A case for baseball: Can the Tigers play their way into hosting

Saturday's home game will start one an 11-game run that will ultimately decide whether or not the Tigers can work their way back into the conversation for one of the 16 host sites for a regional when NCAA Tournament play begins.

The Clemson baseball team has a week off for exams before they take on Gardner-Webb in a short, two-game, home-and-away series Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday's home game will be the first game of an 11-game run that will ultimately decide whether or not the Tigers can work their way back into the conversation for one of the 16 host sites for a regional when NCAA Tournament play begins.

The Tigers are currently sitting at 27-18, 12-12 ACC with six conference games remaining--three games against N.C. State on the road and three games against Wake Forest at home.

The Tigers are sitting just two games back of second place NC State and FSU.

In 2016, the Tigers finished the ACC schedule with a 16-14 record and in 2017 they finished the ACC schedule at 17-13. If the Tigers can repeat those performances--with a key in sweeping their non-conference schedule-- and make it to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament, they could be playing postseason baseball at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in June.

Following the Tigers victory at Georgia Tech Sunday, the team's RPI improved seven spots to No. 37. The Tigers biggest series for their regional hosting hopes could come down to their series at N.C. State, who has an RPI of 27, and has seen their ranking fall from No. 14 to No. 20 over the last week.

The best news of the weekend may have been that the Tigers' bats, which had fallen asleep during their recent losing streak, may have finally woke up.

Last weekend, even though they lost two of the three games at Georgia Tech, the Tigers hit .359 with 42 hits--including eight home runs, eight doubles and a triple--and plated 26 runs over the three-game series.

While it may be a tall order, history says that with a run of good baseball and a run in the tournament--the Tigers may be able to play baseball in June at the friendly confines of Doug Kingsmore Stadium.