Now that it’s in the ACC Tournament, Clemson has the same goal as the conference’s other 11 baseball teams making the trip to Charlotte this week.
“We want to go in there and win this thing,” Clemson coach Monte Lee said.
But there may not be a team that actually needs to pull that off – or at least come close – more than the Tigers.
Clemson (35-21) begins another important week during a recent stretch that’s been full of them today when the Tigers open tournament play as the 12th and final seed. Clemson will take on No. 8 North Carolina at 7 p.m. before playing top-seeded Virginia Tech on Thursday at Truist Field fully aware of what’s at stake.
“We all know what we’re facing, and the guys will be ready to go,” Lee said. “Let’s go win Game 1 and get some momentum going into Game 2.”
The Tigers are trying to avoid missing out on the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season, though they have given themselves a fighting chance with a strong finish to the regular season. Clemson was in danger of missing out on the conference tournament just a few weeks ago before winning seven of its last nine ACC games, including a sweep of Boston College over the weekend that clinched its spot in Charlotte.
Yet the Tigers’ postseason resume remains bubbly, and predictions of whether or not Clemson would be part of the NCAA Tournament field if the 64-team tournament started today reflect that. Clemson begins the week ranked 30th in the NCAA’s latest RPI rankings thanks in part to 11 top-30 RPI wins, including nine against teams in the top 20. The Tigers went 5-0 against the SEC in the non-conference portion of the schedule with two of those wins coming against No. 12 Georgia.
But Clemson needed that strong close to conference play just to finish three games below .500 against ACC competition. For the moment, D1Baseball.com projects the Tigers as the final team into the NCAA Tournament as the 11th team from the ACC, which would be a record for the league. The conference has never had more than 10 teams make the NCAA Tournament in a single year.
Of course, Clemson could assure itself of a spot in a regional by winning the ACC Tournament to earn the conference’s automatic bid. But with other potential bid stealers lurking around the country, too, the Tigers need at least one win and likely more than that this week in order to feel better about their at-large chances.
Otherwise, the Tigers will be sweating profusely when the NCAA Tournament field is announced Monday. The ACC splits its teams into four pods of three with the winner of each pod advancing to Saturday’s tournament semifinals. Clemson needs to beat UNC and Virginia Tech in order to get there. A loss to the Tar Heels tonight, though, and Thursday’s game becomes a virtual must-win for the Tigers and their NCAA hopes, though Lee doesn’t want his team putting any additional pressure on itself.
“I think if you start using words like have to, desperation and must win, you’re only showing mental weakness within your ballclub if you do that. That’s the bottom line,” Lee said. “We’ve played a lot of baseball. The hay is in the barn. Let’s go play baseball. We knew what we’re doing. We know what our strengths are.
“We don’t need to approach the UNC game any differently than we have any other game. It’s pretty simple. If we get a good start on the mound and we swing the bats the way we can swing the bats, we can compete with anybody in the country. That’s the message.”
Mack Anglin (6-5, 4.11 earned run average) will get the ball for Clemson tonight. The sophomore right-hander is coming off one of his longest outings of the season last week when he threw seven innings of one-run ball against Boston College. He will be opposed by UNC right-hander Max Carlson (1-2, 3.72), who will face a Clemson offense that has averaged 8.5 runs in its last 12 games against ACC competition.
“We need to focus on Game 1 like we have all along,” Lee said. “We know where we’re at. We’re right on that bubble, but why not go up there and try to win the thing?”
