Clemson Baseball Lands Seton Hall Star in Transfer Portal

The Clemson Tigers added more pitching to its 2025 roster with a commitment from an All-Big East Conference pitcher.

Clemson sophomore pitcher Davis Sharpe wears his hat with \"Omaha\" on the back, during batting practice at the first official team Spring practice at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson Friday, January 24, 2020 / Ken Ruinard / staff, The Greenville News

Right after landing an in-state transfer pitcher on Thursday, the Clemson Tigers landed another pitcher, this one from the Big East, which added to the program’s transfer portal haul for the 2025 roster.

Michael Gillen, a right-handed pitcher for Seton Hall, announced his commitment to the Tigers on social media. His message on his Instagram read simply, ‘Death Valley bound.”

He will give the Tigers another quality bullpen arm, one that claimed All-Big East First Team selection last season.

He struck out 43 and walked 14 while allowing batters to hit .205 against him as he went 4-1 and fashioned a 2.31 ERA. Along the way he had the league’s fourth-lowest ERA among Big East pitchers for the season and the second-lowest in only Big East games.

In his 2023 season, the Bergen (N.J.) Catholic High School product pitched in 19 games and had a 0.34 ERA in 26.2 innings. He allowed just one earned run.

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His commitment continued a run on pitching for the Tigers.

Earlier in the week the Tigers landed a commitment from The Citadel pitcher Luke Kissenberth, who also pitched out of the bullpen last season.

The Simpsonville, S.C., native allowed batters to hit just .194 against him last season. While his ERA was high (5.97), he struck out 48 in 37.2 innings and allowed 28 walks. He went 0-2. Had he remained at The Citadel, he would have played for former Clemson baseball standout Russell Triplett, who was recently hired to take over the program.

The Tigers have landed several other transfers this offseason:

Cal Baptist shortstop Josh Paino will join the Tigers after three seasons with the Lancers, and two before that with Saint Mary’s. Last season he batted .296 with 11 homers and 38 RBIs as he earned All-WAC First Team honors and was the WAC Defensive Player of the Year.

Michigan’s Collin Priest, who will be a sophomore, is heading to the Tigers after he slashed .279/.445/.578 and hit a Wolverines freshman record 11 home runs in 2024. He also earned All-Big Ten Freshman.

Purdue’s Luke Gaffney was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season and set six Boilermaker freshman records after he slashed .349/.437/.628 with 13 home runs and 65 RBI.

Indiana State outfielder Dominic Listi, who was an All-MVC selection who batted .324 last season, was a star at the Division III level at North Central (IL) for his first three college seasons.

The Tigers have lost a couple of quality players to the transfer portal since the season ended, as infielder Nolan Nawrocki announced his transfer to in-state rival South Carolina while pitcher Billy Barlow announced he was transferring to Florida.