Erik Bakich calls out 'South Carolina fan base that loves to troll'

There is no denying that the Clemson baseball program has experienced its share of postseason struggles in recent years. The Tigers have not advanced out of a regional since the 2010 season, and five of those regionals were played at Clemson.

A portion of the Clemson fan base has grown frustrated with the lack of postseason success, but Tigers coach Erik Bakich says that the people who regularly bring it up are actually South Carolina fans.

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“The people who bring that up over and over and over and over and over again, those are called Gamecocks. Those aren’t Clemson fans,” Erik Bakich said. “That’s the South Carolina fan base that loves to troll. So whatever.”

South Carolina won the 2010 and 2011 national titles and also reached the College World Series in 2012. Bakich admits that the Gamecocks have bragging rights because of that, but he’s hopeful Clemson can grab some bragging rights this postseason.

“I mean, they’ve got bragging rights because of what they accomplished a decade ago and that’s fine. And we have to go out and do it,” Bakich said. “But, you know, if you’re going to start looking in history books, then go back to the mid-90s and early 2000s and the coach [Jack] Leggett heyday. Go back to coach [Bill] Wilhelm’s days.

“This is a blueblood program with plenty of rich history and tradition. And if Clemson baseball truly is back we’ve got to go out and earn it on the field.”

The Clemson Regional gets underway on Friday with the No. 1 seed Tigers facing No. 4 seed High Point and No. 2 seed Vanderbilt going up against No. 3 seed Coastal Carolina.

Even though the Tigers are expected to handle High Point, Bakich insists his team won’t overlook the Panthers.

“We’re going to [be successful] not by overlooking High Point but by getting in the winners bracket and then try to stay in the winners bracket in Game 2,” Bakich said. “But it all starts with getting in the winners bracket on Game 1. And what has happened historically doesn’t have anything to do with what’s going to happen on Friday. We’ve got to go out and play well.”

Game 1 of the Clemson Regional will be played on Friday at Noon with Vanderbilt facing off against Coastal Carolina.

High Point and Clemson will play in the late game with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. The two winners and two losers will meet on Saturday.