Clemson head coach Erik Bakich on the Tigers not being done in the transfer portal
Clemson baseball's early postseason exit was a bitter pill to swallow, but head coach Erik Bakich is already shifting focus to what comes next — and he's not wasting any time.
After another disappointing finish in regional play, Bakich is using the extra time to aggressively reshape his roster through the transfer portal. The Tigers won 45 games and reached the ACC Championship, but a crushing late-inning loss to West Virginia followed by a lopsided defeat to Kentucky ended their season short of expectations.
'We are fully aware that we took a step back in the month of June,' Bakich said Tuesday on SportsTalk with Phil Kornblut. 'That is all that really matters, and we had nothing to hang our hat on for success this season… So for us, we are heads down and instead of talking about it, we are going to be about it.'
Since his arrival in 2022, Bakich has made it clear the standard at Clemson is a return to Omaha. After coming close in 2024 with a Super Regional run, the 2025 season marked a step back — and Bakich is determined to fix that quickly.
So far, he's added seven players through the portal, including five hitters aimed at addressing offensive inconsistency and two arms to bolster the pitching staff. One of the first portal pickups was Ariston Veasey, a hard-throwing righty from Alabama, followed by Catawba transfer Hayden Simmerson.
Still, Bakich says they're far from done.
'Our coaching staff has been on a mission to find some high-impact dudes, and we are still looking,' he said. 'Trying to find one or two more pitchers… Clemson is looking, and we want an absolute dude.'
Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
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