Clemson takes South Carolina's punches as Tigers claim series win (2024)

CLEMSON — Clemson baseball’s team bus returned to Doug Kingsmore Stadium around 10:30 p.m. on March 2, just a little later than expected after a 12-inning win over rival South Carolina in Columbia.

The Tigers were bound to be running off of an interesting mix of adrenaline and exhaustion. But there wasn’t much time left to experience it.

“You got about another hour, hour and a half to enjoy this,” Clemson coach Erik Bakich said. “Then, when your head hits that pillow, it’s another job to do tomorrow.”

No. 10 Clemson (9-1) reset adequately, following the 5-4 victory with a matching score in the March 3 series finale. It’s unclear how many sleeps there will be before Friday’s rainout is made up, most likely sometime in April, but the Tigers didn’t have to wait to claim a series win.

South Carolina coach Mark Kingston was just as quick to reset after the No. 19 Gameco*cks (8-3) dropped a second straight loss to their rival. Even if they struck out a combined 23 times and left 22 runners stranded on the weekend, not enough time has passed to make too much of it.

“Not Week 3,” Kingston said. “As I told the guys, we’re going to play about 18 weeks. We’re in Week 3. So there will be no panic.”

It remains to be seen how the Gameco*cks will recover after taking a couple of falls to the canvas, but Bakich could come out of this weekend pleased by his team’s fight.

The Tigers were unable to secure a three-run lead in the ninth Saturday, which included a two-run bomb from South Carolina masher Ethan Petry. But Clemson’s relievers held things down in the next three innings, buying enough time for Georgetown transfer Andrew Ciufo to walk the game off with a homer in the 12th.

On Sunday, the Tigers took a shot almost immediately.

South Carolina catcher Cole Messina, who was 0-of-6 in the first game, rocked a two-run blast in the first inning — straight off the batter’s eye in center field — against Clemson freshman Aidan Knaak.

Knaak didn’t flinch, though, lasting through the fifth inning with three runs allowed.

“This kid’s got really good poise. He’s mature beyond his years,” Bakich said. “He just operates his life like you would almost expect from a veteran player, an upperclassman.”

And the Tigers’ bats and relief arms showed their maturity, as well.

First it was junior outfielder Will Taylor, who ripped a solo homer to left in the bottom half of the opening frame, cutting the South Carolina lead to 2-1.

The Gameco*cks pushed it out to 3-1 in the third, but the veteran transfers Jimmy Obertop and Ciufo notched RBI hits in the fourth to tie it back up. Three scoreless innings of relief from freshman Drew tit*worth, Nick Clayton, and Matthew Marchal were the bridge to Nolan Nawrocki’s go-ahead homer in the sixth.

“I like that our guys were able to get the pop up, or the ground ball, or the strikeout, when we needed it the most,” Bakich said of his relievers.

Clemson’s pitching held South Carolina to just 2-of-15 from the batter’s box with runners on base.

It didn’t help that two of Clemson’s five runs were unearned.

“We were plenty good enough on the mound yesterday, plenty good enough on the mound today, which was a question mark coming into the season,” Kingston said. “Look, we’re going to score runs. We’re in a little bit of a funk, and Clemson did a nice job pitching to us.”

Clemson’s clutch hits kept coming, too.

Holding a 4-3 lead, captain Blake Wright punched another homer over the wall in the eighth, which inevitably safeguarded against Petry’s solo blast in the top of the ninth off of Austin Gordon.

The junior Gordon, who is slated to move back into the weekend rotation soon, induced a game-sealing groundout from Talmadge LeCroy to end it.

No matter the result of April’s makeup game, the Tigers claimed a series win over their rival after dropping last year’s set 2-1. That certainly ended the weekend with a high for Clemson, which they can enjoy just a bit longer.

“This is the best rivalry in college baseball, definitely in the state,” Wright said. “Absolutely huge win for us. We played hard as a team, played super competitive. They’re a good club. Definitely got a little chippy, but that’s what made it fun.”

As the weekend closed, Bakich was reminded of the Tigers’ preseason banquet, which featured a speech from Wright about never being “out of the fight.”

Aside from a head-scratching 18-1 midweek loss to Kennesaw State in late February, Clemson has proven its resilience.

“They can take a punch,” Bakich said. “And that’s really, really good to see.”