Erik Bakich explains decision to pull Garris for Mahlstedt, talks losing end result

Clemson must pick up the pieces from a tough defeat Saturday night to stay alive with two wins Sunday.

Grayson Mann · Staff Writer · Saturday, May 31 2025

CLEMSON - The Tigers' path to Omaha hit a serious skid on Saturday night.

Now, Erik Bakich's program will have to do it the hard way.

Clemson appeared on its way to the Sunday night clincher before a disastrous ninth inning quickly shut the door on that route.

Part of that sequence began with Reed Garris' postseason debut, which was the top question entering the regional on when he may step back onto the mound in an injury comeback.

In his return, he pitched 1.2 innings, surrendering only two hits, and the Tigers held the lead entering the final frames of the postseason clash.

After a two-out single, Garris was pulled in the top of the eighth inning, and it didn't take long for disaster to strike.

For the second straight evening, Lucas Mahlstedt's first pitch was taken for an extra-base hit, only this time, the consequences were much more severe.

The hits kept coming for West Virginia with two out in the ninth, with Mahlstedt giving up five hits, four runs, and walking one batter over an inning logged.

When it comes to the decision to take Garris out, it seems that the team already had a plan in place for Garris, and things went off script. Once West Virginia recorded the two-out single, Bakich felt he was overextended, and decided to throw in Mahlstedt.

"Yeah, so Reed was supposed to just go one inning," Bakich said. "We were just going to have him go one inning, and so we extended him into a second. We did not want to have him sit down and go back out, but we did and put him out there, and he was doing great. He was fine and I think in a normal situation, not coming off an injury, sure we probably let him finish the game, but whether he faced the nine hole or not, it was already a situation where he was a little bit overextended."

In the heat of the moment, Bakich feels that leaving Garris out there with limited reps returning from a back injury wasn't the ideal move. Of course with hindsight, he views it as a decision that simply didn't work out.

He, along with the staff, felt confident Mahlstedt could close out the evening, as he had done so many times. However, tonight wasn't the outing Clemson's closer desired, leading to the final result.

"He looked great, and he didn't work out," Bakich said. "So obviously everyone would say he should have left him in, but it just didn't feel like it was a smart move. But yeah, obviously that's an easy one to point to and say shoulda have left them until you've given up a hit. Shoulda took him out. So that's coaching. It's okay to question every call that works or doesn't work, but that one didn't work, so I point to that one."

Bakich said that the path to securing a regional championship can still be achieved, needing two wins on Sunday starting with the noon start against Kentucky, but also understands that the task has just become much harder to accomplish.

Now, Clemson's postseason destiny hangs in the balance.