With its resume this season already horrendous in the stacked ACC, Clemson baseball and head coach Erik Bakich are looking in numerous places to place the blame and find a golden item to fix. Some point to the bats not firing, runners consistently left on base or even the 46 errors that have put Clemson third worst in the ACC in that statistic.
Yet, the true glaring spot may have been hiding in plain sight, in every pitch all along. Despite only allowing 32 runs in 15 nonconference games to begin the season, minus the seemingly rare meltdown versus South Carolina, the pitching staff has still played a massive part in Clemson’s need to fight for a last spot in the NCAA tournament.
Bakich’s 2026 pitching staff looks great on paper: a collective 4.26 ERA, good for fourth in the ACC, along with magical performances by transfer lefty Michael Sharman throughout the season. Even with rough errors, the Tigers still found a way to demolish opponents early in the season, as well as in occasional games on the ACC schedule.
Back in January, Bakich was gloating about how deep his bullpen was.
“We have 23 pitchers, and all of them are good,” Bakich said.
Opening the season, Tiger fans were excited for pitching that could ultimately override any errors the fielders give up.
Once Clemson found itself in late March, in the thick of it in its ACC stretch, the pitching that seemed to carry inconsistent fielding early on blew up. The issue rests mainly in the fact that it seems to be the same story every single time.
On March 21, in the second game of the Notre Dame series, the Tigers played with their heads held high, leading 7-5 and riding good momentum into the eighth. However, reliever Danny Nelson gave up a walk and a home run to tie the game, only to then give up a foreseen throwing error, allowing another runner in to put the Irish up.
The game ended in an 8-7 loss.
Five days later, in a tight series opener versus Miami, Dion Brown began the top of the 10th strong with a walk and two outs, before hitting Miami batter Fabio Peralta with a pitch and allowing a hit right after to load the bases.
Errors then took over Clemson’s defensive efforts, so Bakich put in righty Joe Allen to get out of the mess. Still, Allen himself allowed two hits before a play at second base ended the bleeding.
It was too late, with Miami scoring five runs in a situation where the Tigers needed only one out to have a winning chance.
The April series against North Carolina saw Clemson win the first game — a good sign of potential to spark a turnaround in the season.
But it was still filled with the classic scenario.
In the second matchup, Clemson saw itself up 4-2 before UNC rallied against Clemson’s defense in the ninth inning, and Justin LeGuernic allowed a game-tying RBI fielder’s choice to send the contest to extras. In the third game, Allen allowed a three-run homer to essentially end the series in the fourth inning, extending the North Carolina lead from one run to four.
Now, Bakich has seemingly walked back his depth claims for January, asserting he is shrinking his bullpen “to nine or ten guys and just ride or die with them.”
So, who is to trust in this battered Clemson pitching staff?
From a statistical view at WHIP, the Tigers boast three “elite” pitchers: Sharman, with a 0.91 WHIP in 56.2 innings pitched and a .197 opponent batting average, Ariston Veasey, with a 0.99 WHIP in 17.2 innings pitched and a .121 batting average, as well as Hayden Simmerson, with a 0.71 WHIP in 21 innings pitched and a .133 batting average.
Outside of those three, it has been pure mayhem and inconsistency in pitching. Aidan Knaak has unfortunately seen a step down, already having two more losses attributed to him this season than both his first two years combined. Knaak, with his 5.02 ERA in 43 innings pitched, is having his worst season at Clemson after posting 3.35 and 4.18 ERAs in 2024 and 2025, respectively, despite playing in half as many innings.
Rotation pitchers like Talan Bell, Drew Titsworth and Eston Simpson have not been able to apply a gauze to the Tigers’ wounds at all, with Bell’s rough 9.78 ERA in 19.1 innings pitched, which has led to him potentially becoming more trusted in the outfield, as Bakich has experimented with placing him there in the UNC series.
The pitching woes of the bullpen could have an asterisk next to it, as reliever Jacob McGovern was ruled out for the season after elbow surgery in late February. McGovern held a 3-1 record in 2025 with two saves and a 3.86 ERA.
Yet, one man cannot be all to fix the countless blows and stabs to this bullpen this year.
