South Carolina baseball vs. Clemson Tigers: Three things to know about the rivalry series
COLUMBIA — It's been a big year for South Carolina sports in its cross-state rivalry with Clemson, and the Gamecocks will look for another win on the baseball field this weekend.
No. 23 South Carolina (9-0) will face the Tigers (4-4) for a three-game series beginning Friday (6 p.m., ACC Network+) at Clemson. Fluor Field in Greenville will be the site for the teams Saturday (1 p.m., SEC Network+) and the finale Sunday (1:30 p.m., SEC Network+) will be in Columbia.
South Carolina has swept Clemson in three major sports so far this season, headlined by a massive upset in football. The then-unranked Gamecocks ended a seven-year losing streak and the Tigers' 40-game home winning streak with a 31-30 victory at Memorial Stadium.
Women's basketball dominated Clemson on the road, and freshman Ashlyn Watkins scored the first dunk in program history on the Tigers' court. Men's basketball beat the Tigers 60-58 on a buzzer-beater at Colonial Life Arena, and that loss has put Clemson on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.
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History of the rivalry
The Tigers dominated last year's games with South Carolina in historic fashion, sweeping a three-game rivalry series for the first time since 1996. Clemson leads the all-time series 185-143–2 and has historically thrived at home, with a 65% win rate at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. South Carolina is also at its best on home turf, though its winning percentage is lower at 54%.
Clemson has won 13 of 25 neutral site meetings, but not on the biggest of stages at the College World Series semifinals.
In 2002, despite losing the regular-season series, South Carolina swept the Tigers in a best-of-3 national semifinal series to advance to the national championship, where it lost to Texas. In 2010, the Gamecocks again ran into Clemson in the semifinals. In a strangely similar scenario, the Tigers won the regular-season series but fell to South Carolina in two games in the postseason.
South Carolina took down UCLA to win the championship. Clemson still has yet to appear in the College World Series final.
Gamecocks on a hot streak
South Carolina baseball is off to an undefeated start. It has swept weekend series with UMass Lowell, out-scoring the River Hawks 49-5 over the three games, and Penn, which was voted to finish third in the Ivy League preseason.
The Gamecocks currently lead the SEC in home runs with 27, averaging three per game. They are also first in on-base percentage at .482 and RBI with 99, and they are second in slugging percentage at .664 and in runs with 105.
Clemson's early-season performances have been rocky: After starting 4-0, the Tigers have lost their last four games. They were swept in a three-game series with Central Florida and dropped a meeting with USC Upstate at Fluor Field 6-3.
Clemson transfers face hostile homecoming
The Gamecocks' 2023 roster features three players who competed on the opposite side of the rivalry last season. Senior outfielder Dylan Brewer, junior pitcher Ricky Williams and senior catcher Jonathan French all transferred to South Carolina after Clemson coach Monte Lee was fired in May. Williams has yet to appear for the Gamecocks, but Brewer and French have appeared in six and seven games, respectively, with Brewer earning two starts.
French is tied for third on the team in putouts with 18 and has a perfect fielding percentage. He has also made an impact at the plate batting .333 with a run scored and an RBI. Brewer also has a 100% fielding percentage and has scored six runs, though he has yet to land a hit in nine at-bats.
Lee will also be in a new dugout this season: He was hired as the Gamecocks' associate head coach and recruiting coordinator in August. Lee previously served as an assistant coach for the Gamecocks from 2003-08 under former coach and current athletic director Ray Tanner.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina vs Clemson baseball rivalry series: 3 things to know
