Rising junior righthander Aidan Knaak has been a staple in the Tigers’ weekend rotation since the beginning of his freshman campaign, and he has pitched his way to being a First-Team All-ACC selection each of his first two seasons, a feat no other Tiger pitcher in history has accomplished.
Knaak hails from Fort Myers, Fla. and was a four-year lettermen at Bishop Verot Catholic High School. His father played baseball at Cal Poly, so he was introduced to the game at a very young age. After searching for possible college destinations, Knaak found Clemson and attended a baseball camp.
“I knew Clemson had a good reputation for baseball, so I went up to the school and checked out the campus. I immediately fell in love with the beautiful campus. Everything seemed so perfect, so I knew it was the right fit for me.”
Knaak joined the weekend rotation immediately after arriving at Clemson, something he had been working towards for multiple years.
“In high school, my goal was to start as a freshman. Having that goal in mind every day allowed me to build a routine so that right when I got to college, I would be ready for it. Being able to throw multiple pitches for strikes is a big thing for me as a starter, so I really focused on that.”
By the end of his freshman year in 2024, Knaak was the Tigers’ top pitcher and started games in both the Clemson Regional against Coastal Carolina and Clemson Super Regional against Florida.
He has brought this routine from high school to Clemson and credits it for a lot of his success on the mound. Knaak stays consistent throughout the week leading up to his start, on start day and throughout the recovery process, which he posts on social media.
“For a 6 p.m. game, I get to the field at around 11 a.m. to start rolling out. I roll out my legs, shins, calves, back and do a lot of mobility stuff. Then we get on the force plates and see where my power is that day.”
“After lunch and some homework, we all go back to the field around 2 p.m. I’ll start rolling out again around 4:30 p.m., so I’ll start doing some mobility work from 4:30 to 5, and then from 5 to 5:20. I’m preparing my body for a more active warmup. Then from 5:20 to 5:40, I’m doing more dynamic movements and warming up the arm for my bullpen.”
Knaak said he sticks to this exact routine for every start, and consistency is a really important thing for him.
“I try to stay as consistent as possible with my start-day routine and how I prepare my body so I can deliver the same results every Friday. I keep my preparation the way it is to limit the pressure on gamedays so I can pitch with a free mind and know the work is already done.”
His routine has worked thus far, as among his many accolades included National Freshman Pitcher-of-the-Year by NCBWA in 2024. In 2025, Knaak posted over 100 strikeouts for the second year in a row, as he became just the fifth Tiger in history with multiple 100-strikeout seasons and the only Tiger with a 100-strikeout season in each of his first two years.
Knaak, who has led the Tigers to a 26-5 record in his 31 career starts, features a fastball in the mid-90s, but his go-to pitch is his changeup.
“It plays really well off of my fastball, so it’s a really important pitch for me. If a hitter is expecting me to throw a fastball, I can get a lot of weak contact and swings and misses with that pitch.”
He is able to keep hitters guessing by varying six different pitches, adding a two-seam fastball, a cutter, slider and curveball to his four-seam fastball and changeup.
“It’s a really big thing for me to be able to throw any pitch in any count. If I get down 2-0 or 3-1 in a count, the hitter will be expecting a fastball, so I need to be able to locate my off-speed pitches consistently.”
As Knaak enters his third season with the Tigers, he looks to continue to contribute to the program’s success.
