The Gamecocks were up big against Clemson Saturday but, as the bullpen struggled to put the game away, they had to turn to Brett Kerry late to close the game out.

At the time, it seemed inconsequential—Kerry threw around 20 pitches and South Carolina evened the series—but fast-forward about 24 hours and it wasn’t Kerry coming to the mound in a tight situation late.

Instead, the Gamecocks had to wait to use him, opting instead for Danny Lloyd and Cam Tringali, who combined to give up four runs in the seventh as South Carolina fell 5-2 to Clemson, dropping the series.

“Our team needs to understand that everything that happens affects things in the future. Guys that are getting opportunities out of the bullpen, that want to get a long leash, you have to earn it,” Mark Kingston said. “I told our guys, you cost us something because you don’t throw strikes. We’ll give you a mulligan, we’ll have your backs, but after that you have to earn it. You have to earn our trust.”

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If he wasn’t used before Sunday’s game, Kingston Kerry would have been used for a three-out save. Since he was Saturday, the plan was to get a good outing from Brannon Jordan and piece things together until the eighth when they would unleash him.

The first part happened—Jordan gave up one run on one hit—but he walked five guys, which made him last just five innings, exiting in line for the win. After flirting with disaster in the sixth, escaping a bases-loaded, no out jam, trouble hit.

Lloyd (0-2) gave up two one-out singles before giving way to Tringali, who hit a batter to load the bases before allowing a sacrifice fly to tie the game and back-to-back RBI hits.

“Growing up wearing these colors and always cheering against them and then having something like that happen, it stings,” said Tringali, who played in state at Cardinal Newman.

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Kerry ultimately did come in and get out of the inning, pitching 1.1 scoreless innings to end the game.

“The lesson is, he shouldn’t have had to pitch yesterday, but he did because we walked some guys and let them score some runs to make it close,” Kingston said. “The discussions were with Skylar (Meade), we used the guys we wanted to use, but they have to get it done.”

Despite leading for the majority of the game after a two-run single from Noah Campbell in the second, the Gamecocks couldn’t do much after that.

They’d do a good job getting guys on—seven over the final seven innings—but hit 2-for-12 with runners on, including going 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

After great situational hitting Saturday in the win, were a few failed bunt attempts Sunday and one missed hit and run where George Callil was thrown out at second. The Tiger bullpen pitched five shutout innings to end the game.

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“I feel like we could have gotten a bunt down here or there, executed a hit and run here and there, but hitting is hard,” Campbell said. “Guys are throwing strikes and they are executing their pitches and it’s hard to do.”

The Gamecocks are now 1-2 in series against Clemson with the first series loss coming in 2018 when South Carolina finished in a Super Regional and the win coming last year where the Gamecocks missed the postseason.

“This game and this series and how it’s gone so far is not going to define our team, it’s not going to define our staff; it’s not define any one particular guy,” Tringali said. “We just get back to work. It’s a long season ahead.”

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Player of the game: Brannon Jordan wasn't at his crispest, walking five guys in five innings, but gave up just one hit and left in line for the win after allowing one hit and striking out four in his third start of the season.

Pivotal moment: With two on and one out, the Gamecocks opted to go with Cam Tringali out of the pen and he allowed both inherited runners to score and gave up two runs himself.

Up next: The Gamecocks have a quick turnaround, traveling to Greenville for a midweek game against Furman Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. with no starter officially announced yet.