Road warriors: Gamecocks take series opener over Clemson
South Carolina continued one streak Friday night at Clemson. The Gamecocks hope to end another one over the next couple of days.
Andrew Eyster hit a two-run homer for USC in the second inning and TJ Hopkins added a three-run shot later in the same frame to provide all of the scoring as the Gamecocks earned a 5-4 win against Clemson Friday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
The win marked the fourth consecutive year that South Carolina has earned a win in Game 1 of the rivalry series. Clemson has fought back to win the series each of the previous three years and has four consecutive series wins against the Gamecocks overall.
“On the road it’s always big time to win, especially with this atmosphere, but right when we get on the bus I’m going to make sure to tell all of the young guys, the older guys already know, we’ve won my past three years the first game,” Hopkins, a senior said. “It’s not over yet.”
It appeared early on that the game was going to be a slugfest.
Grayson Byrd hit a two-run homer for Clemson in the first inning, before the Gamecocks responded with five runs in the second on the homers by Eyster and Hopkins. But both pitching staffs settled in after that.
Clemson reliever Mat Clark was outstanding, pitching 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. Gamecocks freshman Brett Kerry matched him, pitching the final 3 1/3 innings of the game while striking out seven of the 12 batters he faced.
All three of the relievers USC coach Mark Kingston turned to were freshmen. Wesley Sweatt, Cam Tringali and Kerry combined to pitched the final 6 2/3 innings and allowed only one run.
“They’ve earned it. They’ve earned that trust. They’ve pitched very well this year. You’re going to have to win big games at some point with those guys, might as well do it now,” Kingston said. “A lot of guys can do it when the lights aren’t this bright. To see those freshmen, we threw a lot of freshmen out there tonight. They all had great poise, great command.”
Brooks Crawford got the start for the Tigers but was pulled after allowing five runs in two innings. In addition to Clark, Owen Griffith pitched a scoreless inning, while Travis Marr pitched the final 1 2/3 innings without allowing a run.
Gamecocks started Carmen Mlodzinski also had a short outing, leaving with one out in the third inning after suffering a left leg injury. Mlodzinski appeared to suffer the injury after stepping off the mound on a single by Kyle Wilkie.
The sophomore allowed three runs in 2 1/3 innings before exiting with the injury.
“Carmen, we think, has a fractured foot,” Kingston said. “That’s to be determined.”
Clemson finished with 11 hits but stranded nine runners, including the tying run in the ninth inning.
“We found a way to get back into the game. We were down 5-2, we scored a single run in the third and fourth to make it 5-4, and then Brett Kerry came into the ballgame,” Tigers coach Monte Lee said. “He deserves a lot of credit.”
Note: South Carolina’s midweek home games vs. The Citadel (Tuesday) and Gardner-Webb (Wednesday) have new start times of 4 p.m. Both games will be streamed digitally via on SEC Network Plus.
Next
Game 2 of the series is 1 p.m. Saturday at Fluor Field in Greenville. That game is streaming online on SEC Network Plus via WatchESPN. South Carolina will start freshman Dylan Harley (0-0, 9.45 ERA), while Clemson will counter with freshman Davis Sharpe (2-0, 0.00).
This story was originally published March 1, 2019 at 10:13 PM.
