Clemson holds off South Carolina in Game 1, hands Gamecocks first loss of season

Erik Bakich had to hold off an extra two hours and 16 minutes for his first taste of the Clemson-South Carolina baseball rivalry in two decades.

It was worth the wait.

First-time Friday starter Austin Gordon pitched 4.2 scoreless innings and freshman Cam Cannarella hit 3 for 4 with two doubles as Clemson upset No. 23 South Carolina, 5-2, on Friday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Trailing 5-2 in the ninth inning with two runners on base, South Carolina had the tying run at the plate before infielder Will McGillis grounded out to first base to clinch Clemson’s win.

In handing USC (9-1) its first loss of the year, the Tigers (5-4) took a 1-0 lead in this weekend’s rivalry series and snapped an early-season four-game losing streak.

They also delivered the first signature win of the Bakich era in a wacky, weather-influenced game that was initially scheduled for 6 p.m. but didn’t start until 8:16 p.m. thanks to a late-afternoon rainstorm in Upstate South Carolina.

Clemson has now won five consecutive games against South Carolina dating back to February 2021 and has its first rivalry victory under Bakich, a former volunteer coach for the 2002 Tigers who replaced Monte Lee as head coach last summer after 10 seasons at Michigan.

“It’s the best rivalry in college baseball, and it’s just as electric as I remember it 21 years ago,” Bakich said postgame, smiling.

For one, the Tigers had barely any trouble early with South Carolina ace Will Sanders, a preseason All-American selection by multiple outlets who was 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA entering Friday.

That was evident from Sanders’ literal first pitch of the night, which Clemson lead-off hitter Cooper Ingle crushed deep into left field for a home run.

And Sanders wasn’t the only Gamecock who played sloppily in the opening innings. Clemson went up 3-0 in the second inning when USC catcher Cole Messina dropped a strike and overthrew a teammate at first base, allowing Clemson’s Chad Fairey to waltz in on a passed ball.

“I mean, look,” USC coach Mark Kingston said. “It was a — I can’t say well-played, because there were six errors in the ballgame — but it was an intense, emotional game, and you love to play it. You (just) wish you would have won the game.”

Clemson’s lead stretched to 4-0 on a fielder’s choice RBI before South Carolina’s offense — which was top five in total runs (105) and home runs (27) entering Friday — finally showed some life. USC got two runners on base in the top of the fifth to end Gordon’s night at 94 pitches.

Gordon left the game having pitched 4.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts and a 4.20 ERA — not a bad output for a righty who didn’t start a game last year and moved into the Friday spot to replace Clemson ace Ryan Ammons, who isn’t pitching this weekend due to a minor arm injury.

But the Gamecocks couldn’t capitalize on their best scoring position of the night, leaving both runners on base against Clemson reliever Jackson Lindley. Minutes later, Sanders surrendered his second home run of the night to the Tigers’ Gavin Abrams in the bottom of the sixth.

USC’s ace delivered back-to-back shutout innings and nine strikeouts but ultimately struggled against a Clemson team that ranks in the bottom half of the ACC in batting average and had just three runs in a midweek loss to USC Upstate. Sanders’ final line: 6.0 innings pitched, nine hits, five runs and four earned runs on 93 pitches.

South Carolina avoided a shutout with catcher Talmadge LeCroy’s RBI single off Lindley in the top of the seventh, which drove home first baseman Gavin Casas.

But that’s all the Gamecocks could muster on a night that saw Lee, who joined USC as an associate coach after getting fired by Clemson last May, return to Doug Kingsmore Stadium (which drew a strong crowd of 5,456 on Friday night).

Clemson turned a crisp double play to end the seventh inning and got good effort from bullpen pitchers Lindley (2.1 innings pitched, three strikeouts, one earned run) and Casey Tallent (2.0 innings pitched, zero earned runs) down the stretch.

The relief performance of true freshman Eli Jerzembeck (2.0 innings pitched, four strikeouts) was a bright spot for South Carolina in the back half of Friday’s game. The Gamecocks (who got within 5-2 in the ninth inning on an unearned Casas run) committed two errors and left five runners on base in their first road game and first loss of the season.

Next up in the series: a Saturday afternoon tilt at a neutral site, Fluor Field in Greenville. South Carolina is the designated home team, and first pitch is set for 1 p.m.

“Just liked the way we set the tone on the opening game of a series,” Bakich said. “We know there’s a lot more weekend left to play and looking forward to tomorrow.”

South Carolina-Clemson baseball Game 2

• When: Saturday, March 4

• Where: Fluor Field, Greenville (neutral)

• When: 1 p.m.

• Watch: Streaming only via SEC Network Plus (Stuart Lake, Tommy Moody)

• Weather: Mainly sunny. High of 70 degrees

• Projected pitchers: RHP Noah Hall (South Carolina) vs. LHP Tristan Smith (Clemson)