There’s nothing worse in sports than hearing those two words: so close. For our Clemson Tigers, 2026 has been a season full of heartbreakers—games that slipped away by a whisker. We’ve seen the fight, we’ve seen the flashes, but now, as we hit the home stretch, the numbers don’t lie and the margin for error is gone.
At 26-16 overall and a tough 6-12 in the ACC, the Tigers are looking up at the NCAA Tournament bubble. But if you think Erik Bakich or this program is about to throw in the towel, you haven’t been paying attention. After another gut-punch in Charlottesville—three runs total decided the whole series—Bakich isn’t wasting time feeling sorry.
“It was just another weekend where we were right there and so close and a pitch away,” Bakich said. “(A) lot of opportunities that we just weren’t able to cash in on. So, I actually like the mentality we’ve got right now. Hopefully, we can be on the better side of that one pitch moving forward.”
The "House Meeting" Reset
Sometimes, a change in scenery is the only way to break a negative cycle. Bakich recently hosted the team at his home for a heart-to-heart that resulted in a total psychological reboot. The message was clear: the first 40 games don't matter anymore. We are starting over.
“It is just something we did as a team,” Bakich explained. “We are just moving forward. That is all you can do. We can’t do anything about all the games that we let slip away, or we had the lead late, or we were one hit away — there is nothing we can do about that now. All we can do is control our mindset and how we attack each day and each game and each training session.”
Season 2.0 paid off right away with a 7-2 win over USC-Upstate on Tuesday. Junior slugger Luke Gaffney wasted no time jumping on board, matching his career-high with five RBIs and swinging like a man on a mission.
“We restarted the season, so we are treating it 1-0 and just looking to build off that,” Gaffney said. “Just playing Clemson baseball. I think we did that today and just looking to continue it.”
Breaking the Negative Thought Cycle.
In baseball, what’s between your ears matters just as much as what’s in your bat. Bakich knows if his Tigers are going to pull off a miracle 9-3 run in the ACC—the magic number for a regional—they’ve got to stop looking back and start charging forward.
“Playing with the right mindset moving forward is really important,” Bakich said. “Sometimes in this game you can really dwell on your past mistakes, and it serves no purpose because you’re dwelling on the wouldas, couldas, shouldas, and the what-ifs. It’s just a negative thought cycle that nobody wants to be in. So, it’s just more about forward thinking and just what we can control. So, I like that mindset a lot better, and I like that they’re using that mindset in a very positive way.”
For Gaffney and the rest of the locker room, all that bracket talk is just noise. The only thing that matters now is Louisville.
“We are not really focused on that right now,” Gaffney insisted regarding the postseason. “Just focused on what is ahead and that is Friday night at Louisville. Just going to bring everything that we’ve got and try stack days, as many as we can.”
The Path to 36 Wins
The road is steep. To reach the 36-win plateau that usually secures a spot in the field of 64, the Tigers need to win virtually every midweek game and take three of the next four ACC series. It sounds impossible to the critics, but Bakich is focused on the work, not the standings.
“We may not be in a good spot in terms of looking at the conference standings, but, you know, it’s just where we are, and all we can do is move forward,” Bakich said. “I think we are in a really good spot in terms of that. We may not be in a good spot in terms of looking at the conference standings but we are where we are and all we can do is move forward and make the most of it. Each day is a new opportunity, and we can make the most out of it. So, that’s where we’re at, and that’s where we’re going. We’ll just put our head down and get to work and just try to play our butts off. You know, we’ll look up, maybe in a month, and see where everything settles.”
The Spark is Coming.
Help could be arriving just in time for Louisville. Second baseman Jarren Purify has been out with a hand injury since March 21, and you can feel how much this team misses his fire. When Bakich was asked if the junior sparkplug would be back this weekend, you could hear the hope in his voice—he wants that No. 0 jersey back on the dirt as much as anyone.
“I sure hope so,” Bakich said. “Yeah, I sure hope so. We need him back.”
With a fresh start, Gaffney swinging a scorching bat, and Purify possibly back in the lineup, these Tigers are 1-0 where it counts—in their heads. Now it’s time to remind the ACC: you never, ever count out a Tiger.
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