FINAL: Gamecocks Drop Game One To Clemson In Extras 6-5

South Carolina's baseball team drops the first game of the Palmetto series to the Clemson Tigers after coming back from down three in the ninth inning.

Game "Two" of this series went down to the wire. After game one was announced it would be postponed to later, today's game against Clemson would be the series' first. For the majority of the game, it was a pitcher's dual. Although Clemson had several hits, Eli Jones managed to get himself out of trouble outside of one two-RBI double. Chris Veach also got the Gamecocks out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth, allowing Carolina a chance at picking up the game late.

The pitching staff did all they could in this game, limiting their walks (3) and forcing the Tigers to strand eleven runners. Clemson would seemingly put the game away with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to make it 4-1 Tigers. The bats for South Carolina struggled throughout the game, with the only run through the first eight innings coming from Will Tippett, who had a solo home run at the top of the fifth inning. They had their chances to get some runs in; however, they were a combined 0-9 with runners in scoring position prior to the ninth inning. 

Ethan Petry rounding first base after his game-tying homerun in the 9th inning versus the Clemson Tigers (2nd March, 2024) / Gamecock Baseball's X Account

The ninth inning, however, was when the Gamecock bats would come alive, starting with a Tippett single, an RBI-triple from Blake Jackson, and a game-tying two-run shot from Ethan Petry. Left-handed pitcher Garrett Gainey would play a massive role in continuing to give Carolina a chance, pitching in the 9th, 10th, and 11th innings, getting five strikeouts and giving up no hits. Unfortunately, Gainey would give up a walk-off homerun to the Tigers in the bottom of the twelfth, and South Carolina will look to even the series tomorrow when they head to Clemson for game "three" of the series. 

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