CLEMSON – After Clemson’s 14-1 run-rule victory over La Salle at Doug Kingsmore Stadium Friday, head coach Erik Bakich commented on the remaining pitching rotation for the rest of the four-game series.

Specifically, he announced that redshirt freshman Dane Moehler will make his first start, after suffering a season-ending elbow injury just ahead of the 2025 opener. He was slated to be a starter ahead of his injury.

“We’re going to start Dane Mohler, but it’s just going to be as an opener,” Bakich said. “And then of course we’ve got (righty) Drew Titsworth ready to go behind him.”

Ahead of the season, Bakich commented that Moehler would be on the same plan that now-Sunday starter Talan Bell was on last season as he recovered from an injury. Bell made eight starts last season, throwing 22.2 innings in nine appearances. He started with one inning against Presbyterian, in which he faced six batters, before pitching up to four frames in May.

With Titsworth in the bullpen ready to replace Moehler, Saturday, Moehler’s first collegiate appearance will look similar to Bell’s.

“What that means is that it’s easier to start those guys as when they’re making a rehab start because they control their preparation,” Bakich said. “It’s not like, ‘Hey, go get hot in ten minutes.’ They have the full pregame opportunity. So, with Dane starting game two of the double header, he’s got the full pregame of game one as well as the in between time.”

Titsworth started seven games last season, but has come in only out of the bullpen so far in 2026. He missed the first week with an “armpit injury,” according to Bakich, but has since pitched in five innings, only allowing one run on one hit with six strikeouts. 

Before coming to Clemson (12-1), Moehler was ranked as the No. 10 right-handed pitcher in Georgia his senior year, and was an all-state selection. He was the No. 135 righty in the nation, according to Perfect Game, as well as his region’s pitcher of the year.

His father, Brian, spent 14 years in the Major Leagues as a pitcher, recording three shutouts over his career with four teams.

Along with Moehler and Titsworth working in a “co-start” in the second game Saturday, Michael Sharman will make his fourth start in the first game. Talan Bell, now healthy, will start in the final game Sunday. Sharman and Bell have combined for a 6-0 record in the first few weeks of the season.

The first game of Saturday’s doubleheader is slated for noon Saturday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium with the second– Moehler’s debut– starting at 4 p.m.