Solo homers lead Tigers to series win over Gamecocks

Will Taylor rounds the bases after his homer (Photo by Merrell Mann).

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Mar 03 16:51:06 GMT-04:00 2024

CLEMSON - A solo homer won Saturday night's game, and three solo homers helped Clemson defeat South Carolina Sunday.

Will Taylor, Nolan Nawrocki, and Blake Wright all homered as No. 10 Clemson defeated No. 19 South Carolina 5-4 Sunday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The two wins give Clemson the win in the season series. The series' third game will be played midweek later in the season.

The Gamecocks mustered just five hits but had nine runners left on base and were just 2-15 with runners in scoring position. Clemson had five hits, and Wright had two of those. Drew Titsworth (1-0) picked up his first career win in relief for the Tigers, while Austin Gordon picked up his first save.

Clemson leads the all-time series 188-145–2.

It didn’t take the Gamecocks long to dent the scoreboard. Dylan Brewer walked on a full count with one out in the top of the first, and one out later catcher Cole Messina walked to the plate. Messina was 0-for-6 in Saturday’s game, but he smoked an 0-1 pitch over the wall in center field for a 2-0 lead.

Will Taylor put the Tigers on the board in the bottom of the frame. With one out, he took a 2-1 pitch from South Carolina starter Dylan Eskew and drilled it over the wall in left to make it 2-1.

The Gamecocks added to their lead in the third. Will Tippett singled to lead off the frame, stole second and scored on Brewer’s flare down the third-base line to give the Gamecocks a 3-1 lead.

Taylor walked on a 3-2 pitch to lead off the fourth, and he moved to second when the first baseman booted a grounder by Blake Wright. Alden Mathes sacrificed both runners into scoring position, and Jimmy Obertop grounded out to short, scoring Taylor to make it 3-2. Andrew Ciufo, the hero of Saturday’s win, lofted a fly ball that fell into no-man’s land behind first, scoring Wright to tie the game at 3-3.

Aidan Knaak kept the Gamecocks at bay, pitching five innings, giving up four hits, walking three and striking out five and hitting two batters. Drew Titsworth pitched a scoreless sixth for the Tigers, who took the lead in the bottom of the frame.

With two out in the inning, Nolan Nawrocki walked to the plate and quickly worked the count to 2-0. He sat back and launched a fastball deep over the wall in left for his second homer of the season and a 4-3 Clemson lead.

Titsworth issued a one-out walk to Brewer in the seventh, and he was replaced by Nick Clayton. A wild pitch moved Brewer to second, but Clayton induced a grounder out of Ethan Petry and struck out Messina on three pitches to end the threat. Clayton ran into trouble of his own in the eighth, putting runners at first and second, but Matthew Marchal induced a popup from Tippet to end the threat.

Blake Wright played longball in the bottom of the frame, smoking a 1-0 fastball from Roman Kimball over the wall in center for his third homer of the year and a 5-3 Clemson lead.

Austin Gordon pitched the ninth and gave up a solo homer to Ethan Petry for the final score of 5-4.

The Tigers are back at Doug Kingsmore on Wednesday, hosting Kansas St. at 6 pm. The Tigers play host to UNC Greensboro next weekend, with the Friday tilt starting at 4 pm and the two weekend games at 2 pm.

NAWROCKI ROCKET FOR THE LEAD!!!@NawrockiNolan has ice in his veins. 🥶

🚀 362 ft
💨 98 mph

B6 || USC 3, CU 4

🖥️ https://t.co/iA44UTCs55 pic.twitter.com/V7JhSKO8qA
— Clemson Baseball (@ClemsonBaseball) March 3, 2024

DEAD CENTER BLAST FOR @BlakeWr86324186! 🤯

The Tigers grab an important insurance run in the 8th!

🚀 396 ft
💨 107 mph

B8 || USC 3, CU 5 pic.twitter.com/jaCITqgYNh
— Clemson Baseball (@ClemsonBaseball) March 3, 2024

WHAT A PLAY! 😳

T5 || USC 3, CU 3 pic.twitter.com/JbSiGnrkoe
— Clemson Baseball (@ClemsonBaseball) March 3, 2024

Highlights from another one-run win and another come-from-behind win.

🎥 Clemson vs. South Carolina Highlights ➡️ 3/3/24 pic.twitter.com/pPn9U3SN9T
— Clemson Baseball (@ClemsonBaseball) March 4, 2024

Clemson-SC box