CLEMSON — Slowly but surely, Talan Bell is working his way back.

The freshman hurler was sidelined to start the season as he was returning from an injury and didn’t make his first appearance until March 26, when he started a midweek game against Presbyterian.

Bell has now started three midweek games, and while it’s been a small sample size to this point, the talented left-hander has shown signs of what made him a top pitching prospect coming out of high school.

In his most recent start on Wednesday in the win over Gardner-Webb, Bell went 2-plus scoreless innings, allowing one hit while striking out one. He has now gone two consecutive starts without allowing a run.

“Encouraging. I love seeing him out there,” head coach Erik Bakich said. “Again, we didn’t come out at our best. We didn’t execute a double play, we made an error, they got the first three leadoff hitters on of the game. I think his performance would have been a lot better had we played a little bit better defense behind him. Maybe he could have settled in a bit and been able to go deeper into the game.”

Watching Bell pitch, there is no question he has the stuff. His fastball is currently topping out in the low 90s, and his slider has some bite. He also throws a changeup that is effective against both lefties and righties.

Having thrown only six-plus innings across his three starts, the freshman is just now starting to settle in. Bell is still on a strict pitch count. Even still, opponents are hitting just .136 against him, and he’s allowed only one run. On Wednesday, he was right at 50 pitches when he was pulled. The coaches are, no doubt, taking the slow and cautious approach when it comes to working him back in.

“It’s good to see him out there, love seeing him out there,” Bakich added. “He is a very talented kid. And he is still coming back as well. Every start that he makes, the pitch count gets a little bit higher.”

What kind of role Bell might play as the Tigers get set for the stretch run of the regular season is yet to be determined. However, if he continues on his current path, the freshman could give Clemson one more piece on a pitching staff that has been really good up to this point in the season.

“He is special, a special talent,” Bakich said. “I’m excited to see what he can do as time progresses. Not just this year, but as the years go on. He will be one of those staples of our program. A very common name in our program.”