CLEMSON — By the time the month of June rolls around, almost every college baseball team still playing is dealing with injuries. Some more than others.

For Clemson, it was more than plenty. The Tigers started dealing with the injury bug when it comes to the pitching staff, even before the first pitch was thrown. Dane Moehler, who was tabbed as the Sunday starter, suffered an injury a week before the start of the season that robbed him of his entire freshman campaign. And that was an injury that would end up plaguing the Tigers all season long, as the Sunday spot was a weak point many weeks.

Michael Gillen also went down with an injury before the season. The transfer from Seton Hall was expected to be a key piece on the backend, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Gillen did try and come back, but after three appearances late in the season, it was plainly obvious he wasn’t close to being as effective as he was prior to the injury.

Another transfer hurler, Luke Kissenberth, also expected to play a part in that bullpen, missed the entire season too. Ethan Darden, the Saturday starter, went out on April 12 and never returned. Jacob McGovern, who turned into the Tigers’ most reliable reliever down the stretch, missed a month in the middle of the season, and Reed Garris, who was mostly used as a late setup man, missed several weeks towards the end of the season.

Casey Tallent, who missed all of last season with an injury, had to retire due to that injury, and never pitched this season. Freshman Brendon Bennett, who began the season injured, returned to make two midweek starts before being shut down again. Then there’s freshman Talan Bell, who didn’t debut until the end of March, meaning he was behind from the very beginning and was on a limited pitch count until the final two or three weeks of the season.

However, after Clemson’s season-ending loss to Kentucky in regional play on Sunday, head coach Erik Bakich wasn’t overly interested in discussing how much those injuries impacted the Tigers’ season. At the same time, he readily admitted that at a certain point, his team felt those losses.

“I don’t know if we overcame it because once we kind of hit a certain point, there was a distinct dropoff,” Bakich said. “We had a lot of lopsided innings, big innings, but I will tell you what we never did, and still won’t do, and that is make excuses.”

Despite all those injuries, the Tigers finished with a team ERA of 5.09. Although, Bakich would be the first to admit, there were too many free passes, as Clemson pitchers walked 233 batters and hit 94 more.

“We had guys that still went in there and still competed hard. Whether they got hit or they gave up free passes,” Bakich added. “It wasn’t like they were trying to do bad. They were out there, every one of them. It means an awful lot to them to wear a Clemson uniform. They know how privileged that is and how important that is. They care an awful lot about each other.”

All in all, even if they came up short in the regional, Bakich is proud of what his team accomplished in the face of a lot of adversity. His team still found a way to win 45 games and host a regional for the third straight season.

“Yeah, we have a lot of injuries, but everybody has injuries,” Bakich said. “But we still found a way. Imperfect season, but these guys banded together, and I would say the injuries, if nothing else, created a sense of tightening the circle, knowing they had to pick each other up.”