CLEMSON — Michael Sharman has been the anchor of Clemson’s starting rotation this season.

The left-handed hurler has been the Tigers’ most consistent starter, routinely giving the team five-plus innings week in and week out. Only two times has he failed to get into the fifth. The most recent time came on Saturday, when he exited after the fourth, with Clemson trailing 3-2.

On the surface, some might have questioned why Erik Bakich had such a quick hook for his most reliable starter, but digging a little deeper, the answer reveals itself. The middle of the Seminoles batting order had hit Sharman hard the first two times through the order and that was the part of the lineup that the veteran lefty was due to see if he had come back out for the fifth.

“That is a tough decision, because Sharm is our dude,” Bakich said. “I mean, he has been our horse. Statistically, he’s got our best numbers. Never want to pull that guy. You trust in him that he is going to settle in and be just fine.”

In fact, Brody DeLamielleure was set to lead off the fifth, and the FSU right-fielder had already hit one long ball off of Sharman. That after having hit one against Justin LeGuerninc, another lefty, in Friday’s loss.

Bakich chose to turn to Danny Nelson, and the freshman went out and absolutely dominated Florida State hitters over the next four innings. With the season hanging in the balance, Nelson only needed 39 pitches to retire all 12 hitters he faced, which included three strikeouts.

“It felt like the way they hit LeGuernic (Friday), the way they were on the barrell (Saturday), it just felt like maybe we needed to do something a little different. Even though Sharm is our dude and we have won a lot of games with him pitching six innings, I just felt like we needed to make that move with the fresh bullpen and where we are in the season.”

After beginning the season on a tear, Nelson experienced some hurdles once ACC play began and the competition ramped up. Nelson gave up eight earned runs over his first five appearances in conference play. He saw his ERA jump from 0.00 to 5.54 over that stretch.

However, since then, the freshman has started to find his stride. Going back to the North Carolina series, he’s allowed just three earned runs over his last 13.3 innings pitched, with 17 strikeouts to just one walk. And after his 12-up, 12-down outing on Saturday, his ERA is back down to 3.71.

The fact that Bakich turned to the true freshman in such a big moment proves the amount of trust the head coach has in his young hurler. Coming in with his team facing a one-run deficit in what was, no doubt, a must-win game, Nelson delivered. He put up zeros, which allowed the Tigers to work some late-inning magic, keeping their postseason hopes alive.

“Danny was really sinking the ball tonight with the good slider and curveball,” Bakich said. “He just keeps getting better. Looked like he dropped the slot a little, and he was really sinking the ball. His biggest strength that I have seen, that is unique to a freshman, is his ability to throw multiple pitches for strikes. He just seems like he is one of those guys you can easily envision getting better. He started against Coastal and he could be one of those guys who could start for us in the future as well.”