State scoreboard, Friday, Feb. 28

Lucas Mahlstedt has 10 strikeouts and
has not allowed a run in 7 2/3 innings
this season. (Clemson photo)

Player of the day: Lucas Mahlstedt, Clemson, S, 3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 5 K

Lucas Mahlstedt pitched three shutout innings of relief to save Clemson's 5-3 victory over South Carolina at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in the opener of their series. A stadium-record crowd of 6,891 was in attendance.

"A great team win," Clemson coach Erik Bakich said. "A great way to set the tone of this series. And, you know, an unbelievable crowd."

Clemson (8-1) took a 4-0 lead after two innings. Collin Priest had a two-run double in the first to cap a two-out rally started by Cam Cannarella's bunt single against a USC shift.  Dominic Listi singled in a run in the second, and Josh Paino got a bases-loaded walk.

Nolan Nawrocki had a sacrifice fly and Talmadge LeCroy doubled in two runs as South Carolina (9-1) pulled within a run in the third.

"I thought our kids were a little nervous tonight," said Gamecocks coach Paul Mainieri. "For for a lot of them, this is the first time that they're playing an environment like this, and I thought the first few Innings, you know, we didn't play the game, do the things that we've been doing, and we dug ourselves a hole.

"Then Talmadge came through with the really big hit and we were right there."

Jarren Purifoy belted a long home run to left field in the eighth to give Clemson a two-run lead 

Blake Jackson was hit by a pitch to lead off the Gamecocks ninth, but Mahlstedt closed things out with a strikeout and back-to-back flyouts to the warning track by Max Kaufer and Ethan Petry.

"I don't know how much closer you can come to trying up a game than those last two balls we hit," Mainieri  said. "I thought Kaufer's ball was gone for sure.  I had no doubt about it, and it just died right here at the yellow line."

USC batters struck out 14 times, while Clemson hitters struck out 11.

"We had pitching, we had some defense," Bakich said. "We had timely hitting - we scored three runs with two outs. Collin Priest had a big two-out double and  Josh Pino had a two-out RBI walk.

"And then, the exclamation point when (Purify) had that bomb," Bakich said; "And then Lucas getting nine outs. That's tough to do and to do the way he did it."

Both starters - Matthew Becker of USC and the Tigers' Aidan Knaak - struggled with control. Becker walked five, struck out five and hit one 3 1/3 innings. Knaak walked four, struck out nine and hit one in 4 1/3 innings.

The Gamecocks' Brandon Stone allowed three hits and struck out six in 4 2/3 innings of relief. 

"Brandon really pitched great and gave us a chance," Mainieri said.

Cannarella, Priest and  Luke Gaffney had two hits apiece for the Tigers. LeCroy had two hits for Carolina.

"We had a couple of opportunities and just couldn't cash you," Mainieri said. "It was a tremendous ball game."

"We're happy with it tonight," Bakich said. "But you know, there's a lot more to do this weekend, so we're certainly not satisfied.

Game 2 of the series is at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Fluor Field in Greenville.

(quotes are from Clemson & USC YouTube videos)

