After 8-0 victory Sunday, South Carolina has beaten Clemson in 20 of last 28 games
After South Carolina baseball suffered a loss to Clemson Saturday, coach Chad Holbrook said his team needed no motivation for Sunday’s series finale against the Tigers.
“Sometimes when you come to the stadium you can tell if a team’s ready to go or not,” Holbrook said. “Sometimes as a coach, you just get a feeling.”
The No. 7 Gamecocks proved their coach right, running away with an 8-0 victory to claim the series in the latest installment of one of the biggest rivalries in college baseball. The key to the blowout was a sixth inning that featured five runs, all with two outs.
Sophomore Connor Bright, starting just his third game of the year Sunday, went 2-for-3 at the plate, including a hit that scored two runs during USC’s monster sixth inning.
“(Bright) is not a bad player, and he loves to be out there when the game’s on the line,” Holbrook said. “There’s no moment too big for Connor Bright.”
Bright is comfortable with pressure defensively as well. After getting the start in right field, he said Sunday was only the second time in his career that he played the position.
Before the offensive explosion in the sixth inning, South Carolina’s only run came courtesy of a solo homer from senior third baseman Chase Vergason in the fourth inning, his second home run of the year.
After the series victory over the Tigers, USC has now won 20 of its last 28 games against its rival. Bright attributes some of the Gamecocks’ against Clemson to his coach’s emphasis on staying calm and letting the game come to them.
“As a team we try to stay more comfortable and more relaxed against Clemson,” Bright said. “It’s a big rival, looking to take the series. We just tried to stay comfortable and play the game we know.”
Senior Nolan Belcher put on a clinic from the mound Sunday, tossing a complete-game shutout and only allowing three hits. The 118-pitch outing was Belcher’s first complete game since his freshman year in 2009.
South Carolina (8-2) picked up its other win in the series in a 6-0 victory Friday behind another dominant pitching performance, this one from sophomore Jordan Montgomery. Montgomery had a career-high nine strikeouts en route to being named the series MVP for the Gamecocks.
USC’s one loss over the weekend came Saturday in a 6-3 defeat in a solid outing from Clemson’s series MVP, Clate Schmidt. Schmidt struck out five batters and only allowed five hits to seal the win for Clemson. Holbrook cited a subdued approach at the plate as a contributing factor in Saturday’s loss.
“I thought we were a little passive (Saturday),” Holbrook said. “And a lot of that goes to Schmidt.”
The loss came despite home runs from both freshman Max Schrock and senior LB Dantzler, who has upped his home run tally for the year to four.
While the season is still young, Holbrook recognizes the Clemson series as a pivotal point in the Gamecocks’ campaign and refuses to downplay the significance of a series victory for South Carolina.
“Our guys want to win and they work hard, and they know the Clemson series is very important,” Holbrook said. “It’s not just a regular series.”