Over the past week, the second-ranked Clemson Baseball team has been put to the test. It is a test they passed with flying colors.
Last weekend, the Tigers took two out of three from a Top 20 Louisville team. On Tuesday night, the Tigers blanked No. 10 Georgia 3-0. Not a bad week at the office.
Things don’t get any easier for Erik Bakich’s team the rest of the way. The next two weekends will see Clemson go on the road against ranked opponents. First, the Tigers will head to Raleigh to face off with No. 25 NC State. On top of that, it’s the final week of classes, and finals are next week, which provides its own set of challenges. After that, it’s off to Tallahassee for a Top 10 road matchup with Florida State.
“The last day of school is Friday, and then finals are next week,” Bakich said. “So, you have an academic challenge, and then you have two ranked teams on the road. That’s a big challenge as well during this academically stressful time of the semester. So lean into it and embrace it and know that it’s going to be tough.”
Clemson hasn’t spent much time away from Doug Kingsmore this season, but the road trips the team has taken have been successful ones. The Tigers are currently 6-1 in true road games, including a three-game sweep at Cal earlier this month. Clemson also beat rival South Carolina at Founders Park and took two out of three at Georgia Tech.
However, there is no doubt that these next two series are going to be two of the biggest challenges of the season. It’s never easy when facing off against ranked competition, particularly on the road.
With his team having aspirations of a deep postseason run, Bakich knows the matchups against the Wolfpack and Seminoles will help prepare his team for what lies ahead.
“The baseball is going to be tough,” Bakich added. “This is where you have to finish strong. We don’t want the easiest teams on our schedule leading into the postseason. We want it to be hard leading into the postseason. Because if we’re going to do something special here and truly compete to be the last team standing, then the road is going to be tough. It’s going to be hard,” Bakich said. “And so it’s just leaning into that.”