CLEMSON — Aidan Knaak set an extremely high standard for himself during his freshman campaign at Clemson.

Knaak burst onto the scene almost immediately a season ago, winning a spot in the weekend rotation and anchoring the Tigers’ pitching staff as the Sunday starter.

After going 5-1 as a freshman with a 3.35 ERA with 85 strikeouts to just 29 walks in 83.1 innings pitched, expectations soared for Knaak as he entered his second season with the Tigers.

However, over his first four starts, there was something just a little off. His command wasn’t quite what it was a season ago, which caused his pitch counts to rise quicker than normal. During that span, he never went more than five innings and twice he failed to make through five complete.

While he was still good over that stretch, Knaak has higher expectations for himself. He wants to be great and his last two times out, that’s exactly what he’s been.

Last week, he set a career-high with 12 strikeouts in seven innings of work in a win over Notre Dame. The performance earned him ACC Pitcher of the Week honors. On Friday, he fanned 10 Wake Forest hitters from a lineup that was hitting .329 as a team and scoring almost 11 runs per game coming in.

What’s been different the past two weeks? Knaak went back to a mindset that served him so well last season.

“Just being more aggressive, attacking,” Knaak said after Friday’s win over Wake Forest. “Having that me versus you mindset. Focus on that batter and the glove and that’s it. Going right at them and attacking.”

Erik Bakich has a simpler explanation for what’s different.

“I think he’s just kind of settling in, getting in the rhythm of the season,” the head coach said. “Just getting more experience of his sophomore year under his belt.”

The expectations for Knaak entering this season were also much different than last year, and it’s possible it took Knaak a little time to adjust.

“The biggest difference is the expectations,” Bakich said. “He didn’t really have that last year. He kind of burst onto the scene and was the National Freshman Pitcher of the Year.”

Knaak also added multiple pitches to his arsenal over the offseason and trying to fit those into what was already a more than impressive repertoire has taken some time.

“It’s also that he is learning a couple of new pitches,” Bakich said. “He is using the new pitches. He has added a sinking fastball. He’s added a slider and a cutter. He is just a master of his craft. Loves tinkering and toying with his grips and checking things out. He worked on it all fall very religiously. Part of that too is just learning how to use those pitches and he is starting to figure it out a little bit.”

If the last two weeks are any indication, Knaak has made the proper adjustments and now really starting to settle into his role as the Friday night starter. Over his last 13 innings, his ERA is 1.51 and he has 22 strikeouts to just three walks.

With ACC play now ramping up, Knaak is settling in at just the right time and that spells trouble for opposing hitters.

“He’s keeping the target on attacking the zone and the relentless strike-throwing ability that he’s got,” said Bakich. “That has really allowed him to settle in and get back-to-back weeks of quality starts.”