Clemson Baseball Lands Top-50 2027 Recruit

The 6-foot-3 pitcher ranks as the No. 44 overall recruit in his respective class, according to Over-Slot Baseball. He also has a 99.99% percentile fastball for his class, topping out at 96 miles per hour.

As a freshman, Bristol attended St. John Paul II Academy and displayed glimpses of his high potential, though there was still room for growth in his fundamentals and mechanics.

In eight appearances on the mound, he finished with a 5.69 ERA and a 2-2 record, allowing 19 hits, 16 earned runs and 18 walks while totaling 12 strikeouts. He also appeared in nine games playing outfield, recording an impressive .900 fielding percentage.

Bristol transferred to North Broward Prep for his sophomore campaign, which turned out to be the best decision he could've made as he had a breakout year. In 12 appearances and 50.2 innings pitched, he allowed just 17 earned runs on the season while racking up 65 strikeouts. He finished the year with a 7-3 record and a 2.35 ERA. 

He led his team to a 23-8 overall record, finishing as the No. 26 team in the state of Florida. Following his strong year, Bristol was named a Prep Baseball All-American.

Bristol looks to kick off his junior season with North Broward Prep on February 19 against Archbishop McCarthy. 

With plenty of roster turnover this offseason, Clemson Baseball looks to regroup after a 45-18 campaign that ended on a sour note. After dropping eight games in the last month and suffering an upset loss to West Virginia in the Regionals as the No. 11 seed, the team hopes to find more consistency heading into 2026.

In the portal cycle, the Tigers lost nine guys, including: RHP Michael Gillen, C Hideki Prather, OF/LHP TP Wentworth, LHP BJ Bailey, LHP Hudson Lee, OF Tristan Bissetta, LHP Ethan Darden, RHP Luke Brown and LHP Jackson Cole.

However, they also gained a whole lot of talented transfers, including: OF/INF Bryce Clavon (Georgia), OF/INF Ty Dalley (Mercer), LHP Michael Sharman (Tennessee), C/OF Nate Savoie (Loyola Marymount), INF Tyler Lichtenberger (App State), RHP Hayden Simmerson (Catawba/D2 All-American) and RHP Ariston Veasey (Alabama). 

Western Kentucky All-American Ryan Wideman also committed to Clemson in early June but ended up being selected by the San Diego Padres in the third round of the 2025 MLB Draft, forgoing his senior season of College Baseball.

In two years, Bristol could find himself in the same situation as Wideman, but hopefully, he'll stick with Clemson.