina series loss.
The Tigers, though, come in as one of the ACC’s — if not one of the nation’s — hottest teams. At 32-17 overall, they currently sit at No. 11 in college baseball’s RPI and are second in the Atlantic Division at 14-10.
Tech, meanwhile, is fifth in the Coastal Division at 11-12, trailing Duke (14-9), Miami (14-10), Virginia (13-11) and North Carolina (12-11).
The Hokies have won four straight games after they were swept in that Saturday doubleheader against the Tar Heels. They beat Marshall, Bowling Green (twice) and, most recently on Wednesday, at Liberty.
Clemson has won five consecutive ACC series over Florida State, Notre Dame, NC State, Boston College and Louisville. They’ve won five games in a row, too.
Friday's series opener is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET (previously 7 p.m.) and will be televised on ACC Network Extra. Saturday and Sunday's games are at 7 p.m. ET and 3 p.m. ET, respectively, on the ACC Network.
As far as Tech’s pitching situation goes, Griffin Green will miss the rest of the season with an elbow injury, multiple sources have confirmed to Tech Sideline over the past few weeks.
Sickness has hit Tech’s clubhouse, too. Both Anthony Arguelles and Drue Hackenberg are working through “some sort of bug,” another source told Tech Sideline this week, which Mark Berman of The Roanoke Times confirmed. The same source said that both Arguelles and Hackenberg will throw on Friday and Saturday against Clemson, but the order of the two is unclear.
Arguelles has thrown 18 ⅓ straight innings without allowing an earned run, while Hackenberg polished off six innings of shutout ball against Bowling Green last Saturday.
Clemson is throwing Ethan Darden (3-2, 5.05 ERA) on Friday, Austin Gordon (1-4, 5.42 ERA) on Saturday and Caden Grice (5-1, 3.42 ERA) on Sunday.
With a series victory or sweep, the Hokies could place themselves in a good spot for a postseason berth in the NCAA tournament and could clinch a spot in the ACC championship. Tech has won 10 of its last 12 regular series against ranked opponents. In its last weekend against a top-25 foe, it took two-of-three from then-No. 5 Virginia in early April.