Saturday's highlights, March 4

Game of the Day
Clemson 8, South Carolina 7
Clemson rallied from three runs down to beat South Carolina, 8-7, and even their series at 1-1. Both teams probably feel like they should have won the game they lost.

Clemson (7-3) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on Seth Beer's home run, but USC (7-4) rallied to go ahead 5-2.

The Tigers tied the score against USC closer Tyler Johnson and went ahead 6-5 on Patrick Cromwell's home run off Reed Scott in the ninth inning. Clemson added two more runs to lead 8-5 going into the bottom of the inning. USC cut the deficit to 8-6 and had runners on second and third with one out in the ninth.

Jonah Bride's grounder to third was misplayed - the Tigers' fifth error of the game.  T.J. Hopkins scored from third, but Beer - playing his fourth game in left field - field the ball and threw home in time to get Jacob Olson trying to score the tying run. Alex Destino took a called third strike to end the game.

One possible concern for USC: Johnson left the game with some arm soreness. He and Scott struggled as USC couldn't capitalized on a strong start by Wil Crowe.

On the good news side, the Gamecocks had five extra-base hits among their 12 hits.

A positive for Clemson: Chris Williams gunned down a would-be base-stealer in the first attempt against him since he suffered a preseason hand injury.

The final game of the series is set for 1:30 p.m. Sunday. It will be streamed on the SEC Network+ video service.

Elsewhere in the state:
* Charleston Southern (6-2) didn't start its weekend series with Hofstra until Saturday, but it was worth the wait. The  Buccaneers won the doubleheader and have won five of their last six games. Cody Maw, grandson of a schoolmate of mine at Travelers Rest many decades back, was the winning pitcher in Game 2.

* Luke Manzo was 5-for-6 as College of Charleston (6-4) beat The Citadel (3-6) for the second straight day to clinch a series win.

* Landon Kay had three hits, a walk and three RBIs as Furman (7-3 beat Tennessee Martin, 11-3.

* Coastal Carolina (8-5) beat Winthrop (4-6) and Albany in the Tidelands Health Classic. Mitch Spires, Anthony Paulsen and C.J. Hicks had four hits in two games for Winthrop, which also lost to San Francisco.

* J.J. Shimko had four doubles as USC Upstate (4-8) split a doubleheader with Pittsburgh.

* North Greenville (15-4, 5-1 Conference Carolinas) swept a doubleheader with Belmont Abbey to complete a series sweep The Crusaders have won seven straight games. Canaan Cropper pitched a four-hit complete game and struck out 10 in the opener, while an eight-run seventh inning turned around the nightcap.

* Erskine (15-5, 6-0 Conference Carolinas) stretched its winning streak to eight games with a doubleheader sweep at Southern Wesleyan (4-15, 1-5). The Flying Fleet had 30 hits in the twinbill, with five apiece from Kyle Heiss and Destin Nichols.

*  Francis Marion (16-2) got a pair of walk-off wins over St. Rose. Reese Cooley's ninth-inning homer
provided a 7-5 win in the opener and the Patriots scored  two runs in the eighth and three runs in the ninth to win the nightcap, 8-7.

* USC Aiken (14-3, 5-0 Peach Belt) was held to five hits, but Nile Goings and Zach Moon had home runs among them in a 7-2 win to clinch a series winat Armstrong State.

* Two-run innings in the fourth, fifth and sixth helped Coker (12-6, 4-2 SAC) beat Lincoln Memorial in Game Two to split a doubleheader and win the South Atlantic Conference series.

 * Newberry (11-9, 2-1 SAC) won its opening South Atlantic Conference series by splitting a doubleheader with Brevard. Derek Olenchuk had four hits and six RBIs in the doubleheader.

* Will Thomas had five hits for the day, but Anderson (5-13, 1-5 SAC) dropped a conference doubleheader at Wingate.

* NAIA member Voorhees (6-8) got a sweep of NCAA Division II Clark Atlanta, 9-3 and 7-4.

* USC Beaufort (13-4) completed a four-game sweep at Stillman by winning a doubleheader for the second straight day.

* It was a good day for NJCAA Region 10 teams. Florence-Darlington Tech (12-5), Spartanburg Methodist (12-2), USC Lancaster (20-3) and USC Salkehatchie (11-13) all swept twinbills.  SMC scored the final 12 runs to win the opener against Patrick Henry, 15-8, with a seven-run eighth. Will Gee had a two-hit complete game and struck out 11 as Salkehatchie beat College of Faith, 12-0 in its nightcap.