Clemson Finally Enters NCAA Baseball Rankings

Clemson baseball is continuing to gain national recognition as the wins keep coming.

As recently as just a couple of months ago this 2023 baseball season for the Clemson Tigers seemed as if it would be one to forget. Five, yes five, conference series wins later leaves the Tiger fanbase excited for postseason possibilities. Clemson, after their recent sweep of the Louisville Cardinals, has won their last 4 conference matchups and 10 of the last 12. All of this has led to the NCAA finally putting Clemson at No. 16 in their latest rankings that were released Monday.

The Tigers sit as the 4th highest-ranked team in the conference only behind No. 1 Wake Forest, No. 10 Duke, and No. 11 Miami. Other outlets that have released their rankings have a different perspective on baseball in the ACC as Perfect Game has all 4 of those previously mentioned teams ranked higher than the NCAA including Clemson, which they have as high as No. 10 overall.

Clemson improved to 31-17 on the year, 14-10 in ACC play. (Clemson Athletics)

Coach Erik Bakich, speaking after their most recent victory clinching the sweep of the Cardinals, was very vocal about the noticeable difference in vibe around the crowd and stadium with the recent run of success. Bakich started his press conference with, "Shoutout to the fans. It was an awesome environment. DKS (Doug Kingsmore Stadium) was rocking and I loved that we had the orange balloons, the flames, the pinwheels, and the orange poms. That stuff matters and it gets the crowd into it. Obviously, when our guys play like they played, pitch like we pitched, defend like we defend, and hit like we hit it helps but those two work in concert. Seeing the crowd get into it and be an active participant in our success and working together just made for a really, really cool environment."

The Tigers will get a chance to continue their hot streak against another quality opponent in No. 9 ranked Coastal Carolina on Wednesday evening.