[Trending News] Baseball Faces Clemson in Three-Game Palmetto Series

FOR STARTERS

The annual in-state series between South Carolina and Clemson will take place this weekend (Feb. 28-March 2) in three different venues.
The Gamecocks and Tigers will start the series Friday, Feb. 28 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson, S.C., First pitch is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
The series shifts to Fluor Field in Greenville on Saturday, March 1 with a 1:30 p.m. first pitch. The game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.
The three-game set concludes on Sunday, March 2 at 5 p.m. at Ray Tanner Field at Founders Park. The game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.
There is a Palmetto Series, presented by the South Carolina Education Lottery, point on the line this week. Currently, South Carolina leads Clemson 5-2 in the series with wins in football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and women’s golf.
All three games also will be on the Gamecock Sports Network presented by Learfield with Derek, Scott, Cade Crenshaw and Stuart Lake on the call.

PARKING INFORMATION

GAME DAY PARKING INFORMATION (including public game day lots (PGDL: $10 per game). All gameday lots are cashless. Please have a debit card or credit card ready for payment upon entry into parking lots.

Sunday
Game Time: 5 p.m.
Stadium Opens: 3:30 p.m.
Business Lots Open: 3/3:30 p.m.
Lot 1, STDM, HDG PGDL Open: 3 p.m.

PROMOTIONS SCHEDULE
Sunday – Rally towels for the first 1,000 fans

PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Friday
South Carolina Matthew Becker (Sr. LHP) 2-0, 1.59 ERA, 11.1 IP, 0 BB, 17 SO
Clemson Aidan Knaak (So. RHP) 1-0, 6.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 3 BB, 15 SO

Saturday
South Carolina Jake McCoy (So. LHP) 1-0, 3.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 4 BB, 17 SO
Clemson Ethan Darden (Jr. LHP) 1-0, 1.80 ERA, 10.0 IP, 4 BB, 9 SO

Sunday
South Carolina TBA
Clemson Justin LeGuernic (So. LHP) 0-1, 8.22 ERA, 7.2 IP, 6 BB, 7 SO

SCOUTING CLEMSON

The Tigers have won five in a row and are 7-1 overall after a 20-7 Tuesday night win over Winthrop. Jacob Jarrell and Josh Paino each drove in four runs in the win.
Clemson started the season at the Shriners Children’s College Showdown in Arlington, Texas, and came away with wins over Oklahoma State and Arizona.
The Tigers are hitting .312 as a team and are led by Dominic Listi’s .462 batting average. Listi also has 13 RBI in eight games.
On the mound, Aidan Knaak, Friday’s starter, has 15 strikeouts in nine innings pitched.
Lucas Mahlstedt has a pair of saves and six strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched.
Erik Bakich is in his third season as head coach at Clemson. He guided the Tigers to a Super Regional berth last year. He also led Michigan to a College World Series runner-up finish in 2019.

SERIES VS. CLEMSON

Clemson has a 188-145-2 series advantage on Carolina heading into this weekend.
Last season, the two teams only play twice as rain on Friday cancelled the game at Founders Park.
Clemson won a pair of one-run games in 2024, 5-4 in 12 innings at Segra Park and 5-4 in Clemson.
Carolina won 2-of-3 games in 2023, including an 11-9 win at Fluor Field, thanks to home runs from Carson Hornung and Cole Messina.

PITCHING STANDS OUT IN OPENING STRETCH

The South Carolina pitching staff holds a 2.25 ERA with 105 strikeouts in 76 innings pitched after eight games this season.
Eight different Gamecocks have a win on the mound while Carolina has four saves in nine games in 2025.
Matthew Becker is 2-0 on the year with a 1.59 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 11.1 innings pitched. He still has not allowed a walk and has held opponents to a .105 batting average.
Brendan Sweeney leads the SEC with three saves this year. Sweeney has pitched 3.1 scoreless frames, striking out four and allowing just one hit.
Jake McCoy has allowed just two hits in nine innings, which comes out to a .067 batting average. McCoy also has struck out 17 batters.
Brandon Stone pitched 6.1 innings in wins over Winthrop (Feb. 18) and Milwaukee (Feb. 22). He struck out four and allowed just one run and earned a save in the Milwaukee win.

WOITA IS GRAND

Junior Jase Woita hit the Gamecocks’ first grand slam of the season in a 5-2 win over Milwaukee on Feb. 21.
Trailing 2-1 in the sixth, Woita took a Gavin Theis pitch over the wall in left.
It was Carolina’s first grand slam since Cole Messina against LSU in the SEC Tournament in 2024.
Woita then had two home runs in the 14-4 win over Gardner-Webb on Feb. 25.
Woita leads Carolina with three home runs and is hitting .444.

STATS ON STARTS

The Gamecocks are off to a 9-0 start for the first time since the 2021 season. Carolina started that year 11-0.
South Carolina is one of 13 teams that are currently unbeaten in Division I baseball. Five of those teams (South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Oklahoma and Tennessee) are from the SEC.
Carolina joins Oklahoma as the only two athletic departments who have an unbeaten baseball and softball team as of Feb. 27.

PETRY SHOOTS UP CAREER HOME RUN LIST

Junior Ethan Petry will enter the Gardner-Webb game with 46 home runs at Carolina, which has him in fourth place on the all-time home run list.
The Land O’ Lakes, Fla., native had 23 home runs in his freshman season in 2023, then followed that up with 21 his sophomore season.
Petry has been named to the preseason All-America second team by both D1 Baseball and Perfect Game, the third team by the NCBWA, was named to the Preseason All-SEC first team and is on the Golden Spikes Award Watch List.
Last season, Petry hit .306 with 21 home runs and 53 RBI while leading the team with 51 walks. He was named to the All-Raleigh Regional team.
Petry needs one more home run to tie Garrett Carter (1985-88) for third place on Carolina’s all-time list.
Petry had a solo home run to straightaway center field Saturday in the win over Milwaukee.
The junior is hitting .452 with three doubles, a triple, two home runs and is tied for the team lead with 10 RBI.

UP NEXT

Carolina will play two games in the midweek, hosting Davidson and traveling to The Citadel.
The Gamecocks host Davidson Tuesday, March 4 at 6:30 p.m. The game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.
Carolina then heads to Charleston for a 7 p.m. game with The Citadel on Wednesday, March 5. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.