Elsewhere: Cullen McKay pitched six shutout innings and Caden Bodine and Dean Mihos drove in two runs apiece as Coastal Carolina won by run rule in the series opener with Rutgers ... Koby Kropf singled and doubled to drive in four runs as Winthrop hammered Wagner in the opener of their series ... Will Holmes allowed three hits over seven innings as The Citadel shut out Yale ... Tyler Hare doubled twice, walked twice, stole a base, scored three runs and drove in two for Wofford in a run-rule win over Le Moyne ... Lander's 2-1 win at Flagler in the opener of their Peach Belt Conference series stretched their Bearcats' winning streak to nine games. Jagger Jefferis allowed one run over 7 1/3 innings ... Creighton roughed up College of Charleston starter Jake Brink with a pair of three-run innings to win at Patriots' Point ... Alex Luccini homered twice and drove in four runs as UMass Lowell rode a seven-run fifth inning to a series-opening win at USC Upstate ... No. 1 North Greenville surrendered six runs in the second and never could catch up in losing the Conference Carolinas series over at Belmont Abbey ... Colt Wilkins pitched eight shutout innings as Limestone won the opener of a South Atlantic Conference series with Newberry ... Jack Hobson hit a grand slam in a five-run first inning as USC Aiken took a Peach Belt Conference series opener at Claflin ... Lenoir-Rhyne scored two runs in the ninth to win a South Atlantic Conference series opener over Coker, snapping the Cobras' 10-game winning streak ... Lucas Pringle doubled and homered to drive in five runs and Charleston Southern drew 12 walks in winning a series-opener against Bellarmine ... Jude Littrell had two hits and drove in four runs as Erskine won Game 1 against Georgian Court. Roman Edwards struck out six in five shutout innings in the nightcap as the Flying Fleet completed the sweep. The games marked the first in Georgian Court's history ... USC Aiken took the opener of a Peach Belt Conference series at Claflin ... Eight of Eastern Michigan's 13 hits went for extra bases in a win at Presbyterian ... Tyler Zawacki doubled twice and homered to drive in five runs as Shorter won the opener of a Conference Carolinas series over Southern Wesleyan ... Bluefield held off a Columbia International rally to win the opener of their Appalachian Athletic Conference series ... Covenant used five-run outbursts in the seventh and eighth innings to run-rule Bob Jones in their series opener. Benjamin Johnson homered and drove in five runs for the Scots ...  USC Beaufort was held to four hits in being run-ruled by Georgia Southwestern in a Peach Belt Conference series opener.

Belmont Abbey 10, North Greenville 8 - Nor: Thomas Powell 2-2, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI

Bluefield 4, Columbia International 3 - Col: Mason Turner 2B, 3B, 2 RBI

Charleston Southern 17, Bellarmine 10 - Cha: Nathan Martinez 1B, HR, BB, 2 R, 3 RBI
Clemson 5, South Carolina 3 - Cle: Collin Priest 1B, 2B, 2 RBI

Coastal Carolina 10, Rutgers 0, 7 innings - Coa: Caden Bodine 1B, 2B, HBP,  2 R, 2 RBI

Covenant 13, Bob Jones 2, 8 innings - BJU: Cody Kirkpatrick HR, 1B

Creighton 8, College of Charleston 6 - Cha: Avery Neaves 3-4, HR, BB, 3 RBI
Eastern Michigan 8, Presbyterian 2 - PC: Jackson Hugus 2B,HR, BB, 2 R, 3 RBI
Erskine 6, Georgian Court 1, Game 1 - Ers: Elliot Sanders 2-2, 2 BB, SB, 2 R

Erskine 6, Georgian Court 2, Game 2 - Ers: Josean Sanchez 3-5, 2B, R, RBI
Georgia Southwestern 13, USC Beaufort 3, 7 innings - Bea: Cooper McDaniel 1-3, 2 SB, R
Lander 2, Flagler 1 - Lan: Connor Droze 1B, 2B, RBI
Lenoir-Rhyne 5, Coker 4 - Cok: Jaylen Mack 3-4, R, RBI

Limestone 9, Newberry 0 - Lim: Zach Greenberg 3-5, SB, R, 3 RBI

Shorter 12, Southern Wesleyan 0 - Sou: Niko Laing 1B, BB

The Citadel 2, Yale 0 - Cit: Thomas Rollauer 1B, BB, RBI, SB

UMass Lowell 11, USC Upstate 8 - Up: Vance Sheahan 4-6, 2 2B, 2 SB, R, 2 RBI
USC Aiken 12, Claflin 9 - Aik: Capers Molinaroli 3-3, 3 BB, 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI

Winthrop 13, Wagner 5 - Win: Gabriel Natividad 3-4, 2 HBP, 3 R, RBI

Wofford 13, Le Moyne 3, 7 innings - Wof: Lucas Grantham 2-3, 2B, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI

Fluor Field, Greenville
Michigan State 14, Harvard 1, 7 innings
(20/394)