Baseball thoughts

A few thoughts on the baseball team as it heads into this weekend's monstrous series against South Carolina:

-- There's some question about Richie Shaffer's availability after he suffered a groin injury in Sunday's come-from-behind win over Maine.

I don't get the sense that the injury is serious, but it is something that warrants caution in the short term because they don't want it to be aggravated and turn into something that nags him for a big chunk of the season.

My guess would be that he plays this weekend, but it's just a guess.

Initially it appeared Shaffer suffered the injury while dashing to first base on a hit. As it turned out, it occurred an inning before when he was chasing after a foul ball.

Phil Pohl has struggled at first base, so you wonder if the staff might consider moving Shaffer from third to first to limit how much he has to run.

Shaffer's absence would be big. He has two home runs and two doubles through six games.

-- Another big question facing Clemson this week is the third pitching spot in the weekend rotation. David Haselden has suffered through two disappointing starts, and the staff went into the week trying to figure out what to do there.

Haselden was good last year in middle relief, and maybe that role just suits his mentality better. The top candidate to take the No. 3 starting role would probably be Kevin Pohle at this point.

-- Spoke with pitching coach Dan Pepicelli after Sunday's win, and he gave high marks to Kevin Brady and Scott Firth. Over the past few weeks, both pitchers have gained more command by slowing their bodies down and staying back instead of trying to overpower batters.

-- Steve Wilkerson really showed up last weekend after sitting out the opening weekend with a suspension. He had seven hits (two doubles) and five RBIs.

-- Clemson has to be somewhat encouraged by the fact that South Carolina hasn't exactly lit it up offensively thus far this season. The Tigers have struggled some at the plate as well, so both teams will be looking for more consistency starting Friday in Charleston.

LW