Erik Bakich reveals Clemson's pitching plans for super regional

Clemson is sticking with the same pitching plan that it used last weekend as the Tigers welcome Florida to town for the super regionals.

The Tigers will start Tristan Smith in Game 1 and Aidan Knaak in Game 2 against the Gators, according to head coach Erik Bakich.

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“We’re going to go with Tristan tomorrow and then with Aidan [Knaak] in Game 2. So same 1-2,” Bakich told reporters on Friday.

Tristan Smith is 2-0 with a 3.88 ERA on the year. The lefty missed some time earlier this season with an injury but has pitched well lately, including allowing only one earned run over 5 1/3 innings last weekend against High Point.

As for Aidan Knaak, he has been the best Clemson pitcher this season. The freshman is 5-1 with a 2.96 ERA. He has 103 strikeouts in 79 innings pitched.

There was some talk that Clemson may go with Knaak with how well he has been pitching, but Bakich instead chose to go with what has been working.

Clemson is hosting a super regional after winning its regional last weekend. The Tigers beat Coastal Carolina in the championship game to advance. Florida was on the bubble heading into the NCAA Tournament but has gotten hot at the right time. The Gators won the Stillwater Regional last weekend.

Erik Bakich addresses how Clemson will move past emotional regional win

The Clemson baseball program advanced to the super regional for the first time since 2010 last weekend, but the Tigers haven’t just been sitting around celebrating.

The No. 6 overall seeded Tigers made quick and stress-less work of their own regional, downing High Point and then Coastal Carolina twice to advance on the back of a breezy 3-0 weekend. After that win, the celebration was on, with Clemson players even trying to hop the right field wall to go hang out with fans.

However, after a night of celebrating, it was back to work for the Tigers.

“They understand mental toughness, being able to get back to the middle, and being able to stay centered and get back to neutral,” Bakich said after winning the regional.

“When you do accomplish something and you have these checkpoint moments that are these awesome memory-making things along the way, you got to go all in and celebrate that. So it would have been an opportunity missed if we didn’t jump into the Clemson Cafe and hang out with everyone in the cheap seats throwing beer on us. … We didn’t come this far only to come this far. There’s much more to be done. We are very aware that there’s more to be done.”