Two second-inning home runs provided all of South Carolina's runs and freshman Brett Kerry struck out seven in 3 1/3 innings of relief as the Gamecocks (8-1) beat Clemson, 5-4, at Doug Kingsmore Stadium Friday night to open their three-game series.
Grayson Byrd's homer gave Clemson (7-2) a 2-0 lead in the first inning. A hit batsman and a home run by Anderw Eyster allowed USC to tie the score in the second,. After Chris Cullen singled and Brady Allen doubled, T.J. Hopkins homered into the Thomas Chapman Grandstand in left field to put Carolina up, 5-2.
Clemson scored single runs in the third and fourth innings, but couldn't scratch on USC relievers Cam Tringali and Kerry over the final five innings.
Eyster had three hits, while Hopkins and Cullen had two apiece for Carolina. Byrd, Kyle Wilkie and Michael Green had two hits each for Clemson.
The Tigers outhit Carolina 11-9. USC pitchers struck out 14 and Clemson pitchers struck out 13.
Gamecocks starter Carmen Mlodzinski left the game in the third inning with an apparent foot injury. A definite diagnosis was not available Friday night.
USC won the series opener against Clemson for the fourth straight year. The Tigers bounced back to take the final two games each of the past three years.
Game 2 is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Fluor Field in Greenville, with the series finale at noon Sunday in Columbia. Both games will be streamed on SEC+.
Elsewhere:
* Griffin McLarty didn't allow an earned run in pitching a two-hit complete game as College of Charleston (8-2) rolled past North Carolina A&T, 8-1, at Patriots Point. McLarty didn't walk a batter and struck out eight. Chaz Davey had three hits, including a home run, for the Cougars.
* North Greenville (10-5), ranked No. 1 in the Perfect Game USA national NCAA Division II rankings, hammered Erskine, 24-0, to open a three-game Conference Carolinas series in Tigerville. Four Crusaders pitchers combined for a three-hitter with 23 strikeouts. Starter Michael Giacone (4-0) struck out 12 in five innings. John Michael Faile doubled and homered twice to drive in six runs as part of a 21-hit NGU attack. After Faile left the game, replacement Lex Tuten doubled and homered.
* Coastal Carolina (8-2) scored nine runs over the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings in an 11-3 win over Illinois in the Coastal Carolina Baseball Tournament. The teams were tied 1-1 entering the bottom of the fourth. Kieton Rivers homered and drove in three runs for the Chanticleers.
* Jordan Merritt pitched a nine-hit complete game as The Citadel (3-5) beat North Carolina A&T, 6-3, in the opener of a weekend series at Joe Riley Park. Lane Botkin had three hits for the Bulldogs.
* Georgia College committed eight errors and USC Aiken took advantage to score five unearned runs in a 5-3 road victory to open a Peach Belt Conference series of ranked DII teams. Luke Leisenring had three hits for the Pacers, who scored four times in the seventh to erase a 3-1 deficit. USCA batters struck out 17 times.
* Charlie Fessler struck out 10 in a two-hit complete game as Newberry (14-4) demolished Davis & Elkins, 26-1, in Florence to extend its winning streak to 11 games. Tyler White had three hits and drove in five for the Wolves. Aidan Baur and Dalton Landsdowne also had three of Newberry's 22 hits.
* Drake Harris' bases-loaded single in the 12th delivered a 3-2 walk-off win for USC Upstate (4-5) over Ohio to open their series in Spartanburg. Four Spartans pitched combined to strike out 10 while allowing two hits and one earned run.
* Colin Davis singled, doubled, walked, stole a base, scored three runs and drove in two as Wofford (5-3) beat Harvard, 6-5 to open their series at Russell C. King Field. Terriers starter Austin Higginbotham struck out nine in five innings.
* USC Beaufort ((7-10) beat Bryant & Stratton, 13-2, to salvage a doubleheader split after losing the opener, 3-1.
* A nine-run fourth broke open a close game and No. 3 Florida cruised past Winthrop, 16-4, to open their series. The Eagles (3-4) trailed 3-2 before the Gators' big inning.
* Charleston Southern dropped a pair of games in the Swig & Swine Classic in Mount Pleasant. The Buccaneers (3-7) lost to Notre Dame 7-4 and Ball State, 3-1.
* Flagler scored a run in the seventh and held on for a 2-1 home win over Lander (8-9) to open their Peach Belt Conference series.
* Rain washed out games involving Anderson, Coker, Francis Marion, Furman, Limestone, Presbyterian, Southern Wesleyan, Spartanburg Methodist, USC Salekhatchie and USC Sumter,
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