T.J. Hopkins' ninth-inning sacrifice fly delivered an unearned run and a 3-2 win for South Carolina over No. 14 Clemson at Founders Park in Columbia Friday night to open their annual three-game series.
USC starter Adam Hill was brilliant overall for a second consecutive start, striking out 14 and allowing two hits in seven innings. But the Hanna High product left the game trailing 2-1 because Seth Beer's two-run homer in the sixth had wiped out a 1-0 lead USC took with an unearned run in the fifth against Tigers starter and Dorman High product Jacob Hennessy.
That lead held up until Gamecocks senior Matt Williams, out of Belton-Honea Path High School, hit a pinch-hit home run to open the eighth.
In the ninth, Jonah Bride worked a leadoff walk. Clemson reliever Ryley Gilliam made a pickoff throw toward first base just as it appeared first baseman Chris Williams started to charge plate-ward for a possible bunt. Bride made it to third without a thrown. After a strikeout and a walk, Hopkins lined a fly ball to medium-deep left field, allowing pinch-runner Danny Blair to score and give Gamecocks coach Mark Kingston a win in his first game in the series.
USC outhit the Tigers, 6-2, with L.T. Tolbert getting two hits for Carolina. Each team drew four walks. Gamecocks pitchers struck out 16, while Clemson pitchers fanned four in front of a sellout crowd of 8,242 at Founders Park.
It's the third straight season USC has won the series opener. Clemson has responded by winning the next two games and the series each of the past two seasons. Game 2 is set for 3 p.m. Saturday at Fluor Field in Greenville, with the finale scheduled for Sunday in Clemson.
* Dupree Hart was 4-for-4 to pace College of Charleston over Georgia in the opener of a three-game set at Patriots' Point. Evan Sisk allowed four hits and struck out 10 in 7 2/3 innings, with Nathan Ocker retiring the four batters he faced for the save. The teams meet again Saturday and Sunday.
* Charleston Southern took the opener of its series with The Citadel, 6-3, at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Nik Constankos pitched five shutout innings. The teams play at CSU on Saturday before returning to the banks of the Ashley River for Sunday's finale.
* Deon Sanders and Jason Costa homered and Nik Verbeke pitched five effective innings in a spot start as Furman beat Central Connecticut State, 12-8. Leadoff batter Ben Anderson had three hits and a walk for the Paladins. The series continues Saturday.
* Coastal Carolina managed just five hits, but cobbled together a 6-3 win over Ball State in the first round of the Coastal Carolina Challenge in Conway.
* Charlie Carpenter was 5-for-5 as USC Upstate rolled over Longwood, 14-2, while Winthrop coasted past Kent State, 8-2, and Wofford dispatched Pennsylvania, 8-6, in their series openers.
In NCAA Division II:
* North Greenville ended third-ranked Belmont Abbey's 11-game winning streak with a 5-4 victory in Belmont, N.C. to open a Conference Carolinas series. Things didn't come easy for coach Landon Powell's visiting Crusaders, through. The host Crusaders trailed 5-2 entering the final at-bat, but got a leadoff homer and the next three batters reached base as well. But Canaan Cropper retired the next three batters to end the game. The teams play a doubleheader on Saturday.
* Erskine tied the game in the bottom of the ninth and got another in the 10th to take its Conference Carolinas series opener with Southern Wesleyan, 3-2. Julio Justo gave the Warriors a 2-1 lead with a home run in the ninth, but the Flying Fleet tied the score in the bottom of the frame. Chase Watts singled in the winner in the 10th. The teams play twice on Saturday.
* Francis Marion never led its series opener with Carolina until Alex Griffith's bases-loaded double in the 10th produced a 10-9 win over Limestone. The Patriots rallied from a 6-1 deficit to tie the score, but FMU tied the score in the seventh. Limestone took a 7-6 lead, only to see Francis Marion tie the score in the ninth. The Saints scored two runs in the top of the 10th, but couldn't close the game out before Griffith's heroics. The series continues Saturday in Florence.
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