Former Clemson Standout Takes Over The Citadel Baseball Program

After a long, successful run at Newberry, former Clemson star Russell Triplett is taking over The Citadel baseball program.

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

Former Clemson Tigers baseball standout Russell Triplett is taking over his first Division I baseball program, as he was named The Citadel’s new baseball coach on Wednesday.

The Citadel made the announcement via press release.

Triplett played for Clemson 20 years ago, and since leaving professional baseball, he’s worked his way up the coaching ladder. His most recent job was leading Division II Newberry College.

He led the Wolves for 14 seasons, where he went 418-278-1, was named the South Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year three times and guided them to their first NCAA Division II Tournament appearance in 2019 and their first win in 2023, a season in which the Wolves won a program-high 43 games.

The Citadel is coming off a 21-32 season that saw them win just three league games. After the season, coach Tony Skole and the school announced a mutual parting of the ways.

Skole, a graduate of The Citadel, guided the Bulldogs for seven seasons and had a record of 123-216.

The program is trying to reclaim past success.

Their last regular season, conference tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance was in 2010. Before that the Bulldogs had made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances and reached the 1990 Men’s College World Series. They were eliminated by LSU after winning their first game against Cal State Fullerton.

"The opportunity to take the helm of a program with as much history, tradition and pure grit as The Citadel is a dream come true," Triplett said in the release. "The entire process of interviewing for this position has been incredibly fulfilling.”

Before taking the Newberry job, he spent three seasons at USC Upstate’s lead recruiter and assistant coach.

The West Columbia, S.C., native joined the Clemson Tigers in 2000 and played four seasons, during which he earned All-ACC Second Team honors twice. The career .312 hitter was also a two-time team captain who helped the Tigers make four NCAA Regional appearances, two NCAA Super Regional appearances and a Men’s College World Series appearance in 2002.

In that 2002 MCWS, Clemson reached the semifinals with a 2-0 record before losing back-to-back games to in-state rival South Carolina. The Gamecocks went on to lose to Texas in the championship.

Triplett played professional baseball with the New York Mets’ organization after leaving Clemson and reached as high as Double-A Binghamton before he moved into a volunteer assistant coaching role with the Tigers.