Clemson baseball: Tigers have salt poured in wounds Sunday night

Under head coach Monte Lee, Clemson baseball finished the season with a losing record for the first time since 1957 when the Tigers went 6-12.

It was announced Sunday night that Clemson baseball rival, the University of South Carolina, will host an NCAA regional while the Tigers will miss the tournament for the first time since the 2008 college baseball season. This is certainly not good news for a head coach that will undoubtedly be on the hot seat in 2022.

This is just salt in the wound for the Tigers after losing the season series 2-1 in 2021.

The Tigers have not advanced beyond the NCAA Regionals since 2010 and that was under former head coach Jack Leggett, who was removed as the programs skipper after 22 seasons because he had not been able to guide Clemson to postseason success since the 2010 season and their appearance in the College World Series.

Monte Lee will feel the heat from Clemson baseball fans in 2022

Over the last several days, Clemson athletic director, Dan Radakovich, expressed support for Monte Lee and all but assured Clemson baseball fans that Lee will be back in 2022. However, that doesn’t mean there won’t be fire under his backside after an abysmal 2021 season.

According to the Post and Courier, Radakovich had this to say this week about the program under Lee –

"“We all have high expectations for our baseball program, and no one understands those better than Monte Lee. As we do each season, we will evaluate all areas of the program, and I am looking forward to meeting with Monte on how we can continue to support him and this proud program.”"

He also told the paper “that there is reason to be optimistic about the future of the program under Lee.”

Lee has had some success as the Clemson baseball head coach, as the Tigers hosted a regional his first three seasons as the head coach and they won the 2016 ACC baseball title. However, the Tigers have failed to get out of any of their regionals and the 2021 losing season has left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Tiger faithful.

Whatever happens in the coming weeks, what is clear for Clemson baseball – what happened in 2021 is unacceptable and like Men’s basketball, they have a long way to go in order to live up to the “Best is the standard” motto that Clemson athletics has adopted over the last decade.