Who: South Carolina 9-0 v. #13 Clemson 7-1

Time/TV: Doug Kingsmore Stadium, Clemson, SC- 1:30 Saturday at Flour Field in Greenville, and 5:00 Sunday at Founders Park in Columbia, all games will stream live. Friday Night’s game will stream on ACC Network Extra. SEC Network + will stream Saturday and Sunday’s games as Carolina is the designated home team for Saturday's game.

Line: Friday game only: SC +145 and Clemson -188. Total 10 runs.

Projected Starting Pitchers: Friday, Matthew Becker (Sr. LHP) 2-0, 1.59 ERA, 11.1 IP, 0 BB, 17 Ks, .105 OBA v. Aidan Knaak (So. RHP) 1-0, 6.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 3 BB, 15 Ks, .235 OBA

Saturday, Jake McCoy (So. LHP) 1-0, 3.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 4 BB, 17 Ks. .067 OBA v. Ethan Darden (Jr. LHP) 1-0, 1.80 ERA, 10.0 IP, 4 BB, 9Ks., .229 OBA

Sunday, TBA v. Justin LeGuernic (So. LHP) 0-1, 8.22 ERA, 7.2 IP, 6 BB, 7K, .269 OBA

Ethan Darden, a Rock Hill native, pitched in the first game last season out of the bullpen. He threw three innings and surrendered four hits with one walk and two strikeouts. The Gamecocks scored one run off of the now junior lefty.

Aidan Knaak is sophomore out of Fort Myers, Florida. Knaak is the best arm in the Tigers rotation. Knaak started the second game last year and pitched five innings allowing three runs on four hits with five strikeouts. Knaak is going to strike guys out but he will also give up some big hits.

Clemson's Sunday starter Justin LeGuernic did not pitch agains the Gamecocks last season. Freshman Dane Moehler looked like he was going to be locked into the Sunday starter position before a torn UCL sidelined him for the season.

History: Clemson has a 188-145-2 series advantage heading into Friday’s game. Clemson leads 104-46 at Clemson with a 57-29 record at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Clemson leads the all-time series by one in games contested at neutral sites (4-0 in Carolina's favor in games contested in Nebraska), with Carolina holding a 6-5 edge at Flour Field. The Gamecocks lead 86-70-2 in games at Columbia, including a 12-6 mark at Founders Park.

Last Meeting: Last season mother nature knocked out the Columbia game which was note made up for...scheduling reasons? Clemson won other two games in by scores of 5-4. The Gamecocks are 2-3 against the Tigers under Erik Bakich. USC Head Coach Paul Mainieri has never faced Clemson in career.

“When South Carolina and Clemson get on the field, you don’t have to convince people it’s important. And I love that. I just love that people are so passionate about it,” Mainieri said. “What makes me get out of bed every day and come to work is this kind of competition.”

Weather: There is no threat of rain this weekend. Sunday's game is scheduled to be played in low 50s weather but pretty good weather for this weekend.

Clemson is very solid offensive club and their best hitter, Cam Cannarella, (how is he only a junior!) hasn't hit his stride. Bakich's club is getting big contributions from transfer Dominic Listi and Josh Paino. Both are graduate transfers. Listi is hitting .462 batting average with 13 RBI in eight games. Paino is hitting .370 with a homer and 11 RBIs. The Tigers are hitting .312 as a team with six home runs. Clemson is also a perfect 14-for14 in stolen bases. Expect the Tigers to test Talmadge LeCroy and the Gamecock catchers throughout this series. Tryston McCladdie and Jacob Jarrell are the two Tigers to keep off the bases - they account for ten of the Tigers' stolen bases.

Clemson knows a little more about their team than the Gamecocks- the Tigers opened the season in the Shriners Children's College Showdown in the Houston Astros park, beating nationally ranked Oklahoma State and Arizona before losing to Ole Miss.

Erik Bakich: "We're always paying close attention to them, they're paying close attention to us, and the rivalry is best when both teams are awesome. That's what I remember about being here the first time is two top five teams going at it, and that's great for the state and great for college baseball when South Carolina and Clemson are two of college baseball's best teams with two of college baseball's best rosters. It just fuels that rivalry even more."