State scoreboard, Saturday, March 2

Andrew Ciufo's third hit of the game
sent Tigers players and fans home
happy with their first-ever walk-off
homer against USC. (Clemson photo)

Player of the day: Andrew Ciufo, Clemson, 3-for-6, walk-off HR in 12th

Honorable mention player of the day
* Taj Bates, Benedict, 6-for 9, 2B, HR, 4 R, 8 RBI, 

* Reece Fields, North Greenville, 7-inning no-hitter, 15 K

* Troy Hamilton 7-for-10, 2 2B, 2 HR
* Riley Huge, Winthrop, W, 7.2 IP, H, school-record 20 K

Game of the day
Clemson 5, South Carolina 4, 12 innings

Andrew Ciufo's homer to center field helped the Tigers survive a ninth-inning comeback by USC in front of more than 9,000 fans at Segra Park in Columbia.

Cam Cannarella had a two-run double in the fourth to give Clemson a 2-0 lead, but Will Tippett homered of Tigers starter Tristan Smith in the sixth. Smith struck out nine in five innings.

Jacob Hinderleider hit a two-run homer in the eighth to push the Tigers' lead to 4-1.

Tippett singled in the USC ninth and scored on Blake Jackson's pinch-hit triple. Ethan Petry homered to tie the game and force extra innings.

Both bullpens were sharp in extra innings until Ciufo's blast.

The series continues at 2 p.m. Sunday in Clemson. There has been no announcement on a makeup date for Friday's rainout.

Honorable mention game of the day:
* Coastal Carolina 8, Liberty 7 - The Chanticleers scored three in the ninth to walk off as winners on Graham Brown's two-run single.
* Presbyterian 5, St. Bonaventure 4, 13 innings - Jay Wetherington's fourth hit of the day gives the Blue Hose a walk-off win.

Elsewhere:  Prior to Fields' no-hitter in Game 2, North Greenville used an 11-run third inning to take charge in Game 1 of the sweep of Southern Wesleyan ... Winthrop added 13 strikeouts in Game 2 of its sweep, giving the Eagles 35 strikeouts on the day ... Gunnar Johnson's three-run homer in the eighth inning pushed Wofford past Fordham in Game 1 and the Terriers scored 10 runs in the first inning and got 26 hits in the nightcap ... Limestone scored three runs in the first inning en route to its seventh straight victory ... Blake Falor singled in Tanner Cannon with the go-ahead run in the sixth inning of Game 2 as Francis Marion split a pair of Conference Carolinas games with Belmont Abbey ... Ethan Plyler had two hits and drove in four runs as Florence-Darlington Tech beat Lackawanna, then nine pitchers combined to strike out 14 in a non-region win over USC Sumter in the Stinger Invitational. In between, Lackawanna topped USC Sumter ... USC Upstate took Game 1 over Penn behind a nine-run first inning, but the Quakers scored six runs in the ninth of Game 2 to gain a split ... Chandler Tuopo was 4-for-4 and drove in three runs as Charleston Southern won the first of two against Rutgers, but the Buccaneers were held to four hits in losing the nightcap ... Jamell Mitchell Jr, and Justin Murray had five hits apiece as Benedict got a pair of 14-run wins to move over .500 for the first time this season and extend LeMoyne-Owen's losing streak to 59 games ...  Lander jumped on Flagler early to win the opener, but the Saints evened the Peach Belt Conference series with a romp in the nightcap ... Coker broke a tie game with two runs in the seventh to take the opener at Wingate, but the Bulldogs scored late in the nightcap to get a South Atlantic Conference series split. Cameron Ferrell had three hits in each game for the Cobras ... USC Aiken scored in double figures in both games to extend Claflin's losing streak to 14 games ... Bryson Suber homered twice and drove in three runs as USC Lancaster won the opener and the Lancers went on to run-rule Macomb in Game 2 ... The Citadel tied the score, then added two unearned runs later in the eighth inning to take Game 2 against Harvard. In the opener, the Bulldogs scored three runs in the eighth to force extra innings, but Harvard got a run in the 10th to win ... Nebraska staged a ninth-inning rally for the second straight game to clinch a series win over College of Charleston ... Bluefield won two over Columbia International to take the series. James Lovera had five hits for the Rams ... Findlay scored a run in the 11th inning of Game 2 to complete a series sweep of Newberry. The Wolves' Donovan Ford tied the school single-game record with four stolen bases in the opener. He added two in Game 2 ... Georgia Southwestern had four big innings in a run-rule win over USC Beaufort in a Peach Belt Conference series opener ...  USC Salkehatchie suffered a pair of losses to nationally ranked Georgia Highlands, one by a no-hitter.

Belmont Abbey 6, Francis Marion 1, Game 1 - Fra: Zack Summerville 1B, 2 BB, SB 

Francis Marion 4, Belmont Abbey 3, Game 2 - Fra: Owen Taylor 1-3, 2 RBI
Benedict 16, LeMoyne-Owen 2, Game 1 - Ben: Taj Bates 4-5, 2 R, 3 RBI

Benedict 16, LeMoyne-Owen 2, Game 2  - Ben: Justin Murray 3-4, BB, 2B, HR, SB, 4 R, 2 RBI
Bluefield 12, Columbia International 5, Game 1 - Col: James Lovera 3-4, BB, SB, R, RBI

Bluefield 7, Columbia International 5, Game 2 - Col: Jennings Greene 3-4, R, 2
Charleston Southern 11, Rutgers 8, Game 1 - Cha: Lucas Pringle 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI
Rutgers 9, Charleston Southern 1, Game 2 - Cha: Henry Hayden 2B, RBI
Coastal Carolina 8, Liberty 7 - Coa: Bryce Shaffer 4 IP, 0 R, 2 R

