South Carolina drops series opener at Clemson for first loss of season

Paul Mainieri tried his best to keep things as loose as he could going into this weekend. But even he knew, as someone who’s coached in just about every big game, there were going to be some nerves.

As Friday’s series opener at Clemson wore on, the Gamecocks’ head coach felt his team started to settle in. But some early struggles hurt South Carolina (9-1) in a 5-3 loss to the No. 13 Tigers at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

“For a lot of them, this is the first time to play in an environment like this,” Mainieri said. “And I thought the first few innings, we didn’t play the game, do the things that we’ve been doing, and we dug ourselves a hole there.”

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South Carolina found itself having to play catch-up right out of the gate as Clemson jumped on Matthew Becker for four runs through two innings. Becker, who hadn’t walked a batter in his first two starts, didn’t have the same command of the zone this time around. He walked five batters to go along with five strikeouts.

Becker pitched a scoreless third and got the first out of the fourth, but that would be as far as he went. Early struggles hindered the left-hander’s outing as he gave up four runs on five hits in 3.1 innings of work.

“He was just missing with a lot of pitches, and he wasn’t able to land his curveball consistently,” Mainieri said. “They got a few hits off of him. I mean, he’ll be better next week for sure, and he’ll learn from this experience here tonight. He fought hard.”

For as rough as the first two innings were, falling into an immediate 4-0 hole, the Gamecocks eventually got their bats going against Clemson right-hander Aidan Knaak. After a one-out single by Jase Woita, two-straight walks loaded the bases for South Carolina.

Nolan Nawrocki, making his return to Clemson after two seasons with the Tigers, brought home one run with a sacrifice fly. Talmadge LeCroy then came through with a two-run double to cut the deficit down to one. LeCroy broke out of a 1-for-18 slump to begin the year with two hits on Friday.

“I think when Talmadge came through with the big double, it loosened us up a little bit,” Mainieri said.

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With this becoming a new ballgame, Mainieri opted to go with Brandon Stone after Becker’s night was over. This turned into a move that worked out well, as the right-hander pitched the rest of the way while also preserving the bullpen.

Stone was excellent in his 4.2 innings of work, striking out six without issuing a walk. He only made one mistake, a solo shot off the bat of Jarren Purify in the seventh to make it a two-run game. Outside of that, he gave South Carolina a chance to stay in it.

“Tried to get the curveball down in the three spot and away. Just left it a little too much over the middle,” Stone said on what he was looking to throw before giving up the solo blast. “(Purify) got a piece. He did what he was supposed to do with the curveball, and it hung. Good swing on him.”

However, the offense couldn’t bring in any more runs from the fourth inning onward. The Gamecocks went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and 2-for-11 with two outs.

South Carolina nearly managed to tie the game in the ninth not once but twice. Max Kaufer, who came in to pinch-hit for Woita back in the sixth, hit a long fly ball to the left field wall for an out. Then, Ethan Petry hit one in front of the warning track to end the game.

Over the final 4.1 innings after pushing three runs home against Knaak, the Gamecocks only picked up one hit against Clemson’s bullpen. They struck out 14 times and walked five.

“We were right there. And then we had a couple of opportunities and just couldn’t cash them in,” Mainieri said. “Thought it was a tremendous ball game. Fans certainly got their money’s worth tonight. Tomorrow’s a new day.”

Up next: South Carolina will look to even the series at a game apiece when things shift over to Fluor Field in Greenville on Saturday. First pitch is at 1:30 p.m. on SEC Network Plus. Jake McCoy (1-0, 3.00 ERA) will get the start on the mound.

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