Clemson’s heartbreaking loss to Tennessee on Saturday forces the Tigers into elimination games the rest of the way if they hope to advance past the regional round of the NCAA Tournament.

The long, hard road begins with an early game against Charlotte, who lost to Tennessee on Friday and took down Lipscomb on Saturday.

After starting Austin Gordon against the Bisons and Caden Grice against the Volunteers, the Tigers are in a bit of a pickle when it comes to managing their rotation the rest of the way.

The only other available starter on the Tigers’ roster is freshman Ethan Darden, but head coach Erik Bakich was noncommittal on whether or not Darden would get the call against Charlotte.

“I don’t know,” Bakich said when asked who Sunday’s starter was. “To Riley’s point, it’s a Charlotte regional, but we also want to win it too. So I don’t know what we’re going to do yet.”

The Tigers used a total of 10 pitchers on Saturday, but just three of their nine relievers was on the mound for an inning or more.

“We may start Darden or we may start someone else,” Bakich said. “Joe Allen or somebody, I don’t know. We got to debrief as a staff here and figure it out.”

First pitch for the Tigers’ matchup against Charlotte is set for noon.