The four teams in the Oxford, MS NCAA baseball regional got in practice time Thursday afternoon at Swayze Field on the Ole Miss campus. Clemson and Illinois will play in the first game Friday at 4:00 PM Eastern followed by Ole Miss and Jacksonville State.

Clemson is the #3 seed and will be playing its first road regional game under Monte Lee who led the Tigers to three home regionals in his first three seasons.

Friday Clemson will start lefthander Jacob Hennessy. He is 4-1 with a 3.72 ERA. The Illini will counter with righthander Ty Weber who is 4-2 with a 2.97 ERA.

Both teams can count on outstanding closers to help win games at the end. Clemson righty Carson Spiers has 11 saves and a 3.33 ERA. Teams are hitting .218 against him. Illinois righthander Garrett Acton leads the nation with 19 saves. He has a 2.23 ERA and teams are hitting .121 against him.

Monte Lee

Kyle Wilkie

Illinois coach Dan Hartleb