CLEMSON, S.C. — From a team that was struggling to a #4 national seed and home field advantage for the first two weekends.
That is the story of Erik Bakich's first season at Clemson.
The Tigers will take a 16-game winning streak into their NCAA regional opener Friday afternoon against Lipscomb. Their latest win came in this past Sunday's ACC Tournament Championship game, an 11-5 win over a Miami team which was ranked as high as eighth.
That performance earned Clemson (43-17) the #4 national seed which means if the Tigers win their regional, they would host the winner of the Auburn regional in a best-of-three Super Regional with the winner advancing to Omaha.
This is quite the turnaround for a Tiger team which on the first day of April, had just gotten swept at home by Wake Forest and fell to 16-13. Two months later, the Tigers were at practicing Doug Kingsmore Stadium where they are hosting a regional for the first time since 2018.