Erik Bakich: Clemson baseball will get back to Omaha

Clemson baseball is done earlier than it hoped to be this season, but coach Erik Bakich has confidence the team will reach the College World Series soon. The Tigers exited the Regional round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday with a 16-4 loss Kentucky, bowing out as the host team and No. 11 overall seed.

Clemson’s last trip to Omaha was 15 years ago in 2010, though the Tigers did advance to Super Regionals in 2024 under Bakich. The coach just wrapped up his third year at the helm and has taken the Tigers to the tournament every season so far.

The progress in that time has been clear to see — Clemson missed the postseason in back-to-back years before Bakich took over — even if this year’s result is frustrating. But with the strides that he’s seen, Bakich believes it won’t be long before his squad finally breaks through for a postseason run.

“It’s hard to get to Omaha,” he said. “People don’t realize how hard it is to actually go. You have to work your ass off every day. Omaha is a lifestyle as much as it is a destination. You just cannot leave anything short. You just hope that you work so hard that you get the opportunity to earn your way there and get hot when it means the most and somehow find your way there. This team’s gonna go. It’s going. Clemson baseball will be back in Omaha. That’s going to happen.

“But, in the same breath, you have to earn it every day. You have to earn it in August and September and October and every single day. Because how you get there, there’s so many different ways to get there. But it’s gonna happen with this team.”

Bakich has experience getting to the College World Series with Michigan, which he led to finish runner up in 2019. Additionally, he led Clemson to an ACC Tournament title during his first season as coach in 2023.

The pressure is there for that to happen soon as the Tigers have been eliminated in the Regional round in 11 of their past 12 tournament appearances. Still, that track record from Erik Bakich should give Clemson fans confidence even after the results from this past weekend. There’s a feeling within the program that the time is coming soon, even if it isn’t this year.