Clemson edges South Carolina to clinch baseball rivalry series
The weather was warm.
But South Carolina baseball went cold.
The No. 19 Gamecocks had scoring opportunity after scoring opportunity but couldn’t convert, clearing the way for No. 10 Clemson to win 5-4 and clinch a rivalry series win Sunday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
After a solo home run by USC’s Ethan Petry made it 5-4 Clemson in the top of the ninth inning, Tigers pitcher Austin Gordon got the final out against South Carolina’s Talmadge LeCroy with a runner on base.
Riding the high of their walk-off win over USC on Saturday at Segra Park in Columbia, Clemson (9-1) stayed hot at home and used two late home runs and a hodgepodge of pitching to clinch its first Palmetto Series win since 2022.
“I think when you’ve got two really good clubs with a rivalry the way it is, it’s just amplifying everything ... we’re very lucky to be one run better,” Clemson coach Erik Bakich said. “That’s a really good club.”
Third baseman Nolan Nawrocki had the go-ahead home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, and second baseman Blake Wright added a solo shot to put Clemson up 5-3 in the bottom of the eighth.
South Carolina starting pitcher Dylan Eskew was far from perfect. But for the Gamecocks, Sunday’s game was one of missed opportunity. Even with a lineup loaded with talented hitters including right fielder Petry and catcher Cole Messina, USC left 10 runners on base, batted .125 (2 for 16) with runners on base and .200 (2 for 10) with runners in scoring position.
USC coach Mark Kingston said he didn’t need USC’s ninth-inning rally to inspire confidence in the Gamecocks’ long-term trajectory and he felt like both losses came down to a single pitch — something he’ll take in stride, given the nationally ranked rivals played two hotly contested games in under 24 hours.
“At some point we’ll have these big series like this and will be the team that runs into some more balls than the other team because we have plenty of guys who can do it,” he said. “Just didn’t do it this weekend.”
If South Carolina (8-3 and trailing 2-0 in the Palmetto Series) wants to avoid getting swept by Clemson for the second time in three seasons, the Gamecocks must win the final game of the series at Founders Park.
That game, which had been scheduled for Friday, was rained out and postponed until a later mid-week date, which remains TBA. Bakich said he’s “almost certain” the third game will happen in mid- or late April.
Sunday’s win clinched the first Palmetto Series victory for Bakich, who’s in his second year, and comes after South Carolina and Kingston won the 2023 series.
Clemson’s win also ensures there won’t be a back-to-back winner in the series for a sixth straight season and gives Clemson an 8-7 lead in series wins since the three-game format started in 2010.
“I think this is the best rivalry in college baseball,” Nawrocki said. “It’s great to be a part of it and I’m just so happy we can all embrace these moments.”
Game recap
After Saturday’s 12-inning, nearly four-hour marathon, USC got the scoring started early Sunday. Talented junior catcher Messina, a preseason All-SEC First Team pick, was 0-6 against Clemson in Game 1 but smashed a two-run home run to center field off Aidan Knaak on the fourth-at bat of the game. It was his eighth of the young season and put USC up 2-0.
Clemson immediately responded in the bottom of the first on outfielder Will Taylor’s solo home run to left field off USC starter Eskew, which made it 2-1.
From there, Knaak (Clemson’s usual Sunday starter) and Eskew (USC’s usual Saturday starter) settled in on a sunny afternoon. There were no runs in the second inning, and the only score of the third inning came on a Dylan Brewer RBI to put USC up 3-1.
Eskew initially kept Clemson at bay, but the Gamecocks pulled their No. 2 pitcher after 3.2 innings after the Tigers scored two runs to tie the game 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning and put two more runners on base.
As foreshadowed by Kingston, usual Sunday pitcher Roman Kimball was next up for the Gamecocks and got the final out that USC needed to strand two Clemson runners on base and prevent further disaster in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Knaak put together a decent five innings of four-hit ball for Clemson, with three earned runs and five strikeouts, before Bakich tapped true freshman Drew Titsworth to replace him in a 3-3 game at the top of the sixth inning.
Titsworth pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, and Nawrocki hit a solo home run to left field off Kimball to give Clemson its first lead of the game, 4-3, in the bottom of the sixth. And Nick Clayton, another Tigers reliever, finished off the seventh with two outs.
USC entered the top of the eighth inning without a single hit since the fourth but worked itself into a great scoring opportunity, chasing Clayton after placing runners on first and second. But Will Tippett couldn’t reverse the cold streak and popped up to third with two runners on base.
After Clemson went scoreless in the bottom of the eighth, Gordon (the fifth pitcher Clemson used on Sunday) allowed Petry a homer before walking Messina and grounding out LeCroy for the final out.
Over its Saturday and Sunday losses, USC ended up striking out 23 times and leaving 22 runners on base (Clemson struck out 23 times and stranded 15). When would Kingston be worried about a lack of execution in those positions?
“Well, not Week 3,” Kingston said. “As I told the guys, we’re gonna play about 18 weeks. You’re on Week 3. So there’ll be no panic from me.”
After two one-run wins by identical scores over the past two days, Bakich said he was excited for the “thousands upon tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands” of Clemson fans who follow the baseball team and annual rivalry meetups with South Carolina teams “so close.”
“I’m just glad that we did our part to contribute to the athletic department, because this is a huge rivalry ... it’s the best in our sport,” Bakich. “It’s great for our fans. Most excited for the guys on the team. Watching them celebrate, it goes back to a dad on Christmas morning. ... That’s why you coach.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2024 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Clemson edges South Carolina to clinch baseball rivalry series."
