Clemson's D'Alessio hoping to realize goal

Some college students’ dream summer destination is Cancun. Or South Beach. Or South Padre Island.

For Andy D’Alessio, it’s Omaha, Neb. He’s there now and nothing could be finer.

D’Alessio, a former Barron Collier standout first baseman, is the starting first baseman for top-seeded Clemson University at the College World Series. Clemson begins the double-elimination tournament today at 2 p.m. against Georgia Tech on ESPN2.

“It feels pretty great,” D’Alessio said. “It was one of the biggest goals I had in mind when I came to Clemson, and now I just hope we can be victorious.”

The Tigers (52-14) are making their 11th College World Series appearance, though they have never won. They are one of the hottest teams in America, winning 24 of their last 25. It wasn’t easy getting to Omaha. Clemson swept Oral Roberts University in the super regionals, but needed to come from behind in both games to do it. D’Alessio went hitless in those two games, but did score one run.

“They kept the ball away and down from me,” he said. “They did a good job. I’m just looking to help the team any way I can.”

D’Alessio — Clemson’s top slugger (22 HR, 80 RBI), an all-ACC first baseman and a 10th-round pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers — said those close games might not necessarily be a bad thing.

“Oral Roberts had the total package,” D’Alessio said. “But we were able to show everyone and ourselves that we were able to come back. We were able to step up to that adversity and come up with the big clutch hits.”

It won’t be easy in Clemson’s first game against the Yellow Jackets (49-16), the tournament’s No. 8 seed. This will be Clemson’s seventh meeting this season with its ACC foe. The series is currently tied at 3-3.

“They seem to swing the bats well against us,” D’Alessio said. “They have a couple of good lefties who throw in the low 90s and they’ve battled us in every game.”

Does it matter whether a team faces an opponent it’s familiar with or one it hasn’t faced?

“It can go either way,” D’Alessio said. “Every team in the College World Series is a good team. We’ve played six times, so we know there’s not going to be any surprises.”