CLEMSON- Multiple times in the leadup to the start of regional play this week, Clemson head coach Erik Bakich has implored the Tigers’ fan base to show up and show out.

As Clemson looks to get out of a regional for the first time since 2010, Bakich recalled the one year he served as an assistant on Jack Leggett’s staff, and then returning to Clemson as the head coach at Maryland, and that is the kind of atmosphere he would like to see at Doug Kingsmore this weekend.

“It all works,” Bakich said. “And it works to our advantage when we get loud, get hostile and get rowdy. We keep saying get rowdy, but just got to bring it.”

“DKS was regarded as one of the most hostile places to play. In ’02 when I was here the first time it was like that and then coming back as the coach in the other dugout when I was at Maryland, it was awful to play here. The place was going nuts and we couldn’t even think. We had no chance.”

At the same time, Bakich is aware that his team has to earn that kind of support, and with the Tigers currently sitting at 41-14 on the season and having earned a national seed, the head coach feels like his players are doing their part. And he insists they will continue to do so for as long as they are playing.

“We’re very aware, our program, our team, our players, that we need to go out there and earn it on the field to bring that excitement, as well,” he said. “And we’re on it. We’re doing it. We’re going to do it or die trying.”

Not only does that kind of environment take its toll on opposing teams mentally, it can also impact them physically.

“When the fans can align their cheering and their energy and bring it at a high level, like level 10, and get together so it’s not just pockets of people, but everyone together, this place could be deafening,” Bakich said. “And when that happens, the next thing that happens is it can create a physiological response in the people playing the game. It can start to speed them up internally. Their heart rate goes faster, their breathing gets shallow, their mind starts to race. And that’s what we want in our opponent.”

Then there is the way a raucous crowd can help fuel the home team.

“On the other side of the coin, our guys get energized,” Bakich said. “You can do it where you wait for the players on the field to do something awesome and the crowd gets into it, or the crowd can get into and then the players on the field do something awesome. So it goes both ways. That’s where the crowd can help the team start a rally, or other times the crowd can help a team extend a rally. So, it’s all connected.”

For those reasons, Bakich is asking each and every fan in attendance this weekend to not only be proud and be loud, but to take that energy to an even higher level.

“When the 10th man can create an advantage for us by trying to impact the game, that’s huge. And that’s what we need, and that’s what we’re asking for,” he said. “So yeah, bring it, let’s go, level 10, come on out and be loud, be rowdy.”

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