Clemson baseball vs. South Carolina: Hot rookies, home runs and a familiar face
Clemson and South Carolina are set to renew their longtime rivalry with a three-game series beginning Friday.
The series will open with a 6 p.m. game at Clemson’s Doug Kingsmore Stadium and continue with a second game on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Fluor Field in downtown Greenville. The final game of the series is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Founders Park in Columbia.
South Carolina, which is ranked No. 23, carries a 9-0 record into Friday’s game while Clemson is 4-4 and has lost four in a row.
“We’ve just got to be tougher and playing to a certain standard because this team is better than this,” first-year Clemson coach Erik Bakich said. “We will be relentless in our approach to make sure we have the right guys out there.”
Clemson has won six of the last eight series against the Gamecocks, including a three-game sweep last season. It marked the Tigers’ first three-game sweep of South Carolina since 1996.
Here are three things to be looking for in this weekend’s series:
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Look out for Clemson freshmen
Clemson's Cam Cannarella and South Carolina's Ethan Petry are budding stars who are off to fast starts in their freshman seasons.
Cannarella, of Hartsville, ranks second on the team with a .424 batting average and leads the Tigers in hits (14) and runs (11). He’s versatile enough to play anywhere but has played primarily in center field.
“He doesn’t play like a freshman,” Bakich said. “He plays like an upperclassman.”
The Gamecocks’ Petry leads the team in slugging percentage (1.038) and shares the team lead in home runs with five. He’s also second on the team with a gaudy .462 average and was named Collegiate Baseball’s National Player of the Week on Feb. 27.
Beware the long ball
It will be imperative for Clemson pitchers not to surrender the long ball against South Carolina.
The Gamecocks lead the nation with 27 home runs this season, with Petry, Gavin Casas and Will McGillis sharing the team lead with five apiece. Braylen Wimmer and Cole Messina both have four home runs.
South Carolina’s 27 home runs through nine games are almost half of what the Gamecocks totaled in 2022 when they finished with 58 round-trippers in a 27-28 season.
Clemson pitching has been fairly effective in limiting home runs, allowing a total of eight in eight games this season.
Monte Lee still in rivalry
There will be a familiar face in a new dugout when the Tigers and Gamecocks play as former Clemson head coach Monte Lee is now an associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at South Carolina.
Lee was fired last year by Clemson Athletic Director Graham Neff after seven seasons with the Tigers. He was 244-136 at Clemson and guided the Tigers to four NCAA Tournament appearance and one ACC Tournament title.
Clemson got off to a 14-0 start last season under Lee, but finished 35-23 and missed out on the NCAA Tournament.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson baseball faces rival South Carolina in key early season series
