When the world came to a staggering halt last March, including the college baseball world, it left many teams like Clemson wondering what could have been.

For Kier Meredith, having his third season in a row come to an abrupt stop amidst the makings of an impressive year was hard. But it gave the veteran outfielder a newfound sense of appreciation and love for the game of baseball.

“Yeah it sucked,” Meredith said. “I felt like the team was in a very good position when the season ended and when it first happened, a lot of us were shocked and in disbelief. We had to push through it, but it definitely sucked at first.”

Meredith, who struggled with injuries in his first two seasons, is hopeful for the opportunity to play his first full season in a Clemson uniform and is ready to take on the unfinished business that last season left on the playing field.

“We’re looking forward to getting back on the field. It’s been ten, eleven months since we’ve all played baseball together and so we’re just excited and hopeful we can get through a full season this year, which it looks like we will be able to,” the outfielder said. “We’re all just excited to get out there and compete with each other.”

With Clemson sitting at No. 25 in the preseason rankings, Meredith and his teammates know the rankings that matter most don’t come until the last pitch is thrown.

“Absolutely, it’s something we definitely notice, but last time I checked, there are no awards given out at the beginning of the season and there’s no trophies given out at the beginning of the season,” he said. “The crème is always going to rise to the top. We’ve always had a chip here on our shoulders at Clemson and that just adds to it a little bit more. We’ll be ready to go compete February 19 and we’ll see where the chips may fall at the end of the season.”

The Tigers open the 2021 season on Feb. 19 when they play host to Cincinnati in a three-game series at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson.