South Carolina leads the Palmetto Series 6-3 against Clemson and is looking to secure its fifth consecutive series victory with three games left to go in the race to win the state.
The Palmetto Series is a competition between South Carolina and Clemson sponsored by the South Carolina Education Lottery. It awards a point to the school that wins each head-to-head matchup, as well a point to the school with the most LIFE scholarship recipients, Palmetto Fellows scholarship recipients and entries in the Rival Play Second-Chance Promotion.
The winning school gets to enjoy a trophy and bragging rights for the year. This is the first year the sponsored rivalry is back after it was put on hold in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
South Carolina has won all four seasons the series has run so far.
The Gamecocks saw its first victories of the year over the Tigers on Nov. 11, 2022, when both men’s basketball and women’s cross country defeated Clemson. Women’s cross country beat Clemson 541-497 in the NCAA Southeast Regionals, finishing at No. 16 to the Tigers’ No. 18.
Men's basketball won 60-58 in a last-second thriller when senior guard Chico Carter Jr. hit a jumper to take the lead with less than a second left on the clock. Carter, a Columbia native, led the team with 16 points and two steals, and made four of six attempted three-pointers.
Head coach Lamont Paris is brand new to the program and led his team to victory over Clemson in his first rivarly match-up as a Gamecock.
“(I’m) really excited for our guys," men's basketball head coach Lamont Paris said. "For them to get to play a game like that, (a) rivalry game, and then go out and enjoy and hang out and have the whole community be in a good mood because of what they did tonight, how cool is that?"
Women’s basketball also beat Clemson on Nov. 17, 2022, as the team won 85-31. Senior guard Zia Cooke scored 15 points, three assists and two steals. Freshman forward Ashlyn Watkins followed her teammate with 14 points, five rebounds, two blocks and three steals in just her third collegiate showing.
This is the 12th straight victory for the women’s basketball program over Clemson, and this win enabled South Carolina to lead the all-time series 34-33.
“We’ve got a great run," women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley said. "I do remember vividly the two that we lost, and that’s etched in my memory, much more than us winning 12. The fans — they’ll let you know. They’ve got a long memory when it comes to these battles with Clemson.”
In what many fans see as the largest sporting event of the year for the Gamecocks, the football team defeated No. 7 Clemson 31-30 on Nov. 26, 2022, to break a seven-year losing streak and improve its season campaign to 8-3. This was South Carolina’s second straight win against a top-10 ranked opponent after defeating No. 5 Tennessee the week prior.
“I am so happy for our fans," football head coach Shane Beamer said. "I know how important this rivalry is, and I spoke at Gamecock clubs in Greenville, Spartanburg — I was in Anderson last May — and I know how important this game is to so many people in this state.”
A number of players had break-out games, including redshirt senior quarterback Spencer Rattler; senior wide receiver Antwane Wells Jr.; senior punter Kai Kroeger and redshirt senior cornerback Marcellas Dial. The win put an end to Clemson’s playoff hopes and 40-game home win streak.
The teams did not meet again until Feb. 3, 2023, when the men’s tennis team swept the Tigers 7-0 in Clemson for its eighth consecutive win of the rivalry. South Carolina earned the doubles point on courts two and three, leaving court one unfinished. It went on to claim the first set on all six courts and, eventually, all the singles points to complete the sweep.
The South Carolina baseball team took the weekend series over Clemson after losing the first game 5-2 on Tiger turf. The team won the neutral site game 11-9 in Greenville and the last of the series at home, 7-1. Monte Lee, the associate head coach for the Gamecocks, joined the program this year after being the head coach at Clemson for seven seasons.
"Once the game starts, and it comes to the competition part, it’s about their players versus our players. It’s about the competition (and) it’s about the opportunity for both programs and both coaching staffs to be a part of the greatest rivalry in college baseball," Lee said. "It means a lot to the state of South Carolina, so just to be a part of it is a special thing.”
South Carolina has fallen to the Tigers in men's soccer losing 1-0, women's tennis losing 4-2, and volleyball, losing 3-2. Women's soccer ended in a 2-2 tie, so the point is not given to either school.
The remaining three athletic head-to-head points left to claim are from men’s and women’s golf as well as softball. Clemson leads the softball series 1-0, but the Gamecocks have a chance to nullify the point by winning game two at home on April 11.