Clemson has fired head baseball coach Monte Lee, athletic director Graham Neff announced on Tuesday, after the Tigers missed the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive campaign. The 45-year-old was 242-136 in seven seasons with the Tigers."Monte and his staff have been nothing but professional in their approach to Clemson Baseball, and we appreciate the manner in which they’ve represented Clemson University," said Neff. "The expectations for Clemson Baseball are very high, and the team’s recent on-field performance has not met those of our administration, our coaching staff, our student-athletes or our loyal fanbase. Clemson Baseball is a proud program, and we, as a department, are committed to doing all we can to return our program to national prominence. We will work with our student-athletes to ensure that the transition process is successful."A Palmetto State native who replaced Jack Leggett in 2015, Lee was just the third baseball coach at Clemson since 1958. He got off to a hot start, winning at least 42 games in each of his first three seasons, reaching four straight NCAA Tournament regionals, and hosting three straight between 2016-2018. The 2016 Tigers, his first team, won the ACC Tournament Championship, and his 2018 team won the Atlantic Division. But the Tigers have struggled in their post-pandemic seasons, and after two years of some historic lows, Neff has decided the time is now to take a chance.Clemson finished 2021 with a 25-27 record, their first losing season since 1957, while they missed just their second regional since 1987. The Tigers improved this season, beginning the year 14-0 and sweeping South Carolina in the Palmetto State series, but struggled once they reached conference play, going 13-16 in the ACC and reaching the conference tournament as the 12th and final team. The Tigers were then blown out in both of their ACC Championship games, losing by a combined 27-8 to UNC and Virginia Tech, to finish the season 35-23. Monday's Selection Show came and went without the Tigers, the first time since a five-year stretch between 1982-1986 that Clemson has missed back-to-back NCAA Tournament regionals.Clemson's uneven season was powered by remarkable offensive output. Clemson hit 100 home runs in 58 games, just the third season in program history where the Tigers reached that milestone, and sophomore Max Wagner won ACC Player of the Year after batting .369, driving in 76 runs and tying Khalil Greene's 20-year old record with 27 home runs. But the Tigers struggled on the mound, pitching to a 4.86 team ERA and 1.46 team WHIP, and couldn't find consistency in their rotation outside of Friday night starter Mack Anglin, who led Clemson with 74 strikeouts in 72.1 innings, but walked a team-high 48 batters, and freshman Billy Barlow, who led the team with 15 starts and logged a 4.84 ERA and 1.35 WHIP.