With Friday night’s opener at Doug Kingsmore Stadium postponed until May 11, the Clemson Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks opened up the 2021 Reedy River Rivalry at Fluor Field in Greenville on Saturday. The Gamecocks walked away with the win after the dramatic after a walk-off double in the 11th inning.
With the opening game pushed back a day, both starters originally scheduled for Friday night got the ball to start Saturday afternoon. Redshirt sophomore Davis Clarke started for the designated-visiting Tigers and redshirt junior Thomas Farr received the nod for the Gamecocks.
Despite COVID-19 restrictions limiting attendance at the 6,400-capacity Fluor Field, a fairly even split crowd of Tiger and Gamecock fans made the trip to Greenville for the game.
Farr looked great on the mound for the Gamecocks, sitting the Tigers down in order and striking out Tigers’ designated hitter Bryar Hawkins looking along the way.
Sharpe did not fare as well in the first inning. Gamecocks leadoff hitter Brady Allen took the first pitch out of Sharpe’s hand back up the middle for the first hit of the ballgame and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Wes Clarke, who was hitting .776 coming into Saturday’s action, singled up the middle on a 3-0 count to bring Allen around to score. Despite giving up another single, Sharpe picked up two strikeouts to keep the Gamecocks at bay, 1-0 heading into the second inning.
Clemson shortstop James Parker took no time returning the favor to Farr, picking the Tigers’ first hit of the game in the top of the second. However, after a Jonathan French infield pop-up, Farr picked Parker off at first
Sharpe returned to the mound for the second inning, again allowing the first batter of the inning to reach, this time on a full count walk. A bunt single pulled Hawkins off the bag, allowing runners on first and second with no outs. Both runners advanced when French allowed a past ball against South Carolina nine-hole hitter George Callil, putting two runners in scoring position with no outs. Sharpe worked the count full against Callil, sitting him down swinging. Against the top spots in the Gamecocks order, Sharpe picked up another two strikeouts, leaving the runners stranded in scoring position when the inning ended.
The Tigers eagerly met Sharpe outside the dugout to congratulate him as the third base side of Fluor Field erupted in applause.
Farr looked equally impressive in the second inning for the Gamecocks, retiring the first two batters of the inning before giving up a single into left field to Tigers’ center fielder Bryce Teodosio. Teodosio advanced to second on a failed pick off to first base, but Farr recovered and struck Henderson out swinging.
Despite a two-out Mendham single, Sharpe struck out three in the third inning, bringing his total strikeouts through three innings pitched to eight.
The Tigers came out hot in the top of the fourth inning, leading off with Dylan Brewer’s double down the right field line. With one out, James Parker singled up the middle, scoring Brewer and tying the game, 1-1. Two pop outs, one in foul territory next to the South Carolina dugout and the other directly to the Gamecocks’ second baseman, retired the Tigers in the fourth.
The Gamecocks answered in the bottom of the inning. Third baseman Bennan Milone doubled down the third baseline. A single off the bat of second baseman Jeff Heinrich scored Milone. Bryar Hawkins cut the throw in from center off at the mound and did not attempt a throw to the plate. Milone was far enough away that Hawkins would have had a play at the plate on Milone. Instead, the Gamecocks’ third baseman scored easily, reclaiming the lead for the Gamecocks, 2-1. Heinrich stole second during a failed bunt by Callil, who unsuccessfully attempted to bunt him over to third.
Despite allowing Heinrich to advance to third base on a throwing error, Sharpe again struck out the top two hitters in the Gamecocks’ order, leaving the score at 2-1 heading into the fifth inning.
Farr faced the bottom third of the Tigers’ order in the fifth inning, and struck out the side, keeping the Tigers at bay.
Sharpe did not return to the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning. The redshirt sophomore ended the game with 10 strikeouts, but gave up seven hits along the way.
Anglin retired the first two batters he faced in the fifth inning, and was set to retire the third, but dropped the ball after a weak drippler to Hawkins. The righty saved his own error by inducing a fly ball to right field on the next at bat, keeping the damage minimal.
The Tigers looked confused in the top of the sixth inning. After Henderson flew out to center field, Brewer singled up the middle to give the Tigers another base runner. Brewer broke for second on a 3-2 pitch against the next batter, Hawkins. Hawkins walked, but was unknown to both middle infielders, Brewer and second base umpire Scott Kennedy.
Kennedy initially did not signal whether Brewer was safe or out at second after the leaping catch from the Gamecocks’ middle infielder, eventually signaling out. Brewer began to run back to the dugout, was tagged again by Callil, and was signaled out again. Tigers’ head coach Monte Lee came to argue the call, since Hawkins walked on the pitch. The umpiring crew indicated that there would be no review of the call, and Parker grounded into a fielder’s choice, ending the promising inning after four batters.
