CLEMSON — If you don’t know, and I can’t blame you if you do not, Clemson baseball is sitting in last place in the ACC standings.
Yep! Last place.
It is not perennial cellar dwellers like Boston College, Notre Dame, Pitt or Virginia Tech. Nope, it is Clemson. The program that has owned ACC Baseball for decades.
The Tigers are currently 6-15 in ACC play, and one loss to Boston College this weekend will guarantee the program is third losing season in league play since 2021 and its first under head coach Erik Bakich.
Currently, Clemson is on pace to have one of its worse conference seasons since it became a charter member of the ACC in 1953.
In 1956, the Clemson baseball program was 2-10-2 in ACC play, a .214-win percentage. The 1957 Tigers were 3-11, but they also had a .214 win-percentage.
This year’s Tigers have a win-percentage of .286 against ACC competition with nine games to play.
Following the 1957 season, then athletic director Frank Howard changed the fortunes of Clemson Baseball when he went and brought in Bill Wilhelm. We know the rest of the story from there.
Currently, Clemson AD Graham Neff has no plans to make a coaching change this year. Bakich’s first three teams at Clemson have been really good, including a Super Regional berth in 2024.
But will the Tigers get things turned around?
Though I will not disagree that Clemson needs better players, I will say, however, that is not the only problem the program has.
Right now, the players in the program are doubting themselves. They are doubting themselves at every turn and, at this point in the season, that it is a hard thing to fix. Worse yet, it starts to spread throughout the clubhouse, it can become a problem in the program.
It may have been sneaking around the Clemson clubhouse for a while now.
What do I mean?
Think back to the 2023 season. The Tigers had Tennessee down to its last strike in the Clemson Regional. The game was basically over and then the Volunteers get a game-tying home run and go on to win the game in the 14th inning.
Clemson had so many chances to win the game that night, but they could not get the clutch pitch or the timely hit when they needed it. The Tigers went and lost that next day to Charlotte in the loser’s bracket.
In 2024, Clemson did get over the hump and found a way to win its first regional in 14 years. However, in the Clemson Super Regional, they had Florida on the ropes in Game 2 of the series, but again, the Tigers failed to get that big pitch or hit and lost by one run in 13 innings.
Last year, in the Clemson Regional, they had the same problem in another late-game loss to West Virginia, which led to a loss to Kentucky the next day.
But that is not the only evidence. This past weekend’s loss to Louisville was littered with opportunities lost. Clemson had a chance to win all three games against the Cardinals but instead found more ways to lose all three.
Dating back to the 2024 season, the Tigers have lost seven straight extra-inning games, including four of those at home.
This season, Clemson is 1-10 in one-run or extra-inning games, a shining example of how the program is plagued by a lack of confidence and mental toughness.
Erik Bakich has his hands full. Fixing the program right now, just is not about bringing in new players, finding NIL dollars and or getting new coaches, though all those things can help.
The Tigers first have to fix their attitudes, and until they do that, nothing is going to change.
