Clemson vs. South Carolina baseball series: How to watch, TV channel, weather
The 2026 Palmetto Series is here.
Clemson and South Carolina baseball will renew one of the country’s best rivalries this weekend as they play three games at three different ballparks across the state.
The Tigers and coach Erik Bakich are 8-0 this season and rank No. 15 nationally in the D1Baseball Top 25. South Carolina and coach Paul Mainieri enter the series unranked with a 6-3 record after dropping Wednesday’s home game to Queens.
Here’s how to watch this year’s series, and what else to know.
2026 Clemson-South Carolina baseball series schedule
- Game 1: Friday, 7 p.m. at Founders Park in Columbia (SEC Network Plus, broadcasters Kip Bouknight, Grayson Greiner and Dave Weinstein)
- Game 2: Saturday, 3 p.m. at Segra Park in Columbia (ACC Network Extra, broadcasters Bob Mahony and William Qualkinbush)
- Game 3: Sunday, 3 p.m. at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson (ACC Network Extra, broadcasters Don Munson and Ron Smith)
Each school will also offer an in-house radio broadcast for each game. Clemson’s radio broadcast will be available on 105.5 FM locally (see affiliate list here), and South Carolina’s broadcast is available locally on 107.5 FM (see affiliate list here).
Starting pitchers for Clemson, South Carolina
Clemson and USC announced their expected rotations Thursday:
- Game 1 (Friday): RHP Aidan Knaak (Clemson) vs. RHP Josh Gunther (USC)
- Game 2 (Saturday): LHP Michael Sharman (Clemson) vs. RHP Amp Phillips (USC)
- Game 3 (Sunday): LHP Talan Bell (Clemson) vs. RHP Riley Goodman (USC)
Weather update for Clemson-USC baseball series
After a rainy Thursday across the state of South Carolina, things are looking clearer for the weekend series.
Columbia will see “a couple of brief showers early” on Friday morning, per AccuWeather, but it should be a clear 7 p.m. Friday game with no rain and a low of 51 degrees. Saturday’s 3 p.m. game in Columbia will be warm with a high of 73. Sunday’s 3 p.m. game in Clemson will be warm with a high of 74.
Rivalry series history
The Clemson-South Carolina baseball series dates back to 1899. Heading into this weekend, the Tigers and Gamecocks have met 338 times, including three times in the 2025 season. Clemson leads the all-time series 191-145-2 (.568).
Mainieri is 0-3 against Clemson as USC’s coach. Bakich is 6-2 against the Gamecocks as Clemson’s coach with two series wins, including a sweep last year. Clemson has won 10 of 12 games in the Palmetto Series, as well as eight of the last 11 series.
Explaining 2026 neutral-site game
This year’s Clemson-USC neutral-site game is at Segra Park in Columbia.
USC is the designated road team for that game and will bat first. Clemson is the designated home team and will bat second. The schools annually rotate which team is designated as the home team for their neutral-site game.
Segra Park is home to the Columbia Fireflies, a Kansas City Royals minor league affiliate.
