Clemson failing to win a second conference championship in the past three years is already an afterthought in the clubhouse.

The Tigers lost to North Carolina 14-4 in a one-sided affair in the ACC Championship Game on Sunday, and while it was disappointing in the moment, Erik Bakich insists his team has already flushed the result in an effort to be solely focused on regional play that begins on Friday.

“Disappointing as (Sunday) was you just got to flush that and move on, and we did that I think, probably by the time we got on the bus leaving Durham, we had already our attention focused on what is next,” the head coach said. “No sense in dwelling on not playing well against UNC. It doesn’t matter at this point.”

The Tigers, who earned the No. 11 overall seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament and the No. 1 seed in the Clemson regional, will welcome No. 2 seed West Virginia (41-14), No. 3 seed Kentucky (29-24) and No. 4 seed USC-Upstate (36-23) to Doug Kingsmore this weekend.

“Just following the SEC and Big 12, we have followed along with Kentucky’s aggressiveness, West Virginia’s consistency all season long,” Bakich said. “But haven’t really looked at anything in-depth or in detail. We will do scouting reports for both of them.”

Clemson will begin the regional by facing off with a familiar foe in USC-Upstate at 6 p.m. on Friday. The two teams squared off back in March, with the Tigers winning 7-0 at Fluor Field. Kentucky and West Virginia will play one another in the early game at noon, with the winners meeting on Saturday.

However, Bakich maintains his team is only focused on Upstate, which is coming in riding a six-game winning streak after winning the Big South Tournament in head coach Kane Sweeney’s first season at the helm.

“Our focus is not going any further than Friday and USC-Upstate,” Bakich said.

Clemson and USC-Upstate also faced off twice during the 2024 season, with Clemson taking both games. The first was a 12-6 February win at DKS, with the second being an 11-1 run-rule win in April at Fluor Field.

Since taking over as head coach at Clemson, Bakich is 4-1 against the Spartans. His only loss came just eight games into his tenure during the 2023 season, when Upstate beat the Tigers 6-3 in Greenville.

“We know them and they know us,” Bakich said. “There are advantages on both sides. We have played each other once already this year. They have a great club. First-year coach, back in the tournament, coming off the dog pile. They can really hit. Dangerous lineup, they have a really good team.