Erik Bakich’s most recent move in the portal has been one of his biggest of the offseason.

Late Thursday night, Loyola Marymount transfer Nate Savoie made it official by going public with a commitment to Clemson. The West Coast Conference’s Freshman of the Year, Savoie hit .300 during his first collegiate season, with 20 home runs and 61 RBI, while slugging .675. He added 14 doubles, a triple and scored 42 runs in 51 games.

Although, Savoie’s journey to Loyola Marymount was littered with roadblocks. A back injury robbed him of much of his high school career, severely limiting his college options. He ultimately signed with LMU, and after more than proving himself during his debut season, Savoie chose to enter the transfer portal in search of another, bigger challenge.

“The main reasons were that I’m trying to go as high as I can in the draft in 2027,” Savoie told The Clemson Insider. “Objectively, if you perform the same in both conferences, there’s a much better chance of you going a lot higher in a conference like the ACC, the SEC, or any Power-4. And part of it was also wanting to go win a national championship and play with the best competition I could.”

Part of that decision also centered around wanting the opportunity to play for a national title contender, and Savoie feels like Clemson provides him with that opportunity. Having grown up a fan of Michigan, Savoie always followed Bakich’s teams while he was head coach of the Wolverines.

“I really didn’t have much opportunity to go many places out of high school, but certain schools like Clemson were always schools that I’ve heard amazing things about,” Savoie said. “My family’s from Michigan, and I’ve always grown up a Michigan football fan, and so I knew of coach Bakich and the other guys that were there. Had heard really good things, so playing at a school like Clemson was part of it.”

Once he officially hit the portal, it didn’t take long for assistant Nickn Schnabel to get in touch. Once the initial contact was made, Bakich got involved and Savoie set up a visit, which took place last Monday.

Savoie has relationships with Josh Paino, who also came to Clemson via the portal, and TP Wentowrth, who just finished up his freshman campaign with the Tigers. Having gotten to know both of those guys, Savoie had a good idea of what to expect when he arrived for that visit.

“I hit with the same hitting coaches as Josh Pano, so I’ve hit with him a good amount,” he said. “I’ve talked to him a lot, and he’s said nothing but good things. He’s loved it there. He says it’s the best year of baseball he’s ever had in his life. Just the experience of playing there. I also played with TP Wentworth two summers ago in Texas, and so I’ve talked to him.”

And once he arrived for his visit, Bakich was everything Savoie thought he would be.

“He has that energy, that presence about him,” Savoie added. “Me being a more stoic, even-keeled type of person, I feel like I really feed off of the high-energy, positive, enthusiastic type of coaching. Not that it is needed for me, but I just enjoy that type of environment where people are showing up with a passion every day. That type of enthusiasm is what I love most.”

Savoie is just the latest power bat Bakich has added to his roster. Clemson has also landed portal commitments from Ty Dalley, who has 58 homers over his three-year career, and Ryan Wideman, who hit 10 long balls at W. Kentucky last season.

Savoie is also the second first-team freshman All-American Bakich has landed, joining App State transfer Tyler Lichtenberger. Add in Georgia transfer, Bryce Clavon, who was one of the top prospects in the country coming out of high school, and the Tigers’ lineup will look much different next season.

It’s a portal class some have called one of the best in the country, and with those kinds of narratives surrounding the additions, expectations are going to be high. However, Savoie embraces those expectations. In fact, he welcomes them. After all, Bakich has made it very clear that playing in the College World Series is the goal.

“That’s probably the most electric championship environment besides playing in an actual World Series, and I think everybody wants that. Everybody wants a piece of that,” Savoie said. “When you’re coming from a mid-major type of school, and go to a school like Clemson, that’s a real possibility with the guys that are on your team and the other dudes in the lineup. That’s in your mind. Probably will be every day, whereas it’s not as much at the mid-major level. So that will be a really cool team pursuit. Definitely something that’s going to bring everybody together.”

Photo courtesy of Nate Savoie on X (formerly known as Twitter)