CLEMSON — Erik Bakich took a bit of a different approach with his pitching staff during the fall.

Clemson pitchers threw less in the fall since Bakich has been head coach. Some didn’t even throw at all, including Aidan Knaak and Jacob McGovern. Drew Titsworth threw very little in the intrasquad scrimmages.

“We pitched the least amount of innings in the fall than we have for sure at Clemson,” Bakich said. “Since our 2019 season at Michigan, when we shut down our three starters altogether in the fall. I just think that is a really good strategy.”

With the Tigers beginning preseason practice on Tuesday and Opening Day less than a month away, it’s a strategy Bakich plans to keep utilizing.

Heading into his fourth season at the helm, Bakich believes the 2026 pitching staff will be his deepest at Clemson to date. And he wants to make sure it stays that way. Bakich doesn’t want to see guys starting to run out of gas in May or June.

“I think you will see us limit a lot of guys on purpose, a lot of guys even going into the season who are healthy, just more to manage their pitch count,” Bakich said. “One, because we want them peaking in June, and two, because we have 23 pitchers and all of them are good. It is probably one of the deepest pitching staffs in terms of totality 1 to 23 that I have been a part of.”

While Knaak, McGovern, Titsworth and Talan Bell are all back, Bakich will have to replace some key members of last season’s staff. Ethan Darden transferred out, while Reed Garris and Lucas Mahlstedt both exhausted their eligibility.

However, the Tigers should have plenty of options when it comes to filling out the staff. On top of a handful of transfers Bakich brought in after last season, several freshmen could end up contributing quickly. Danny Nelson, Dan Margolies, Dylan Harrison, Nick Frusco and Dylan Harrison are all first-year pitchers that shined in the fall.

“In the limited action we saw (in the fall), I was very encouraged,” Bakich added. “We had quite a few guys that touched some velocities, not that velocity is everything because movement is just as important, just as strikes are just as important. In terms of what the target was on, which was either developing their stuff or their command, I thought there was a lot of progress made in those two categories. I thought a lot of guys made big jumps.”