DURHAM, N.C. — If you have been watching the 2018 ACC Baseball Championships on Fox Sports South this week, then you have noticed the antics Jake Higginbotham and a few other pitchers have been pulling on Clemson head coach Monte Lee.

In Wednesday’s mid-week interview, Higginbotham placed a blown bubble from his bubble gum on top of Lee’s hat during the interview, while a couple of other players threw sunflower seeds at him. In Thursday’s win over Miami, Higginbotham stood behind Lee during the entire interview, while staring at the camera.

So what will the second-seed Tigers do this afternoon to Lee when they play No. 6 seed Florida State in the semifinals at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C.?

“As long as they don’t put gum on my hat, again,” Lee said smiling. “It is very difficult to get gum off your hat. So I told Higginbotham that if you put anything on me while I’m doing another interview, I’m going to kick you. Obviously, I can’t do that but I told him that.”

Higginbotham’s mid-inning antics are just the latest practical jokes the Clemson bullpen has done in order to keep the dugout loose and carefree this season.

“I think there is a fine line between staying loose and being able to stay locked in and I think we do a pretty good job of that,” pitcher Ryan Miller said. “I don’t know if anybody has as much fun as we do, to be honest with you. Every single time, everybody is locked in at the same time. Everybody has a job to do if our name is called and we have been doing a great job with it all year.”

Lee says the players really love doing that stuff and if it keeps the team loose in the most pressure-packed month of the season—the postseason—then he is all for it.

“They love that kind of stuff. They look forward to doing things like that,” the Clemson coach said. “All I can say is this. I wish when I was playing, I got a chance to play with a group that enjoyed being together as much as these guys do.

“I had a great experience as a student athlete while I was in college, but I never got to experience this type of situation where you are playing on a club that it is in the top-five by some polls and winning the way that we have been winning and the type of exposure that we have been getting.

“Hopefully, the people across the country can see how much fun it is to be a part of our baseball program.”

Outfielder Seth Beer says you have to keep your head up and look over your shoulder or you might be the next victim.

“Those guys know what they are doing,” Beer said. “You might think of it as goofing off and stuff, but those guys are strategically doing them in what they are trying to accomplish.

“All of us our always checking over our shoulders making sure we are not the victim.”