Clemson’s baseball team has toiled in mediocrity for much of the season, but the Tigers have shown some recent signs that all hope may not be lost for the first season of the Erik Bakich era.

The Tigers are approaching the halfway point of the ACC slate at 20-14 and 4-8 in league play. That’s not far off from the 21-13 record Clemson had through its first 34 games last season. And this year’s squad has just one more win at this point of the conference schedule than last year’s team did (3-9).

Clemson is trying to avoid missing out on a third straight regional, something that hasn’t happened since the Tigers had five straight NCAA Tournament misses in the mid-1980s. The Tigers enter this weekend’s home series against Notre Dame (17-13, 7-8 ACC) next to last in the ACC’s Atlantic Division standings, but Clemson is up to No. 33 in the latest RPI rankings – eighth-highest in the conference – thanks in part to a three-game winning streak, which includes its first conference series victory last weekend at Florida State.

The resurgence of Caden Grice is playing an integral part.

It’s more than a small sample size at this point for Grice, who’s put the disappointment of last season behind him by turning into a formidable threat in the Tigers’ lineup. Grice is batting .342 and leads the teams in home runs (8) and RBIs (28), but the left-handed junior has been even better against league foes. Grice’s .455 average in ACC play is tops in the conference, and he’s hit all but two of his long balls against league pitching.

Cam Cannarella has also been a revelation for the Tigers. The true freshman infielder has proven to be the jewel of Bakich’s first signing class at Clemson, leading the Tigers in hits (53), doubles (10), stolen bases (17) and total bases (74) while being just one behind Grice in the RBI department. Cannarella has moved to the leadoff spot and also leads Tigers in on-base percentage, reaching safely in all 31 games he’s played.

A healthy Will Taylor (.325 average and .455 on-base percentage in 33 games) has also been a proverbial shot in the arm for an offense batting better than .290 as a team. So has sophomore utility player Billy Amick. After playing in just nine games as a freshman, Amick is hitting .377 in 17 games this season as a pinch-hitter, first baseman and designated hitter.

But the most positive development for Clemson has been a recent turnaround on the mound.

Clemson’s overall earned run average of 5.79 still isn’t much to look at, but it’s skewed a bit by some early eye sores against Central Florida (10, 13), South Carolina (11), Duke (11) and Georgia Tech (16) in which the Tigers yielded double-digit runs. But Clemson has held the opposition to six runs or fewer in seven straight games, including four straight of five runs or less after nearly shutting out Georgia on Tuesday in an 8-1 road victory.

Grice has gotten it done in his return to the bump as well. After not pitching last season, Grice has been the Tigers’ most consistent rotation arm in his Sunday role. The 6-foot-6, 250-pounder has allowed no more than four runs in any start this season and has given up just six earned runs in his last three. He’s coming off his best outing of the season, tossing 6 ⅓ innings of two-hit ball in Clemson’s series-clinching win over FSU.

The pitching staff has also gotten a boost from the emergence of right-hander Austin Gordon, who’s filled in as a serviceable tone-setter for the injured Ryan Ammons.

The sophomore had a rough go of it against Georgia State back on March 10 when he allowed six earned runs in less than four innings of work. Outside of that, though, Gordon has allowed just 13 earned runs in 27 ⅔ innings since moving to the Friday slot. He’s made it at least five innings in each of his first four ACC starts without allowing more than five runs in any of them.

While the Saturday spot in the rotation remains fluid, Clemson has jumped into the top half of the league with a 4.58 ERA in ACC play. Ammons, a former reliever, is expected to move back to the bullpen when he returns to action, which should bolster a bullpen that could use more consistent arms behind Nick Clayton (1.90 ERA) and Jackson Lindley (2.91).

“We’re starting to get really comfortable in our roles and really perform to our potential,” Amick said. “I think that’s just a really big part for everybody, being comfortable and performing at the potential they’re capable of.”

There’s still plenty of work for Clemson to do, and the schedule won’t lighten up much. Every ACC team left on it is ahead of the Tigers in the conference standings. NC State, Boston College and Louisville, which make up half of Clemson’s remaining conference foes, are all top-25 RPI teams at the moment.

But there’s still time for Clemson to turn things around – and perhaps some indicators that such a thought isn’t far-fetched.