A diamond for Tigers

From dugouts and dogpiles to touchdowns and tackles, Kyle Parker has already experienced an array of athletic memories in college that many experience only in dreams.

Oddly enough, Parker is just a redshirt freshman on the Clemson football team and heads into his third season of playing college baseball for the Tigers in February.

What the two-sport star has accomplished could be kicked up in historic fashion with a win on Saturday against Virginia (3-7, 2-5 ACC) — the Tigers (7-3, 5-2) can clinch the ACC’s Atlantic Division title with a victory or even before the game if Boston College loses to North Carolina.

The progression that Parker has made this season has coincided with Clemson’s on-field resurgence.

During a dismal start, the signal caller completed just 48.7 percent of his passing attempts. He also had a 1:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. It led to a 2-3 record for the Tigers and had many pondering if the correct coach was in place.

Parker, however, remained patient.

It paid off — he led Clemson to a five-game winning streak, completing 61.1 passes and throwing for 11 touchdowns. More importantly, he only had four turnovers.

Virginia coach Al Groh said Parker’s development was noticeable on film.

“For those of you who are not familiar with his background, this is a superior athlete, and I would use his resume, not my opinion to back that up,” Groh said. “That is during the spring of what should have been his senior year in high school he made all-ACC in baseball. I think he might have led the conference in home runs while participating in spring practice and acclimating himself to being a college student instead of going to his senior prom.”

Parker did, in fact, earn rookie All-American honors in 2008 as hit 14 homers and batted .303.

Last year, the Jacksonville, Fla., native saw his average tumble to .255, but the outfielder remained powerful with 12 homers.

“He’s got the type of eye-to-hand coordination that would be associated with somebody who could hit a speeding fastball or moving curveball as well as he does,” Groh said. “That’s a critical factor. I think you find that most quarterbacks were really, really good and have a high accuracy number.

“It’s not just about mechanics that you find that somewhere along the line — they’re either a real good scorer in basketball, high school basketball, or a good hitter or a good pitcher.”

Parker could face a financial decision in a matter of months if drafted high enough by a Major League Baseball team. He is currently ranked as the No. 76 prospect in the country by one draft service.

For now, however, Parker is focused on helping Clemson win its first ACC football title in 18 years.

That was evident last week against N.C. State as Parker was turnover-free and threw a pair of touchdown passes en route to a lopsided 43-23 road win.

“The one thing I’m real proud of about our team is we really didn’t get complacent,” Parker told reporters. “We knew we had to come out here and win and we prepared all week long like this was going to be big and we were going to have to play well to win.

“I think we came out every day last week and focused on what we had to do. We don’t need to put extra pressure on ourselves. If we just go out and do what we do, we’ll be fine.”