The South Carolina baseball team was swept in a three game series against No. 13 Clemson Tigers this past weekend. The Gamecocks lost the games by scores of 5-3 on Feb. 28, 5-1 on March 1 and 8-2 on March 2.
The Tigers marked the first top-25 team that the Gamecocks will have to face this season, something that is expected to occur nine more times this season according to D1Baseball.com as of Feb. 23.
The series loss to Clemson shrinks South Carolina’s 2024-25 Palmetto Series lead to 5-3.
Series recap
During the first game of the series on Feb. 28, the Gamecocks lost 5-3 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson.
South Carolina starting senior pitcher Mathew Becker and Clemson starting sophomore pitcher Aidan Knaak both struggled to get pitch deep into the game, resulting in each team’s bullpen to play a vital role in this game.
All three of South Carolina’s runs came in the third inning thanks to sophomore infielder Nolan Nawrocki hitting a sacrifice fly out and senior catcher Talmadge LeCroy hitting a two-RBI double.
Head coach Paul Mainieri said the Gamecocks’ 4-0 deficit early in the game was too big of a hole to dig themselves out of, and that they failed to “cash them in” on the opportunities it did create. The Gamecocks left nine men on base during this loss.
During South Carolina’s 5-1 loss on March 1, the respective starting pitchers for the rival schools dueled deep into the game. South Carolina’s sophomore pitcher Jake McCoy allowed two runs in six innings, striking out 12 Tiger batters in the process.
The Gamecocks’ only run of the game came in the bottom of the eighth inning, when junior outfielder/infielder Ethan Petry hit a solo home run with two outs and nobody on base. Petry’s home run made the game a one-run outing, but was proven to not be enough after the Tigers’ offense bursted for three runs in the top of the ninth.
Then to conclude the series on March 2, the Gamecocks dropped 8-2 at Ray Tanner Field.
Senior pitcher Dylan Eskew got the start for South Carolina, throwing six innings and giving up one run. After Eskew’s exit, three different Gamecock pitchers allowed seven runs in the final three innings of the game.
“All three games were close and competitive,” Eskew said. “If our fans or our players didn’t believe we were one of the best teams in the country before, we can now because we went toe-to-toe with one of the better teams in the country.”
For the Tigers, sophomore pitcher Justin LeGuermic and junior pitcher Joe Allen combined for seven shutout innings, while only allowing two hits and two walks.
The Gamecocks’ got on the board in the bottom of the eighth inning, when junior infielder/outfielder Jase Woita singled to right field.
Gamecocks display potential on the mound
Throughout the series, the entirety of the South Carolina's pitching staff struggled to put together a low run ball game. With games consisting of five, five and eight runs, respectively, Clemson’s offense put up the three highest run totals that South Carolina has allowed all year.
The team saw standout individual performances in each of the games by sophomore pitcher Brandon Stone, McCoy and Eskew.
Stone pitched in relief of Becker during the matchup on Feb. 28, and closed out the final 4.2 innings of the game and allowed just three hits and one run during the game. The JuCo transfer has pitched 11 innings this year while maintaining a 1.64 ERA.
“I thought Brandon Stone was awesome,” Mainieri said. “He was just in a great rhythm out there... he really pitched great and have us a chance.”
In the following games, both McCoy and Eskew started the first six innings of their games. The two starters gave up three runs combined, while striking out 19 Tiger batters.
“It was a shame we didn’t win the game because that was as dominating a game from a young kid (McCoy) as I’ve seen,” Mainieri said. “I mean, he was phenomenal.”
Both McCoy and Eskew got credited for a loss in their respective games as the Gamecocks were losing the game whenever they exited and never tied or retook the lead.
Hitting woes
South Carolina’s offensive production of three, one and two runs are the three lowest outputs it has scored all year.
Across the three games, the Gamecocks only recorded runs in three of the 27 innings. Additionally, when runners were on the base, the Gamecocks hit a cumulative 4/33 (.121).
“We’re going to need to hit more than we hit this weekend,” Mainieri said. “(We) got to give some support to the pitchers. You don’t want them thinking that any one little mistake is going to cost them the ball game.”
During the series, Mainieri was changing up the batting order and starting lineup excessively due to injuries and matchups. Junior outfielder Nathan Hall, Nawrocki and Petry were the only three Gamecocks to start each of the games against Clemson.
Mainieri said that the hitting of South Carolina will improve throughout the season, while he is focusing on creating the best possible lineup combinations.
“We've just got to get more out of each guy. We've got to get runners on base, we've got to get them over and then we've got to figure out a way to get them in too,” Mainieri said. “It can be fleeting, and then all of a sudden it starts to click.”
South Carolina never held a lead at any point during the three-game series versus No.13 Clemson.
What's next?
South Carolina baseball hosts the Davidson Wildcats on Mar. 4 at Ray Tanner Field in Founders Park. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m., and can be watched on SEC Network plus.