Clemson Baseball Learns Seeding, Opponents for NCAA Regional Tournament

The Clemson Tigers will be the No. 11 seed in the NCAA baseball tournament when action starts on Friday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

The Tigers (44-16) were selected as a regional host on Sunday, one of just two teams to host a regional each of the last three years.

Clemson learned its seeding during Monday’s selection show, followed shortly by the three teams that will come to Clemson for the tournament.

The winner of the Clemson regional will face the winner of the LSU regional, as the Tigers will host and be the No. 6 national seed.

Who is in the Clemson Regional?

The Tigers face No. 4 seed USC Upstate (36-23) in their opening game, while No. 2 seed West Virginia (41-14) and No. 3 seed Kentucky (29-24) round out the regional field. Game times, television and schedules for Saturday’s and Sunday’s games will be revealed later.

It marks Clemson’s 47th NCAA Tournament appearance, fifth most in the nation.

The Tigers have been one of the best teams in the country all season. At one time Clemson was ranked No. 3 in all major polls. Entering the ACC Tournament, they were the No. 5 seed in the event and earned a first-round bye.

Clemson beat Virginia Tech, 6-1, followed by a 7-6 win over NC State and a 9-4 win over Georgia Tech to advance to the championship game against North Carolina. There, they lost to the Tar Heels, 14-4.

Before the ACC Tournament, the Tigers were on a bit of a roller-coaster.

Clemson won each of its first six ACC series before being swept by NC State on the weekend of April 24-26. Following that, the Tigers lost two out of three to Florida State the weekend of May 2-4.

Then, the Tigers lost in a road game at Coastal Carolina at mid-week, followed by losing two out of three to Duke at home.

Entering Clemson’s final ACC series with Pitt, the Tigers had lost eight of 10 games.  But Clemson bounced back and swept Pitt, including the pitching staff throwing a no-hitter at the Panthers in the series opener.

After that, the Tigers have won their last six games before the loss to the Tar Heels.