Moments after beating Florida State on May 2, Clemson head coach Monte Lee proclaimed that victory as the one everyone will point to when they define the Tigers’ 2016 baseball team.

Lee turned out to be very prophetic with his statement. Since that day four weeks ago, no one in the country has played better than Clemson, who discovered on Monday, a day after winning its first ACC Championship in 10 years, it was indeed a national seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers (42-18) won the ACC Tournament this past week with wins over Virginia, No. 2 national seed Louisville, Wake Forest and the Seminoles. All four teams are in the NCAA Tournament’s Field of 64.

Clemson has won nine straight overall and 15 of its last 18 dating back to its May 2 encounter with FSU at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

“Is all started with Monte,” Clemson pitcher Pat Krall said. “Ever since he got here, from Day One, he has been all about being tough. Whatever it is … be tough. If you are down ten or up ten, be tough and grind out everything you do.

“In the last month of the season, everyone wrote us out in the ACC and the NCAA Tournament, but we dug down and said, ‘We are going to fight until the end. If we don’t make it, then we don’t make it, but if we take care of ourselves, be tough and never give in, we will put ourselves in a good spot’ and here we are with some time left.”

The Tigers are the nation’s No. 7 national seed and will host Oklahoma, Nebraska and Western Carolina in the Clemson NCAA Regional beginning on Friday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Cowboys, the No. 2 seed in the regional, will face off against No. 3 Nebraska at noon, while the Tigers will take on No. 4 Western Carolina at 7 p.m. in the double elimination tournament.

This is the first time Clemson hosted a regional since 2011, and it’s the first time it has been a national seed since 2006, when it was the No. 1 overall seed. The Tigers advanced to the College World Series that year.

“We are really good at home so it is only going to bring confidence to our ballclub,” Lee said. “We play well at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. We have our fan base behind us. I know our guys are excited about the opportunity and we feel really good about it.”

Clemson has a 24-7 record at home this season, including a 14-2 record against non-conference opponents. Being at home lifted the Tigers to its series clinching win over Florida State on May 2 and then again a week later against NC State.

At the time they played them, the ‘Noles and the Wolfpack were both ranked in the top 5.

“We are finding ways to win ballgames,” Lee said. “Our pitching staff has done a really nice job over the last 15 games or so of the season. We are just finding ways to win ballgames. We are playing good baseball and now we get to play at home where we play really well.

“I think overall, our whole team feels really good about where we are at as a team right now.”

And like Lee said on May 2, they can point to that win over Florida State as the day when it all turned around.

TCI’s Clemson preseason magazine is now available.  Order your copy of Unfinished Business – An Insider Look at Clemson’s 2016 season today.