CLEMSON — Erik Bakich shook up Clemson baseball's starting pitching rotation, and his move led to bountiful results.

He moved ace pitcher Aidan Knaak from a Game 1 starter to a Game 3 instead, swapping places with Dane Moehler. It was Knaak's first time not being the starting pitcher of a series in the regular season since his freshman year in 2024.

Bakich's decision came as Clemson is a longshot to make the NCAA Tournament and the Tigers have lost six conference series.

The move helped Clemson beat No. 19 Boston College 4-3 in the series finale on May 3 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. It was the Tigers' second ACC series win and the first at home, and Clemson (28-20, 8-16 ACC) achieved it after dropping the series opener.

"We shuffled some things up, and it worked," Bakich said May 3. "That's what we were hoping for. It's one thing to have a plan. It's another thing to execute it, and today, (Knaak) looked good."

Bakich mixed up the rotation with hopes of Clemson getting hot to close the regular season and make the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season. It also gave Knaak, who has struggled this season, the chance to watch Boston College's offense twice in person instead of film prep.

Knaak was his usual strikeout-artist self against the Eagles (35-16, 17-10), getting eight over 5⅓ innings. His performance helped him reach 300 career strikeouts, becoming the seventh player in school history to reach the mark and first since Ryan Mottl (1997-00).

He allowed all of Boston College's runs, gave up eight hits and one walk and hit one batter. Bakich said Knaak exited early because his pitch count reached 99 but thought it was a strong outing, keeping the finale close for Clemson to mount a comeback.

Still, it has been a shaky junior season for the right-hander. Knaak is 2-5 after finishing 5-1 as a freshman and 9-1 as a sophomore.

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He has a 4.99 ERA and entered Game 3 with a 8.6% walk percentage and allowing a .266 batting average, all career lows. This has caused him to fall out of MLB.com's top 100 draft prospects after being ranked No. 71 earlier in the year.

Despite his struggles, Knaak is still a trusted starter for Clemson and counting on him to have more strong outings in the team's final two ACC series against No. 12 Florida State and Virginia Tech.

Bakich's decision helped Clemson earn its first ranked ACC win, and he said the Tigers likely stick with the plan against FSU.

"I mean screw it. Why not?" Bakich said. "I mean why change it back now? It worked."

Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at DCarter@usatodayco.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: How Erik Bakich's rotation change helped Clemson beat Boston College