Bakich names his starter, knows there is pressure to get to Omaha

Erik Bakich says it's a 'no-brainer' to start Drew Titsworth to start Clemson's NCAA Regional run.

David Hood · Senior Writer · 1 day ago

CLEMSON – Erik Bakich has named his Friday starter, and now he’s ready to send his team into what he feels like is a loaded regional against the best No. 4 seed in the country.

West Virginia and Kentucky open the double-elimination regional on Friday at noon on ESPNU. Clemson then hosts USC Upstate on Friday at 6 p.m. on ACC Network. The Tigers practiced for the final time Thursday ahead of the regional, and Bakich, the Tigers’ head coach, announced his starter, saying sophomore right-hander Drew Titsworth (5-1, 4.26 ERA) will be on the bump.

“Yeah, it’s Drew Titsworth. He's got the ball tomorrow,” Bakich said. “We knew we were going to do it the whole time. That kind of a no brainer for us. We decided to see him get out there and feel really confident when he's on the mound. “It’s exciting time of the year, excited to watch our guys get after it. And we've got a loaded regional, a lot of talent. We've got the best four seed in the bracket in the entire tournament with USC Upstate and obviously two really good programs with West Virginia and Kentucky. So, I feel like this regional is loaded and a lot of good teams and excited to get going.”

Bakich’s Tigers made a regional his first year at the helm, a Super Regional last season and he knows there is pressure to take the next step.

“The next step is Omaha and the step after that is winning a national championship. The step after that is doing it multiple times,” Bakich said. “But you're either feeling the pressure or applying the pressure. Of course these are the biggest stages and the brightest lights and the highest stakes, but that's all 16 host sites and that's all the teams that have high expectations and have programs they feel like are the tippy top of college baseball. And you have to run right towards it. You have to run to the roar on that one.

“You can't back away from that. You can't shy away from it. We all signed up for it, the players, the coaches, everybody. This is why you do it. I mean it's for these moments right here and we're okay knowing that we will be judged based on what happens this round, the next round and the round after that. We are okay with that. And along the way, there are some milestone things you want to accomplish that you set goals for. And we got one of them with the Gamecocks and didn't get the ones we wanted in the ACC, but now we have this opportunity in front of us. So, there's a lot of things that you set goals for, but none are bigger than when the postseason starts and you have the opportunity to do something magical, do something special, but it all starts with one game at a time, one pitch at a time.”