Clemson displays aggressive attitude as baseball practice opens

CLEMSON — As Clemson baseball players filed onto Doug Kingsmore Stadium’s grass for the 2012’s first official practice, it was hard to miss their message.

Every player wore brown camouflage-style exercise shirts. Emblazoned across the back were four words: “Hunt Or Be Hunted.”

Players said the message carried over from winter strength and conditioning, but it is also a clear attitude.

Last they were on this field competitively, they were the hunted, taking an embarrassing 14-3 loss to upstart UConn that knocked them out of the NCAA Clemson Regional and ended their season at 43-20.

“Hunt Or Be Hunted” is a mindset that the Tigers, not their opponents, will be the aggressors this spring with a roster mixed between youngsters and seasoned vets.

Phil Pohl on start of baseball season

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“We want to go out there and attack the game,” said junior infielder Richie Shaffer, a preseason All-American who will move from first to third base this season. “Don’t let it come to us. Don’t sit there. We want to be the first people to score, the first people to go three up, three down on defense. We want to attack this season head-on. We’ve got a lot to prove, a lot of young guys who are excited to do it, and a lot of veterans to get it going.”

Jack Leggett’s Tigers are ranked in the top 25 of all three preseason polls, and were tabbed as the ACC Atlantic Division favorites Friday by league coaches.

When the ACC released its preseason poll, ACC coaches tagged Clemson as the Atlantic Division favorite by a narrow margin over Florida State. Clemson received seven first-place votes; Florida State earned five. North Carolina was picked to win the league. In December, Collegiate Baseball tabbed the Tigers No.25. Baseball America ranks Clemson 16th in its preseason poll, and the Sports Weekly coaches’ poll ranks the Tigers 23rd nationally.

Clemson opens the season Feb. 17 against UAB at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

When asked if the season’s difficult ending was a motivator, Leggett didn’t give specifics.

“Unless you win the whole thing, your last game is always a loss. That’s always motivation, to come out here, prove yourself and get on the field,” he said. “I think our kids played extremely hard last year, played extremely well, did a lot of good things, had a nice season. But there’s always more to keep on striving for, and we want to get back to Omaha, play for a national championship, do all the things we want to do in our tough conference.”

Returning All-ACC DH Phil Pohl said he thinks about the defeat daily.

“It’s definitely a motivating factor,” Pohl said. “I know myself and the guys who were here last season have been thinking about it all offseason. We worked hard this fall and we’re ready to go this spring and right what happened last year. We’re not pleased with what happened – you definitely don’t want to go out on your home field. I’m looking forward to another opportunity to fix that this year.”

Pohl and Shaffer will serve as cornerstones for what will be a very different lineup. Junior catcher Spencer Kieboom will start the season as the only returning 2011 starter playing the same position.

Shortstop and ACC Player of the Year Brad Miller, center fielder/pitcher Will Lamb, third baseman John Hinson, right fielder Chris Epps and left fielder Jeff Schaus were all MLB draft picks; Shaffer will play third base, his natural position this year, and senior Jason Stolz shifts from second to shortstop.

Sophomores Jon McGibbon and Steve Wilkerson are expected to start at first and second base, respectively. The outfield is wide open: College of Charleston transfer Thomas Brittle, Citadel transfer Brad Felder, sophomores Dominic Attanasio and Joe Costigan and freshmen Tyler Slaton, T.L. Hanna product Garret Boulware and Mike Trill could all see time. Pohl and McGibbon can play there, too.

Pitching-wise, junior righty Kevin Brady – who missed much of last season with a strained forearm – is healthy and fronts an experienced weekend rotation. Junior righthander Dominic Leone forms a nice 1-2 punch, and fellow junior righties Scott Firth and Jonathan Meyer both have weekend starting experience; freshman righty Daniel Gossett turned down a significant signing bonus from the Boston Red Sox to come to Clemson. Senior David Haselden and junior Joseph Moorefield also add rotation depth.

“I’m excited about what we’ve got a chance to do on the mound,” Leggett said. “We’ve got a chance to be a good defensive team. Offensively we’ll be kind of a work in progress but we’ll find ourselves that way, too.”

Offensively, it’ll be a typical Leggett team: run the bases well, bunt, hit it in the gaps and crank the occasional home run.

“We’ve got a few guys who’ll take care of some home runs for us, but at the same time, think it’s important we stick to our game, stick to things we’ve been working on in the batting cages, and take our fundamentals to the baseball field,” Leggett said. “If we do that I think we’ll have a chance to be a good baseball team.”

Jack Leggett talks the differences in this year's offense

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Nothing less than dogpiling at T.D. Ameritrade Park – home of the College World Series – will satisfy them.

“It’s one of those things where you’re never satisfied until you’re the last team out on the field,” Shaffer said. “This team, we are by far the most passionate and dedicated team out there. Nobody works as hard as we do every day, and I feel confident in saying that.

“It’s not a knock on any other program, but I know what I see out here every day and what we put into the program. We’re not satisfied until we’re dogpiling in Omaha. That’s our goal every year. Nothing short of that is success.”