Clemson completes sweep of South Carolina to remain unbeaten

CLEMSON — The largest crowd in the history of Doug Kingsmore Stadium was on hand to witness the completion of a historically good weekend for the Clemson baseball program.

The Tigers topped South Carolina 5-2 Sunday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium to finish off a three-game sweep of the Gamecocks.

This marked Clemson’s first sweep of South Carolina since 1999 and its first sweep of more than two games against USC since 1996. With the win, Clemson improved to 11-0. South Carolina dropped to 7-4 with the loss.

“To find a way to sweep the Gamecocks is just one of those things that I’ll never forget,” Clemson coach Monte Lee said. “Just a special moment for the program.”

Clemson outscored South Carolina 18-6 over the three games and won Sunday despite being outhit 10-6.

The Tigers benefited from three errors and got another strong pitching performance to remain unbeaten.

Nick Clayton got the start and allowed only one run in 4 2/3 innings of worked. Alex Edmondson, Jackson Lindley, Jay Dill and Ryan Ammons pitched well in relief to finish off the win.

Lindley (2-0) earned the win, pitching 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Ammons pitched two scoreless innings to earn his fourth save of the season.

“We’ve got to give a lot of credit to our pitching staff just to pitch the way that we did,” Lee said. “Just an unbelievable job of pitching with runners on base. … Jackson Lindley was quite honestly the most valuable pitcher in this game today.”

At the plate, the Tigers managed only six hits, but they continued to get timely ones.

After Clemson got on the board in the fourth inning with a hit by pitch with the bases loaded, Dylan Brewer followed with a single to score a pair of runs and give Clemson a 3-0 lead.

South Carolina battled back to cut the lead to 3-2, before Cooper Ingle hit a solo homer and Jonathan French added an RBI single in the eighth to give the Tigers a 5-2 lead.

The Gamecocks had the tying run at the plate in the top of the ninth inning, but Braylen Wimmer grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the game.

South Carolina finished with 10 hits compared to six for Clemson, but the Gamecocks were only 4-for-20 batting with runners on base.

For the series, South Carolina was 6-for-53 with runners on base.

“It’s just a historical weekend,” Lee said. “I mean it’s just a special weekend for our program and for our players. I couldn’t be happier for them. … It’s a special thing that our guys that are here this year will always be able to remember.”