We are officially just one day away from Clemson baseball's pursuit of a second Super Regional appearance in a row and the first College World Series berth since 2010.
The Tigers finished the season with a 44-16 record and earned one of the top 16 seeds in the field which means they will host their regional. They're one of two programs in the country who have hosted a regional in the past three seasons.
Erik Bakich has done wonders for this program, leading the Tigers to three straight hosted regionals and a Super Regional last season. Clemson has been elite under his short tenure.
As the regional kicks off on Friday, Clemson will face USC Upstate at 6 p.m. ET following an afternoon matchup between Kentucky and West Virginia.
Who will be Clemson's Game 1 starter against that solid USC Upstate lineup? Erik Bakich made his decision on Thursday: Drew Titsworth.
Titsworth is a solid choice as he's 5-1 on the year with a 4.26 ERA in six starts. He has appeared in 19 games and has two saves as well in 50.2 innings pitched. He started his last six games of the season and allowed three or fewer earned runs in four of those contests.
Clemson will need him to be on his game on Friday evening because this is the biggest start of the season for him. If he pitches like he's capable of pitching, Clemson should be just fine.
That's a big 'if' though.
Bakich and Co. will be ready on Friday night.