Coker 4, Wingate 1, Game 1 - Cok: Cameron Ferrell 3-4, R
Wingate 9, Coker 7, Game 2 - Cok: Huner Poole 2 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI
Findlay 11, Newberry 8, Game 1 - New: Jacob LeBron 1-4, 3 RBI
Findlay 12, Newberry 11, 11 innings, Game 2 - New: Luke Compton 3-4, SB, BB, R, RBI
Georgia Highlands 11, USC Salkehatchie 2, Game 1 - Sal: 0 hits

Georgia Highlands 6, USC Salkehatchie 2, Game 2 - Sal: Bradley Garland 1B, RBI
Georgia Southwestern 25, USC Beaufort 1, 7 innings - Bea: Aiden Driscoll-Sadusky 2-3, 2B, R

Harvard 4, The Citadel 3, 10 innings, Game 1 - Cit: Thomas Rollauer 2B, R, 2 RBI
The Citadel 10, Harvard 8 - Cit: Thomas Rollauer 3-4, 2 2B, 3 R, BB, RBI

Lander 8, Flagler 4, Game 1 - Lan: Ethan Wilder 2-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI
Flagler 13, Lander 4, Game 2 - Lan: Kael Snethen 2-3, 2B, 2 R, RBI
Limestone 15, Mars Hill 2, 7 innings - Lim: Wyatt Stone 3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI
Nebraska 5, College of Charleston 4 - Cha: Cole Singsank 1B, HR, 2 RBI
North Greenville 22, Southern Wesleyan 5, Game 1 - Nor: Bryce Roddey 1B, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI

North Greenville 10, Southern Wesleyan 0, Game 2 -  Nor: David Lewis 3-4, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI
Presbyterian 5, St. Bonaventure 4, 13 innings - PC: Joel Dragoo 4-6, 2 2B, R
USC Aiken 14, Claflin 1, 7 innings, Game 1 - Aik: Joseph Mozinzo 1B, 2B, 2 R, 4 RBI

USC Aiken 15, Claflin 7, Game 2 - Aik: Wyatt McPherson 3-4, BB, 2 R, 3 RBI
USC Lancaster 12, Macomb 4, Game 1 - Lan: Bryson Suber 2 HR, 3 RBI
USC Lancaster 13, Macomb 2, 5 innings, Game 2 - Lan: Ben Gambrell 1B, HR, 4 RBI
USC Upstate 14, Penn 4, Game 1 - Up: Noah Sullivan W, 5 IP, 0 R, 7 K
Penn 11, USC Upstate 5, Game 2 - Up: Troy Hamilton 3-5, 2B, HR

Winthrop 8, Maine 0, Game 1 - Win: Harrison Wilson 2-4, R, 2 RBI
Winthrop 10, Maine 3, Game 2 - Win: Charlie Evans 4-5, 4 RBI
Wofford 6, Fordham 3, Game 1 - Wof: Brice Martinez 2B, HR, BB, SB, 2 R

Wofford 29, Fordham 3, Game 2 - Wof: Marshall Toole 3-3, HR, BB, 2 SB, 4 R, 4 RBI

Segra Park, Columbia

Clemson 5, South Carolina 4, 12 innings - Cle: Tristan Smith 5 IP, R, 9 K

First Pitch Invitational
Fluor Field, Greenville
Michigan State 13, Western Michigan 3

Florida State 11, Michigan State 2
Illinois 8, Western Michigan 6, 10 innings
Florida State 13, Illinois 7

Stinger Invitational
Carolina Bank Field, Florence

Florence-Darlington Tech 11, Lackawanna 1, 6 innings - Flo: Devin Mitchell 2-3, 3 SB, 2 R
Lackawanna 6, USC Sumter 2 - Sum: Tristan Tillman 1B, BB, SB

Florence-Darlington Tech 8, USC Sumter 4 - Flo: Bradleigh Wohlers 1B, 3B, R, 2 RBI

SRP Park, North Augusta

Paine 4, Lincoln 3, Game 1
Lincoln 8, Paine 1, Game 2

Canceled

Bob Jones at Carolina University, DH

Cleveland CC at USC Union, DH

Postponed

Emory & Henry at Anderson, to Monday

(39/449)

Beyond the border

Akron scored three runs in the sixth and held off No. 12 Duke, 4-3 ... Georgia beat Georgia Tech, 3-1 ... After UMass surrendered the lead late in a Friday loss, the Minutemen knocked off No. 13 Virginia,10-5 ... UConn split two with No, 23 Auburn winning Game 1, 8-4 and losing the nightcap, 8-1 ... No. 21 Campbell snapped a two-game slide and evened its series at Georgia Southern with a 10-7 win  ... No. 18 Texas Tech hammered Gardner-Webb, 29-3 ... Miami evened its series with No. 4 Florida with a 10-6 win ... Texas State got a two-run homer in the top of the ninth and handed No. 15 Texas its second loss in two days, 11-10 ... Clemson transfer and Palmetto State native Billy Amick had three hits -including a homer - as No. 7 Tennessee whipped Bowling Green, 12-1 ... Greenville High product Braden Golinski was 3-for-5 with a triple, 2 stolen bases, 3 runs scored and 3 RBI as Army beat Air Force, 13-2 ... Upstate native David Mershon was 3-for-4 with a double and a triple in Mississippi State's 7-2 win over Mount St. Mary's and he added another hit in a 6-0 win in Game 2 ... A day after losing to Northern Kentucky, Ole Miss hammered the Norse, 28-10 ... No. 3 LSU held off state rival Louisiana, 5-4, Minute Maid Park in Houston ... Alabama beat Arizona, 7-6, as a Wildcat runner was thrown out trying to steal home to end the game.