With their backs firmly against the wall heading into this weekend’s series against Boston College, Clemson head coach Erik Bakich decided now was the time to make a change to his starting rotation.
Aidan Knaak, who has been the Friday starter since the beginning of the 2025 season, was moved to the Sunday slot and Dane Moehler was tasked with facing the Top 20 Eagles in the series opener.
After missing all of last season with an elbow injury, Moehler did not make his first appearance until March. Since then, the staff has been working him back slowly. The right-hander is still on a very limited pitch count, meaning he would have to serve as the opener in game one against Boston College.
Having lost six of seven ACC series to this point, Bakich felt like he needed to do something to shake things up.
“Well, we are in a unique position that we have never been in, and don’t want to be in,” Bakich said. “The strategy is we need to get hot and we need to go on a run. So mixing things up — seemed like an appropriate time to do something. Especially with AK.”
Knaak will now return to the role he served in during a stellar freshman campaign, when he went 5-1 with an ERA of 3.35 and 108 strikeouts to just 29 walks.
The junior right-hander has seen his ERA balloon to 4.98 this season, and he’s only lasted more than five innings twice.
“Let (Knaak) watch the offense two times in a row and have our two best bolts as starters in game two and game three,” Bakich added. “Feel really good about Dane and (Justin LeGuernic), kind of back-to-back with what they can do.”
The plan worked to a degree, at least after Moehler exited, as LeGuernic came in and threw 5.1 innings, while allowing three earned runs. The lefty put up zeros in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings, giving the Tigers an opportunity to come back from a two-run deficit. However, the offense once again failed to do its part, as it mustered just six base hits and failed to score a run over the final four frames. The Eagles then added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth, getting an 8-4 victory.
Having trailed the entire game, Bakich never turned to relievers like Ariston Veasey, Hayden Simmerson, Danny Nelson or Dylan Harrison, meaning all four will be fresh for Saturday.
“Just knew we were going to have to win it offensively with this one and just did not get it done,” Bakich said. “We were going to wait until we tied it or took the lead to use our main high-leverage guys, but the situation never got to them. But that is also a positive going into the next two days because we have all those guys who have not thrown.”
Game two is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Michael Sharman, who has been the Tigers’ best starter this season, gets the nod as Clemson looks to even the series up and snap a four-game losing streak.