Erik Bakich says Ty Olenchuk could be a two-way player next season

Clemson pitcher Ty Olenchuk did not have an at-bat in his college career heading into this past weekend’s Clemson Regional. But in two of the biggest games of the season, Tigers head coach Erik Bakich decided to give Olenchuk a shot at the plate.

The 6-foot-2 junior right-hander earned his first start on the mound of the season Sunday in Clemson’s elimination game versus Charlotte. But in addition to being the starting pitcher, Olenchuk also slide in the eight-hole as the designated hitter.

“We just felt like we needed to hit our way through this first game, and just get guys that could leave the yard and try to put up crooked numbers,” Bakich said after the Tigers lost to the 49ers to end their season. “Ty, along with Caden and Billy, hits the ball as hard and as far as everyone. He routinely hits them over the cages. We were hoping he’d run into one as a gamble.”

Olenchuk had his first at-bat of his college career Saturday in Clemson’s 6-5 loss to Tennessee in 14 innings. He pinch hit to start the 12th inning but flew out to right-center.

Against Charlotte, Olenchuk finished 1-for-4 at the plate as the 49ers won 3-2. His one hit did come with two outs in the ninth inning to extend the game one more batter.

“Guy’s had one at-bat last night, but if you saw his at-bat last night, he just missed it,” Bakich said Sunday. “The trajectory of the ball looked right and he took some absolute thunder hacks in there. We thought maybe he’ll run into one. That was really just the thought process. But it didn’t work out today.”

Ty Olenchuk has two-way experience in summer ball

Ty Olenchuk spent one summer as a two-way player with the Lexington County Blowfish of the Coastal Plain League. He was successful on both sides of the ball in the summer of 2021 with the Blowfish.

On the mound, Olencuk started six games and threw 26.4 innings with a 2.36 ERA, 14.3 WHIP and 19 strikeouts. At the plate, he hit .341 with a .477 on-base percentage with 10 doubles, 17 walks and two home runs in 109 plate appearances.

He did not have enough plate appearances to qualify but only one player on the league leader board had a better on-base percentage than him.

Whether Olenchuk gets a chance to do both during the college season next year remains to be seen.

“Ty could be a two-way next year for sure,” Bakich said.