How USC baseball’s Monte Lee is preparing for his ‘weird’ Clemson homecoming

Emotions will surely be lurking under the surface when South Carolina associate head coach Monte Lee steps off the Gamecock teams bus and steps into Clemson’s Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Friday.

Before the Tigers fired Lee last spring, the 46-year-old spent seven years at the helm of Clemson’s program. Now he’ll return to the state’s fiercest rivalry series while wearing garnet and black.

First pitch of the series is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Clemson, with the teams playing at Greenville’s Fluor Field at 1 p.m. Saturday and rounding out the three-game set at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Founders Park in Columbia.

“It’s a little bit weird before the game starts,” Lee said in a Wednesday news conference previewing the series. “As you go into their ballpark, or they come into your ballpark, you see the kids and you just remember recruiting them, you remember coaching them and just being there with them through good times and through bad times, and all those special moments that you spend together.”

The Tiger-Gamecocks rivalry will have a much different flavor this season. The Tigers fired Lee after missing a second straight NCAA Tournament, replacing him with former Michigan coach Erik Bakich. With the Gamecocks coming off their first losing season since 1996, head coach Mark Kingston reached out to Lee about joining the staff as a hitting coach and recruiting coordinator, and Lee jumped at the opportunity.

A lifelong South Carolina native who played for College of Charleston, Lee served as a USC assistant early in his career under then-coach and current athletic director Ray Tanner from 2003-08. Then Lee left to coach the Cougars for seven seasons, leading them to four NCAA regionals and a super regional, before replacing longtime Clemson coach Jack Leggett in 2016.

The No. 23 Gamecocks (9-0) and Tigers (4-4) collide at vastly different stages of their season. Buoyed by a new-look, transfer-heavy lineup, USC has mashed its way through the early non-conference slate. Clemson, meanwhile, comes into the series riding four straight losses, dropping a weekend series to UCF then a midweek game to USC Upstate.

USC’s hitters have seemed to respond to Lee’s tutelage so far this season. The Gamecocks lead the nation with 27 home runs and rank third in the nation in slugging percentage. But USC has shown some issues hitting with runners in scoring position and with hitting higher-velocity pitchers, and Lee said he’s still hoping to see more consistency at the plate.

“Consistency is my main priority with our team,” Lee said. “It’s about being the same guy with the same thought process and the same messages every single day, regardless of how the team is performing. And we expect our players to be even keel and consistent every single day, whether they had a bad day or a good day. And I think we need to expect the same out of myself.”

Being even keeled might be a little tougher for Lee on Friday, considering his history with Clemson. But Lee said he experienced a similar sensation the first time he coached against the College of Charleston as a Tigers head coach.

“It’s really about the people more than the opponent,” Lee said. “But once the game starts, it’s about our team versus their team, it’s about our players versus their players. And (the emotion) kind of goes away, and it’s about the competition at that point.”

Next four USC baseball games

Friday: at Clemson, 6 p.m. (ACC Network Extra)

Saturday: vs. Clemson, 1 p.m., Fluor Field in Greenville (SEC Network Plus)

Sunday: vs. Clemson, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

March 7: vs. The Citadel, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)