The South Carolina baseball team entered its annual season series against in-state rival Clemson riding high. The team won its first nine games, and it looked like smooth sailing under first-year head coach Paul Mainieri. 

Against No. 13 Clemson, the team hit its first roadblock, dropping all three games in the series for the first time since 2022. 

“I can sit up here and tell you how badly I feel for South Carolina people that care so much about what happens against Clemson. I feel awful,” Mainieri said. “It matters to me, believe me.”

The Gamecocks lost game one of the series 5-3 in Clemson. Game two was played on a neutral field in Greenville. Clemson won that game 5-1. The final game was played in Columbia, where Clemson won 8-2. 

In game one, Clemson scored early, jumping out to a 4-0 lead after two innings. South Carolina cut the deficit to one after a three-run third inning, but from there, the scoring stalled. 

Clemson’s Jarren Purify scored the game's next run in the seventh inning after hitting a solo home run. That put Clemson up 5-3 heading into the final two innings. 

South Carolina failed to score in the eighth. In the ninth, the team had a decent opportunity to tie the game with some of its best batters at the plate.  Max Kaufer came the closest to evening the score, hitting a deep shot to left field. It was just short of the stands though, and Clemson’s outfielder caught the ball for the flyout.

“I thought Kaufer’s ball for sure was gone,” Mainieri said. “It just died right there at the yellow line.”

The Gamecocks offense struggled in game two with just five hits in a 5-1 loss. 

Neither Clemson nor South Carolina scored until the sixth inning. Clemson’s Cam Cannarella put the first run on the board with an RBI double. He later crossed home plate to put Clemson up 2-0. 

Ethan Petry scored the Gamecocks' only run with a solo shot in the eighth inning. It was his third home run this season. 

Clemson expanded its lead in the ninth with three runs, while the Gamecocks were scoreless. 

"We're going to have to find it from somewhere, that's for sure," Mainieri said. "The bottom third of our order really hasn't produced much at all. Even some of the guys up in the order had a little bit of a tough time.”

Jake McCoy got the start on the mound for the Gamecocks. He pitched six innings and recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts. 

With the season series in hand, Clemson traveled to Columbia for game three and beat the Gamecocks 8-2 to complete the season sweep. 

The first seven innings were low-scoring. Pitcher Dylan Eskew got the start for the Gamecocks and allowed just one run through six innings. 

Clemson ran away with the game at the end, scoring seven runs in the eighth and ninth innings. 

South Carolina scored two runs in the eighth but could not keep up with the onslaught of runs from Clemson’s offense.

“We gotta give some support to the pitchers,” Mainieri said. “We can’t have them thinking any one little mistake is going to cost them the ballgame.”

The 3-0 series win gave Clemson a 191-145-2 advantage in the all-time series. It was the second year in a row the Gamecocks were swept by the Tigers after losing the shortened two-game series last year. 

Clemson improved to (10-1) with the win. The Tigers played a midweek game against USC Upstate Tuesday and won 7-0. The team plays Presbyterian tonight and will end the week with a three-game home series against Davidson. 

South Carolina falls to (9-3) this season, with all three losses coming against Clemson. The team played a midweek game against Davidson, winning 7-3. South Carolina will play The Citadel tonight. This weekend, the Gamecocks will play a home series against Morehead State.