CONWAY, S.C. — Before the season started, Erik Bakich talked often about how ready he was to see how his team would respond to some adversity.

For more than half of the season, this Clemson team passed those tests with flying colors. Every time the Tigers got knocked down, they’d get right back up. However, that was then.

Now, things are a little different. The Tigers are currently facing more adversity than they’ve faced all season, and to this point, Bakich’s team hasn’t responded very well.

After losing 5-3 at Coastal Carolina on Tuesday, the Tigers have now dropped six of their past seven games. A stretch in which the offense has sputtered far more often than it’s hummed.

“Disappointing game. Been saying that way too much lately,” Bakich said. “We are obviously fighting it and going through it, but we will get through it. You’d rather hit a little bit of a rough patch and get through it and be better for it. But at some point, we need to get out of it.”

After getting swept by NC State in Raleigh, Clemson had a golden opportunity to respond in its series against a Top 5 Florida State team and make a statement in doing so. Instead, the Tigers gave one away in an extra-innings loss to the Seminoles in the series opener.

Clemson couldn’t hold onto a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, and then after taking the lead again in the top of the tenth, they squandered that one away in the bottom half of the inning. The Tigers did win the second game of the series, but would get steamrolled 20-9 in the series finale.

Bakich’s team then traveled to Coastal Carolina. With the Chanticleers coming in at No. 14, it was yet another golden opportunity to stop the bleeding. The offense continued to struggle, managing just six hits. Tryston McCladdie was responsible for three of those all by himself. For the second consecutive game, the Tigers did not register the first two-out hit.

“I think our level of compete, as I told the team, needs to be raised,” Bakich added. “And we will absolutely figure out how to maximize that. Whatever happens with the outcome of the game, how we compete, how hard we play, should never dip.”

Over the past couple of weeks, Bakich has been disappointed with the inconsistencies at the plate.

“Not stringing enough quality at-bats together,” Bakich said. “We have an inning where we hit three or four balls hard, and then an inning where we have a bunch of weak contact. Or another inning where we strike out uncompetitively. Being in a plus count and being late on a fastball. Or swing at a pitcher’s pitch when we’ve got less than two strikes. Just little things like that, that add up and aren’t allowing us to score at the level we should be scoring.”

And the head coach is letting his team know that he expects better.

“We’ve got a good offense, and I know there are better performances,” he said. “Not only among individual players, but I think there is a better team offense in us. Like I told them, we are better than what we have shown. We shouldn’t lower the expectations or the standards, we just have to meet them. We have to raise our level of performance, and sometimes that is just raising your level of compete in order to get there. And we will get there.”

Before the current slide, the Tigers were well on their way to locking up one of those coveted Top 8 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, as well as one of the double-byes in the ACC Tournament. While neither of those is completely off the table at this point, Bakich is just worried about the next game. The series opener at home against Duke on Friday. Another opportunity to respond in the face of extreme adversity.

“This may end up being a really good thing for us, but we got to get out of it,” Bakich said. “It has been long enough.”