Clemson’s baseball team isn’t hitting the panic button just yet, but their collective finger is moving closer to it.

After another home series loss, Erik Bakich didn’t hold back his frustrations. The Tigers’ first-year coach said it’s time for his players and his coaches to start finding some answers.

“We’ve got the pieces. We’ve got to put them together,” Bakich said following Clemson’s loss to Duke on Sunday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, clinching a third series loss in the last four weekends for the Tigers. “And when we don’t put them together and lose a series like this, and it’s the second time now at home we’ve either lost a series or been swept, it’s not OK. I guess that’s the reality of it.

“This is Clemson. It means something to wear this uniform, and it’s about playing to a certain standard. You don’t lose at home. We’ve got to put the pieces together and figure it out.”

Clemson fell to 12-8 overall and 1-2 in ACC play following Sunday’s loss to Duke, a team that went 22-32 a season ago and needed the series win over the Tigers just to get back to .500 in league play this season. Clemson’s lone win in the series came in the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader.

Clemson dropped a 3-2 pitcher’s duel in Saturday’s opener, but the rest of the series followed a familiar script for the Tigers. Clemson once again needed its offense to bail out a pitching staff that continues to give up hits and run in bulk. Duke scored 20 runs in the final 17 innings of the series.

The Tigers scored 14 in Saturday’s second game to avoid the sweep, though it looked Clemson might take the series when it took a 7-6 lead into the ninth inning of Sunday’s finale. But Duke put up a five-spot against four different relievers in its final at-bat to rally for an 11-8 win.

“Different plays here and there and this could’ve been a potential sweep,” Bakich said. “But we’re walking out now losing the series with no excuses. As a coach, I’m just thinking what could we have done a little bit different?”

One decision Bakich second-guessed himself on following Sunday’s game was pulling Jackson Lindley after two innings of one-run relief. The junior right-hander came on in the seventh and held Duke at bay long enough for Clemson to take the one-run lead into the ninth with three runs in the seventh and one in the eighth.

But Bakich instead turned things over to sophomore Billy Barlow, who allowed a solo homer to one of the two batters he faced. The Blue Devils then took the lead for good against Rocco Reid, Ty Olenchuk and Rob Hughes with Damon Lux’s three-run blast off Olenchuk being the dagger.

“Should’ve let Lindley hit for himself in the eighth of a tie game,” Bakich said. “We just didn’t do it. But yeah, we’d gone through all those scenarios.”

Bakich pointed out some positives that his team can take away from the series. Clemson cranked out more 38 hits, though stranding 16 baserunners in Saturday’s loss wasn’t pretty. Austin Gordon gave the Tigers a quality start in Game 1 with six innings of three-run ball, and Bakich said he continues to be encouraged by what he sees on the mound from Caden Grice, who struck out six in four innings in his latest Sunday start.

“We can’t lose confidence,” Bakich said. “Keep improving and find a way when we play all the games we’re playing – because everyone we’re playing is really good – that we can have better execution in all three phases. Disappointed for our guys, but the good news is there’s a lot of season left. But we need to get some things figured out and get them figured out quick.”