On Monday, the field for the Clemson Regional this weekend was announced, and there’s plenty of intriguing storylines with Vanderbilt coming to town.

The Commodores are the No. 2 seed in the regional, led by longtime coach Tim Corbin. Of course, Corbin and Clemson head coach Erik Bakich were fellow assistant coaches at Clemson under Jack Leggett in 2002, and Bakich was an assistant under Corbin at Vandy from 2003-’09.

The 2002 Tiger team made a run to Omaha and appeared in the College World Series with Corbin and Bakich on the staff under Leggett, who now assists the Clemson program with player, staff and program development.

The 2002 Clemson team finished third in the CWS.

It’s easy to understand why Clemson fans are probably excited about the possible matchup between the Tigers and Commodores in the Clemson Regional, which begins Friday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson.

However, Bakich isn’t focused on that or the storylines, and he doesn’t seem to think Clemson fans should be, either. The Tigers’ second-year head coach had a message for the fans on Monday after the Tigers learned the Clemson Regional Field.

“We just need the fans to show up and be loud,” a fiery Bakich said. “Let’s just focus on that, if they want to focus on something.”

This year marks the 18th time in Clemson baseball history that the program hosts a regional and second year in a row.

Clemson is looking to advance out of an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2010, and Bakich noted the role that Tiger fans can play at Doug Kingsmore.

“When the crowd is loud and they stand up and clap with two outs and two strikes, and they actually have synchronized chants and they cheer and they get into it and they’re actually an active participant in the game, instead of a spectator, our guys absolutely feed off that, and that’s what we need the crowd to do,” the Clemson coach said.

“We need DKS to be filled with six- or seven thousand participants acting as if they’re the 10th man on the field, not just showing up to watch a game. And if we can do that, wow, I can’t wait to hear this place rocking.”

No. 1 seed Clemson will begin regional play against No. 4 High Point at 7 p.m. Friday, while No. 2 Vanderbilt and No. 3 Coastal Carolina are set to face off at noon.

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