Clemson players shower Erik Bakich with Gatorade after winning ACC Tournament Championship
The Clemson Tigers won their 11th ACC Tournament crown on Sunday, after they defeated the Miami Hurricanes 11-5 on a rainy field in Durham, North Carolina. The team brought their new head coach, Erik Bakich, his first ACC Tournament crown in his debut season as their head coach. His players were so excited about the big victory, they decided to douse their coach with a Gatorade shower.
Check it out below.
Before joining Clemson this offseason, Bakich was an extremely successful head coach for the Michigan Wolverines. He was named the National Consensus Coach of the Year in 2019, when he led the Wolverines to a 50-22 overall record and a NCAA runner-up finish.
Four Clemson head coaches have won the ACC in their first season: Bill Wilhelm in 1958, Jack Leggett in 1994, Monte Lee in 2016, and now Erik Bakich adds his name to that list.
Riley Bertram didn’t hit a single home run all season long for the Tigers. He delivered one when it mattered the most, a three-run blast in the seventh inning on Sunday to give the Tigers the lead for good. Clemson scored eight runs in the seventh inning and didn’t look back the rest of the way.
They’ve been one of the hottest teams in college baseball and they’ve won 16 straight games. They’ve also won 26 of their last 29 games.
It’s going to be fascinating to see how they play in the upcoming 2023 NCAA Tournament. It’s been quite the turnaround this season for the Tigers, who started their season at 2-8 in the ACC. They turned things around drastically and now, they’re playing like the hottest team in college baseball.
The 2023 ACC All-Tournament Team was released on Sunday night, following Clemson’s 11-5 victory over the Miami Hurricanes. Slugger Caden Grice of Clemson won Tournament MVP honors. He’s one of the best two-way players in all of college baseball and he played like it in this year’s tournament. Grice was pivotal in guiding the Tigers to their 11th ACC Tournament crown.
It shouldn’t be surprising that the Tigers had four players named to the 2023 ACC All-Tournament Team: Caden Grice, second baseman Riley Bertram, outfielder Cooper Ingle, and outfielder Cam Cannarella.
Clemson will now await the official release of the 2023 NCAA Tournament field. That will happen during the 2023 NCAA Baseball Tournament Selection Show. It will be nationally televised on Monday, May 29th on ESPN2. The show is set to begin at noon EST.
On3’s Jonathan Wagner has Clemson projected to play No. 4 seed Penn in the Clemson Regional of this year’s NCAA Tournament. For a full look at his field of 64 projections for the 2023 NCAA Tournament you can find that here.