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While Erik Bakich has yet to announce who his starting pitcher will be on Friday night when Clemson opens regional play against High Point, we know it won’t be Aidan Knaak.
The freshman has by far been the Tigers’ most consistent starter this season, earning All-ACC honors after posting a 5-1 record with a 2.91 ERA. Only once this season has Clemson lost a game in which Knaak has started.
For that reason, the Tigers won’t run Knaak out there until Saturday, which would mean a potential matchup with Vanderbilt, should both teams advance to the winner’s bracket.
“It’s a great program, got a lot of great players, great history,” Knaak said. “It would definitely be exciting to pitch against a great program if I had that opportunity.”
The Commodores knocked Clemson out of its own regional in 2017 and 2018, so there is recent history between the two programs. However, the ties run deeper that that, as Vanderbilt head coach, Tim Corbin, was an assistant under Jack Leggett at Clemson from 1994-2002. That 2002 team that made it all the way to the College World Series also had Bakich serving as an assistant.
Despite Leggett being back on staff with the Tigers, Knaak insists none of that other stuff matters, and to him, it would be just another game on the schedule.
“I remember hearing stuff about that,” Knaak said. “But it’s just another game whether I pitch against them or not. Yeah, there is some history there, but I’m not really too worried about it. We’re just worried about the first game. If we ever get to them, that will be the focus then. Right now, we are just focused on one day at a time.”
For Knaak, it all comes down to remaining focused on the task at hand, whether he is pitching or not, and that means beating High Point on Friday.
And not pitching that opening game could also give Knaak a slight advantage. The fact that he can sit and watch his very first regional experience from the bench will let him know exactly what to expect when he does finally take the mound on Saturday.
“I’ve never pitched in an environment like that before,” Knaak said. “Definitely going to be out there cheering them on. Will be good to see how the environment is the first day on Friday, the day before I pitch, but I just got to keep focused on what I got to do everyday. I have pitched in big games, like against South Carolina, so I think it will be similar. If I just stick with my same routine I will be just fine.”