The start of the South Carolina and Clemson baseball series was delayed one day and will not end until May, but there are still two big games this weekend in the rivalry. Gamecocks (4-0) will be the home team in the neutral field of Fluor Field when facing Tigers (3-0). The series premiere, scheduled to be played at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, was postponed on Friday due to the rain at Clemson.
Both teams will continue with their opening games typical of the series with the right hand Thomas Farr catching the ball for Gamecocks and Davis Sharpe catching for Tigers. Clemson coach Monte Lee said on Friday at JB & Goldwater that he could see a scenario where he will use Mat Clark outside the bullpen on Saturday, which would mean freshman Ty Olenchuk’s right-hand man would start on Sunday.
VIP: top stories for the weekend | How Gamecocks fared against Clemson
Opponent: Clemson Tigers (3-0)
Time: Saturday at 16h; Sunday at 13:30
Place: Saturday at Fluor Field in Greenville; Sunday at Founders Park
TV: SEC Network + on both days
Each game will also be broadcast on IMG’s Gamecock Sports Network in each of the 25 affiliates, including 107.5 the game in Columbia. Affiliated stations can be found on here. Derek Scott will be on the liaison with Tommy Moody providing analysis.
Saturday
RHP Thomas Farr (R-Jr. RHP) 1-0, 1.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 2 BB, 8 K
RHP Davis Sharpe (R-So. RHP) 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.0 IP, 1 BB, 9 K
Sunday
RHP Brannon Jordan (Mr. RHP) 0-0, 6.75 ERA, 4.0 IP, 4 BB, 4 K
LHP Mat Clark (Gr. LHP) 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.0 IP, 0 BB, 6 K
– Getting into action Friday, South Carolina junior Wes Clarke leads the country in home runs at the start of the season. Clarke has six long balls in four games, which is two better than a pair of players who have four in the year. The Lynchburg, Virginia native went 10-to-13 with 12RBIs, two doubles, seven walks and no elimination in his first four action games. His three home runs against Winthrop was the first time that a Gamecocks player has accomplished this feat since Justin Smoak against USC Upstate in 2008. Clarke already has three games of three hits.
– The South Carolina bullpen gave up just one run on 13 2/3 entries launched in the sweep of Dayton’s opening season series. Two relievers – Andrew Peters and Brett Kerry – won victories on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The nine pitchers used in the opening weekend hit 16 strokes and walked three, allowing only five strokes, resulting in a hitting average of 0.114.
– One of the main players to be watched by Tigers this weekend is the shortstop James Parker, who also resumes his role for most of the 2020 season. He is the team’s best hitter over the weekend with a batting average of 0.455, including a double, home run and three RBIs. He also has a percentage of 0.538 on base and has not made a mistake in nine chances. Parker was the player who overcame himself with the final blow against Cincinnati on Sunday, breaking the 7-7 draw at the ninth inning and giving Clemson a win over the AAC school.
– Clemson has not been left out in the last 126 consecutive games, the third largest active streak in the country. Eastern Kentucky (179 games) and Oklahoma State (156) have the two longest scoring strings in the country. The last time the Tigers were eliminated was on March 16, 2018 against NC State at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
– From USC Athletics Communication and Public Relations: The Tigers opened the 2021 season with a sweep of three games in Cincinnati at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The series was culminated in a single walk-off form, at the tenth entry James Parker that gave Tigers the 8-7 victory. Bryce Teodosio and Parker led the Tigers with a batting average of 0.455 in the series, while Jonathan French had five RBI. At the hill, Davis Sharpe eliminated nine out of five job openings on Opening Day.
– Lee said at JB and Goldwater on Friday afternoon that outfielder Keir Meredith is very unlikely to be able to play. He said there is a chance that Meredith will be able to pinch on Sunday.
– Clemson leads the all-time series with Carolina, 181-141-2. The Tigers won 2 out of 3 Gamecocks games in 2020. Carolina won the middle game at Segra Park, 8-5, as Jeff Heinrich drove in three races and Thomas Farr won the victory on the mound, eliminating three and allowing only two hits in five work entries.
– The Tigers have won five of the last six series between the two clubs, including two of three against Kingston. Before Clemson’s recent success, South Carolina had won the previous five seasons.
– South Carolina has led the series in neutral games 6 to 5 since 2010. Lee has not lost a game at Fluor Field and has a perfect record of 10 to 0.
“We want quality hitters that are strong and have power, not just energy hitters who are at the party or hungry. This is what good offenses are; good hitters from one to nine and have several guys who are strong enough to drive the ball hard. For me, this is what we are showing so far. It’s still early, so we’re not going to do parades or celebrations. So far, we are seeing that we have worked so hard in the past nine months and also in the recruiting years. ” – South Carolina Head Coach Mark Kingston
I was fortunate to start for the first time in the Clemson series two years ago. It was nothing like what I experienced before. It was extremely exciting. We talked to a lot of younger guys who are experiencing this for the first time and are looking forward to getting started. It will be different this year with limited capacity, but that does not mean that these are two great programs. – senior from South Carolina George Callil
“The only thing I think you will see is that you will see two teams that don’t know as much about each other or about themselves as they normally did. The season has just started and we are already playing here. We will both be different teams a month from now, two months from now, the postseason. We all need to remember that. In week 2, you don’t have everything planned out, whether it’s us or them. ” – South Carolina Head Coach Mark Kingston
“I really liked what I saw. I found that our approaches to the dish were very disciplined. I think we did a great job of staying in the strike zone. Hit to get some power, do some home runs. I saw a lot of really good things. I think we scored 5, 5 and 8, so we did some good things there. He would be. It would be nice to have Keir back there. When you have a real three-hitter, it limits you a little. Overall, I felt that the quality of the strikes from our attack was very good. ” – Clemson head coach Monte Lee
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