Another action-packed weekend of College Baseball has ended and now fans and players shift to next weekend’s slate of play. As many teams rose and fell this weekend, it was two different stories for the Clemson Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks baseball programs.  

 As both the Tigers and Gamecocks had weekend slates against inferior opponents, they looked to build momentum ahead of rough waters in the next few weeks as both teams would be facing tough and quality opponents. After a weekend of play when all the dust settled, the South Carolina Gamecocks came out with momentum ahead for next week while the Tigers fell, as the Tigers won Friday’s matchup against UVA but then lost the following two, and the Gamecocks lost their Friday matchup against Missouri and followed to win the next two games to win the series. 

 Let’s go Behind the Mound and take a closer look at this weekend’s action for both teams: 

 After a bitter lost to rival North Carolina on Tuesday in Charlotte, South Carolina looked to rebound and gain momentum as it was crucial to do well this weekend ahead of four straight tough weeks of competition facing the best the SEC has to offer. South Carolina would look to make a statement this weekend as they returned home to face the worst team in the Southeastern Conference, the Missouri Tigers. On Friday evening things began to look gloomy for the Yardcocks, as South Carolina had yet another game where the offense struggled to produce causing the defense to let up. In a game that had an hour and a half rain delay, South Carolina fell to the Tigers 7-2. On Saturday afternoon as the forecast wasn’t much better, the Gamecocks had yet another opportunity to redeem themselves by showing out against the Tigers and show out they did. The Yardcocks absolutely dominated the Missouri Tigers as they would win Game Two by a score of 11-1, one of the highest scoring games for the Gamecocks all season. With the series tied and the rubber game on Sunday afternoon it was win or go home for the Tigers, as both teams would be fighting for a series win. Sunday’s match-up echoed the previous game and the South Carolina Gamecocks cruised by the Tigers again in an even more offensive performance than Saturday, as the Gamecocks defeated Missouri by a score of 13-4 and won their third straight SEC series, a huge feat for Mark Kingston’s Gamecocks.  

 Two hours up the road the Clemson Tigers were also battling an inferior opponent at home, as the 14-12 Tigers faced off against the 11-13 Virginia Cavaliers. This was another crucial series for the Tigers as they would really need momentum and progress heading into next week’s match-up on the road against Miami. The Tigers started out dominate against the Cavaliers, as Clemson defeated Virginia 6-1 in Game one, a potential sign of what the next two games would bring. With an opportunity to clinch the series on Saturday afternoon the Tigers were confident, especially after such an impressive win the day before. The Tigers lost a tough one against Virginia in Game Two, losing to the Cavs 4-8 in a game where Clemson was unable to stop Virginia’s hitters while struggling to produce offensively. While this was a tough loss for Clemson, they still had an opportunity to win a series on Sunday afternoon on ESPN2. The Cavaliers and Tigers went back and forth all afternoon as the nation was watching. In one of Clemson’s closest games all season, the Tigers lost in a classic to the Cavaliers 5-6. This Game Three loss against the Cavs hurt even more for Clemson just because of how close this game was and how Clemson was just a few big plays away from a series win and positive momentum heading into next week.  

 After action packed series this past weekend the Tigers and Gamecocks will play teams from Charleston in midweek match-ups to prepare for this weekend. The Charleston Southern Buccaneers will travel to Columbia to play the #11 Gamecocks, while the College of Charleston Cougars travel to the upstate to play a Clemson team who will be desperate for a big win on Tuesday night. Both Clemson and South Carolina will be on the road this weekend, with the Gamecocks traveling to LSU and Clemson heading down to beautiful Miami.  

Behind the Mound is a weekly series focusing on baseball in the state of South Carolina featuring the Clemson Tigers baseball team and the South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team.