RALEIGH, N.C. — Coming into the weekend series at NC State, the Clemson baseball team was positioned extremely well in the race for one of those crucial top eight seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

The second-ranked Tigers came in having won nine of 11, including taking two out of three from a Top 20 Louisville team, and shutting out No. 10 Georgia in midweek action.

However, that momentum came to a screeching halt in Raleigh, with No. 25 NC State not only sweeping Clemson but also doing it in rather dominating fashion.

With his team having lost four of its past five games, Erik Bakich is hoping that a few weeks from now, his team can look back on this weekend and view it as a turning point.

“Always is. The best teams that we have ever had, at any school, have always had to go through something,” the head coach told The Clemson Insider after Saturday’s loss. “It was part of the team’s journey, part of their identity.

“We came to Raleigh and got absolutely dominated in all phases. There will be a lot of learning opportunities and growth opportunities from this. We’ll see how we use it to make ourselves better, and that is really what the key is. Can you take the adversity — get up and dust off. Find the things that have gone wrong and fix them. Knowing our staff, our leaders, this team, that is what we will do.”

The Wolfpack outscored the Tigers 26-7 over the three-game set, and in the biggest moments, it was NC State that delivered. On the other hand, the Clemson offense sputtered. The Pack went 13-of-29 with runners in scoring position during the sweep, while Clemson was a putrid 1-for-21, including going hitless in those situations over the final two games.

With his team now facing a road trip to Tallahassee to face off with a Top 10 Florida State team, Bakich knows the schedule isn’t going to let up.

This is also finals week for Clemson, meaning the Tigers will have a few days off. Not only will this team have a chance to reset, but it is also an opportunity for some guys to rest their bodies.

“I think the time away from baseball will actually be a good thing for them,” Bakich said. “We got a lot of guys banged up, bruised, scraped or whatever. It will be good for a lot of guys to get in the weight room, get some treatment, and get their bodies healed. Try to get back to feeling pretty good.”

As for the struggles at the plate, particularly in those clutch moments, Bakich fully believes it is something that will work itself out.

“I am not worried about the baseball stuff,” he added. “We will iron out the baseball stuff. Knowing our guys and seeing how they have trained and prepared, we will respond to this and we will be fine.”

The series loss to the Wolfpack was Clemson’s first of the season. It’s also the first time the team has gone through a losing streak of any kind.

But the biggest thing has been the inability to come up with that big hit, and Bakich is anxious to see how his team responds to the most adversity it has faced all season.

“We didn’t expect to go wire-to-wire,” Bakich said. “Hoping we would, but that is usually not the way it goes. The best teams, who are the best teams at the end, usually have to get through something, some type of adversity.”