Clemson’s Gaffney Hopes Bakich Is Happy
By: Gavin Oliver February 14, 2025

As you might expect, there were naturally some butterflies for Luke Gaffney and the eighth-ranked Clemson baseball team, as they began the 2025 season on Friday vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

“It’s the first game of the season, so there’s always those jitters a little bit,” Gaffney told The Clemson Insider. “But they kind of went away as soon as play started.”

After the game got underway, Clemson struck first with a run in the second inning before Oklahoma State grabbed the lead with three runs in the third inning and then plated another run in the fourth frame.

The Tigers, though, answered back and showed resilience as they went on to rally from a 4-1 deficit to defeat the Cowboys, 6-5.

Clemson head coach Erik Bakich has said many times that he wanted to see how his team would respond after getting punched in the mouth.

So how does Bakich feel about the way the Tigers responded in the season opener?

“I sure hope he’s happy about it,” Gaffney said, smiling.

“I think that’s just what our team is about. We’re a bunch of fighters and that’s what we’re going to do all season. It’s first of many.”

In the top of the sixth inning, back-to-back two-out doubles scored a run for Oklahoma State, extending its lead to 5-3.

Then, in his first game with Clemson after transferring from Purdue, Gaffney came up with his first hit as a Tiger, and it was a timely one.

Gaffney laced a two-out, run-scoring double in the bottom of the sixth inning that scored Cam Cannarella and cut the Cowboy lead to 5-4.

“Cam, taking that HBP (hit by pitch). I know Cam loves getting hit by pitches,” Gaffney said, smiling. “But him eating that, getting to first, scoring from first on that, that was big-time. Then being able to come through — two-out RBI wins games, so that was big.”

In the following inning, Tristan Bissetta’s groundout scored the tying run, then Josh Paino scored the go-ahead run later in the frame on a wild pitch.

Gaffney, a redshirt sophomore and preseason second-team All-American by NCBWA, was a member of the Purdue program for two seasons.

In 2024, the infielder/catcher from Danville, Ky. hit .359 with 13 homers, three triples, 15 doubles, 64 RBIs, 62 runs, a .646 slugging percentage, .449 on-base percentage and two steals in 53 games. He tied the school record for runs and set the school freshman records for hits, homers, RBIs, runs, total bases and slugging percentage en route to freshman All-American and Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year honors.

After joining the Tigers, Gaffney enjoyed being a part of Friday’s game at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers. It marked Clemson’s first-ever game in an MLB stadium.

“It was really fun,” he said. “You could tell the atmosphere was electric out here. So, it was a really cool experience.”

“Last year I played at Wrigley (Field),” Gaffney added. “But I think the Rangers’ stadium might have Wrigley beat a little bit, at least in size wise. This is crazy.”