Gamecocks get walk-off win over Clemson to open rivalry series
The first South Carolina-Clemson rivalry game in football, baseball or basketball in nearly a year didn’t disappoint.
South Carolina outlasted the Tigers Saturday night at Fluor Field, earning a 3-2 walk-off win in the first meeting between the two rivals in one of the four major sports since March 1 of last year.
Andrew Eyster hit a line drive to center field just over the glove of Clemson centerfielder Bryce Teodosio to score Brady Allen and give USC the victory in 11 innings. The two teams will be back in action Sunday afternoon in Columbia in Game 2 of the series.
“My opening statement would be baseball’s back in South Carolina,” USC coach Mark Kingston said. “That was a tremendous ball game, one for the ages, obviously. Great environment. It didn’t feel like there was a pandemic. That was as loud a crowd as I’ve heard in a long time.”
Both pitching staffs were outstanding as Clemson pitchers struck out 21 batters in 11 1/3 innings. It marked the most times South Carolina has been struck out in a game in school history.
Gamecocks pitchers countered by striking out 16 Clemson hitters and limiting the Tigers to two runs in 11 innings.
“Well, what a great ball game,” Clemson coach Monte Lee said. “Really proud of our club and how we fought, especially on the pitching side. Just an unbelievable night by our pitching staff. ... We had some opportunities to do some things (offensively) and we were unable to capitalize.”
While there were plenty of strikeouts on the night, arguably the biggest outs of the game were recorded by South Carolina freshman Will Sanders in the top of the 11th. Clemson had two on with no outs and 4-5-6 due up when Sanders entered and got James Parker to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play. Jonathan French then grounded out with a runner on third to keep the score tied at 2.
That set up South Carolina’s heroics in the bottom half of the inning.
Allen led off the 11th with a double to right-center. After a strikeout on a fouled bunt attempt with two strikes, Wes Clarke was intentionally walked before Eyster’s walk-off hit.
“There was definitely a big momentum shift,” Eyster said of the double play. “We’re confident in our lineup, especially at the top, and Brady has that huge double. And once he did that, I think we all got a really good feeling that we would be walking off that inning.”
Clemson had some heroics of its own earlier in the game. With the Tigers trailing 2-1 in the top of the ninth, Parker homered over the mini green monster in left field off USC’s Brett Kerry to tie the game at 2. However, that would be the last run South Carolina’s staff allowed.
Kerry struck out six and allowed only the solo homer over three innings of work. Sanders earned the win, working out of trouble while not allowing a base runner.
“This team has character. I’ve seen it. They’ve shown me a couple times throughout the year, just inside stuff where they have shown me a lot of character, a lot of maturity. And I thought that’s what we had tonight,” Kingston said. “A lot of teams can crumble if you give up a heartbreaker like that, and they just kept coming and just kept coming and found a way. So it’s what you want to see out of your team.”
South Carolina finished with 15 hits but also left 13 men on base. Allen and Mendham each had three hits, while Clarke, Eyster and Jeff Heinrich had RBIs for the Gamecocks.
Clemson had seven hits, led by Parker who went 3-for-5 with the homer.
Official attendance Saturday was 1,800. Fluor Field’s capacity is 6,700.
South Carolina can earn the season series win with a victory on Sunday in Columbia. Clemson will attempt to tie the series at a game apiece. Game 3 will be played May 11 in Clemson after Friday’s scheduled opener was rained out.
South Carolina-Clemson: Sunday baseball game
Where: Founders Park, Columbia
When: 1:30 p.m.
Watch: SEC Network Plus
Forecast: Partly sunny, with a high near 82. Southwest wind 5 to 14 mph.
This story was originally published February 27, 2021 at 7:52 PM.
