The South Carolina baseball team is preparing to face Clemson this weekend in the Palmetto Series, sponsored by the South Carolina Education Lottery. This three-game rivalry series will determine which team gains another point on the board to secure the Palmetto Series trophy.
The Gamecocks currently have a 5-2 lead against the Tigers across all sports in the 2024-2025 season.
In the 2024 Palmetto Series, the Gamecocks fell short to the Tigers, losing the two-game set by one run both games.
In game two of the 2024 series, Clemson’s then junior infielder Andrew Ciufo singled to right field, sending senior infielder Blake Wright home, tying the game in the fourth inning. Clemson was then able to secure the lead in the sixth inning, leading them to victory.
There was no game three of the series due to a game cancellation because of the rain.
This year will be South Carolina’s head coach Paul Mainieri’s first Palmetto Series coaching for the Gamecocks. Since coaching the LSU Tigers in previous years, he said that he's never experienced a rivalry game quite like this.
“We’ve had good rivals, you know, in conference play of course, but man when I go around town here, all everyone wants to talk about is 'you got to beat Clemson,'” Mainieri said.
Having this series so early into the season, Mainieri said that despite the popularity of the series within the state of South Carolina, it will not determine the future success of his team, win or lose.
“There’s going to be a lot of baseball ahead of us,” Mainieri said. “Whether we have a great weekend or a poor weekend."
Heading into the weekend, Clemson is ranked No. 13 while South Carolina remains unranked.
Despite being unranked, the Gamecocks are coming into the series undefeated, winning nine straight games. On Tuesday evening, the Gamecocks secured their most recent win against Gardner-Webb with a score of 14-4.
During the matchup, the fourth inning was a crucial inning for the Gamecocks where they scored 5 runs. Junior outfielder Nathan Hall hit a 401-foot home run with three RBIs, and two singles hit by junior infielder Henry Kaczmar and senior outfielder Kennedy Jones allowed for 2 more runs to score.
The Gamecocks have demonstrated strong offensive improvements through the beginning of the season. Junior infielder Will Tippett is leading his team batting .500, followed by junior fielder Ethan Petry who has nine RBIs and 2 home runs in 27 at-bat appearances, slowly moving up the leaderboard for home runs.
“We were really aggressive and had a great approach,” Tippett said following their win against the Milwaukee Panthers on Sunday afternoon. “We were hitting the balls all over the place, especially in the first inning. We were just on attack, ready to rock and roll.”
Mainieri expressed the importance of strong defense on his team so far this season, with very few errors seen in the field each game.
“I have incredibly high expectations for defense because I have incredibly high expectations for pitching,” Mainieri said. “You cant expect your team to pitch well unless you play good defense behind them.”
Clemson enters the weekend coming off a 20-7 win against Winthrop on Tuesday evening at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
The Tigers had a lot of great offensive plays and big hitters Tuesday night. Senior infielder Josh Paino put on a show with a double, home run and four RBI’s, and junior outfielder Tristan Bissetta contributed 1 home run and an RBI.
Clemson head coach Erik Bakich said his team will be ready to take on rivalry weekend when the time rolls around.
“We'll be ready for the Gamecocks when it’s time to be ready for the Gamecocks,” Bakich said.
Senior outfielder Dominic Listi is entering the series as a key offensive player, leading the team with a .435 batting average and 11 RBIs. This weekend will be his Palmetto Series debut, as this is his first season with the Tigers after transferring from Indiana State University.
Sophomore transfer infielder Collin Priest is a player to watch this season after a strong performance against N.C. A&T Sunday. Pries had 2 runs and one RBI on the afternoon, demonstrating great impact with the ball.
"I think he's going to end up with a lot of home runs in this program at this field,” Bakich said. ”He is just a big, strong, physical kid, and that double he hit, he smoked it.”
The series will start in Clemson at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Friday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. broadcasted on ACCN Extra network. Game two will be played at a neutral sight in Greenville on Saturday, March 1 at 1:30 p.m. followed by game three at Founders Park in Columbia on March 2 at 5 p.m. broadcasted on SEC+ network.