Keeping with tradition, Anglin retired the first two batters in the bottom of the sixth before allowing a single into left field. Again, keeping with the Tigers’ tradition, Anglin retired the next batter on strikes.
The seventh inning saw the end of Farr’s day, with sophomore lefty Julian Bosnic taking over to start the inning. Bosnic struck out the side in the seventh. These are the only outs Bosnic recorded on the day.
Anglin returned to work for the Tigers in the bottom of the seventh, again recording two outs to start the inning. However, this time Anglin allowed the next two batters to single, but induced a ground ball to Parker to end the inning with no damage done on the scoreboard.
Bosnic ran a 2-0 fastball in tight on Tigers’ designated hitter Caden Grice, hitting him with the pitch and giving him first base. South Carolina head coach Mark Kingston came to the mound to relieve Bosnic of his duties without recording an out in the eighth inning. Junior pitcher Brett Kerry came in relief of Bosnic to face Teodosio and then the top of the Tigers’ order. During the pitching change, redshirt freshman J.D. Brock came on to run for Grice at first base.After two failed bunt attempts, Teodosio struck out swinging and Henderson popped out to second base. Brock advanced to second on a wild pitch during Brewer’s at bat. Brewer reached on a full count walk.Kerry worked an 0-2 count on Hawkins, striking him out much to the delight of the South Carolina fans down the first baseline, stranding Brock and Brewer on second and first.
Anglin’s night was over after walking Milone on four pitches. Assistant coach Andrew See came to the mound and gave the ball to right handed transfer Rasesh Pandya. Pandya recorded two outs against the first two batters he faced before giving up a double to the Gamecocks’ lead off hitter. Center fielder Noah Myers worked the count full after falling behind 1-2, but Pandya fooled him on the next pitch, and got Myers out with a half-hearted check swing to end the inning.
Down 0-2 in the count, James Parker took the potential strikeout pitch over Green Monster in left field to tie the game at 2-2 with no outs in the ninth inning. French struck out swinging to give the Tigers their first out of the inning. A deep fly off the left fielder Alex Urban brought the Tiger faithful to their feet for the second time in the inning, but was caught at the warning track in center field. Wright struck out to end the inning, putting the bats back in the Gamecocks’ hands.
Pandya was relieved of his duties to start the ninth inning. Left handed pitcher Geoffrey Gilbert was tapped for duty against the Gamecocks’ 3-4-5 hitters. First up was D1Baseball’s player of week, Wes Clarke, who Gilbert sat down looking for Clarke’s third strikeout of the day. Clarke entered Saturday with no strikeouts on the year. Gilbert brought the heat to Eyster as well, striking him out on an 0-2 count. Mendham stepped into the box with two outs, up until that point, he had reached base in all four of his plate appearances, picking up three singles along the way.
Mendham could not catch up to Gilbert’s 1-2 heater, striking out the side and sending the 2021 edition of the River Reedy Rivalry into extra innings.
Kerry retired the Tigers in order in the top of the tenth, sending the Gamecocks back to bat with the game tied.
Burgess singled down the left field line, but was thrown out at second attempting to stretch the single into a double. The umpiring crew took the call to video review, and upheld the call, leaving the bases clear, now with one out. Milone and Callil struck out to end the inning.
Brewer lead off the 11th inning with a full count walk and stumbled around second base on Hawkin’s single, but was able to make it back to second safely, giving the Tigers two runners on base with no outs.Kerry saw the end of his night following Hawkins’ at-bat and freshman Will Sanders came on in relief. James Parker, the ninth inning hero for the Tigers, grounded into a double play at second base, giving the Gamecocks a way out of the inning with two away. Sanders took this opportunity by forcing French to ground out to the shortstop.
Gilbert pitched himself into a jam by allowing the Gamecocks’ lead off hitter to double into right field with no outs. A rare foul out got the best of Myers in his third plate appearance since taking over the two-hole in the seventh inning. The Tigers issued a free pass to the red-hot Clarke, putting runners on first and second with one out for Eyster.
Down 1-2 in the count, Eyster lined a double into center field, just off the glove of Teodosio. The ball rolled to the wall, walking the game off for the Gamecocks, 3-2.
The Tigers pitching staff recorded 21 strikeouts on the night, coming two short of the school record. Gilbert recorded his first loss of the season, while Will Sanders picked up his first win of the young season.
The Tigers and Gamecocks return to action tomorrow afternoon at Founders Park in Columbia. The Tigers look to force the rubber match on May 11, while the Gamecocks seek their first win in the Palmetto Series since 2019.
