After roaring comeback, South Carolina loses to Clemson in extras

After making a ferocious comeback, South Carolina came up just short, losing 5-4 to Clemson in 12 innings on Saturday.

“We played great. We’re a good team, we played really well tonight,” head coach Mark Kingston said. “But again, we were one swing, one run short. It’s the way the game works sometimes.”

South Carolina (8-2), serving as the visiting team, quickly got two runners aboard in the first inning. But it wouldn’t result in much as Clemson left-hander Tristan Smith struck out both Cole Messina and Talmadge LeCroy to end the threat. And that would be a common trend as the game wore on.

Opposite of Smith would be Eli Jones for South Carolina. He allowed a leadoff double to Cam Cannarella and a hit-by-pitch to face a two-runner jam. But with two outs, he reared back on an 0-2 pitch and blew a fastball by Jimmy Obertop.

Smith would continue to carve up the Gamecocks as he had eight strikeouts through just four innings. South Carolina’s best scoring chance in the early going came in the fourth as LeCroy got as close as 90 feet from scoring. However, with two outs, Parker Noland struck out swinging.

In the home half of the fourth, the Tigers would strike first as Cannarella, who came into Saturday hitting .517, roped a double over the head of Kennedy Jones. With one swing, he had just plated two runs.

“Trying to go slider down and in, left it a bit up and he got it out,” Jones said, describing the pitch he threw that resulted in Cannarella’s hit.

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Outside of that one mistake, it was a fairly good outing for Jones, who went 4.1 innings. Although he did give up nine hits, he worked in and out of multiple tough spots to give the Gamecocks a chance.

“It is what it is. After a loss, it really hurts,” Jones said. “You look back and think I should’ve changed this or I should’ve changed that. But I mean, I can’t. It’s over. I thought I kept myself pretty composed out there and get to do it again next week.”

And they’d get one of those runs back from the unlikeliest of hitters. Leading off the fifth, nine-hole hitter Will Tippett crushed a 2-2 pitch onto the berm in left center field. It was a solo shot, his first of the year, that made it a 2-1 ballgame. And it was also the team’s first hit since Jones led off the game with a single.

“It feels good,” Tippett said. “Catch it on a barrel, that’s how I want it to be. Just compete out there.”

Heading into the sixth, Clemson turned to its bullpen, which was a sigh of relief as Smith was nearly un-hittable all day. He finished with nine strikeouts and only allowed three hits on 88 pitches.

Right away, South Carolina had a chance to tie the game. The Gamecocks put runners on the corners but had two outs. Once again, Noland came up to the plate with a chance to do something, and it looked like he was about to. But Clemson shortstop Andrew Ciufo made a diving stop and threw a perfect strike to first to end the frame.

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For the third time on Saturday, Noland was at bat with a runner in scoring position. But just like the previous two times, he couldn’t answer the bell. This time, he struck out swinging to bring an end to the top of the eighth.

As a result for the lack of scoring, Clemson responded with a knockout punch in the bottom of the eighth. Jacob Hinderleider hit a two-run shot into left, making it a 4-1 game.

Pinch-hitting for Jones in the ninth, Blake Jackson ripped a triple into the right center gap, scoring a run. And with one swing, Ethan Petry hit a two-run homer into right, tying the game at four.

“It was awesome,” Tippett said. “He was battling up there, great at-bats today. And he did it. The game wasn’t over. We were in the dugout saying that: the game isn’t over til it’s over.”

In the bottom of the ninth, flame throwing left-hander Garrett Gainey retired the side in order to send the game to extra innings. He was dominant from the moment he came in. He pitched two more scoreless innings, shutting down the Clemson offense.

“Pitched his ass off, excuse my language,” Kingston said. “Really good pitching, really good defense, but they were one swing better than us tonight.”

But with two outs in the 12th, Ciufo hit a walk-off solo homer to give the Tigers the win.

RELATED: South Carolina-Clemson Box Score

Up next: South Carolina will travel to Clemson’s Doug Kingsmore Stadium for the “middle” game of the series on Sunday. First pitch is at 2 p.m. on ACC Network Extra. Roman Kimball was originally named the Sunday starter but that could change with Friday’s rainout shaking up both pitching staffs.

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