Gamecocks dominate Clemson in 'Big Four' to take Palmetto Series lead
Since the Palmetto Series scoreboard on the official Clemson athletics website has magically and mysteriously not been updated since a certain game on Nov. 26, Gamecock Central is here to help South Carolina and Clemson fans get caught up on the score with just a few matchups left.
South Carolina currently leads this year’s Palmetto Series by a score of 6-3-1.
For the first time since the 2011-2012 season, South Carolina defeated Clemson in all of the “big four” sports.
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While there’s no official designation for one sport being more important than another — every sport is worth one point in the Palmetto Series — most South Carolina fans would agree that football, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball are considered the “Big Four” among the fan base.
For context, the last time Carolina won all four in the same school year, Barack Obama was still in office, some movie called “The Avengers” (the first one) debuted that year, and Blockbuster was still a thing while Instagram was a hot new app.
Ray Tanner still coached baseball, Frank Martin wasn’t even hired yet, and “The Hit” hadn’t happened either. The football team completed its first of three straight 11-win campaigns. Dawn Staley hadn’t yet won an SEC title with the Gamecocks.
This year, Staley’s squad defeated Clemson 85-31 on the way to an undefeated regular season and SEC Tournament to include conference titles in both.
No South Carolina fan needs any reminder that Shane Beamer’s football team defeated Clemson 31-30 in Death Valley on a late Mitch Jeter field goal and Antonio Williams fumble.
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While the men’s basketball team did not have the overall season it hoped for, first-year head coach Lamont Paris endeared himself to the Gamecocks faithful with a 60-58 victory over the Tigers at Colonial Life Arena.
South Carolina’s baseball team took two of three from Clemson over the weekend, taking the series with a commanding 7-1 win over Clemson Sunday afternoon at Founders Park.
South Carolina women’s cross country won their matchup with Clemson and men’s tennis earned a 7-0 shutout of the Tigers.
The Tigers scored wins in men’s soccer (1-0), women’s tennis (4-2) and volleyball (3-2) while the two women’s soccer teams battled to a 2-2 draw.
Men’s golf, women’s golf and softball are the three sports left to potentially play while there is also one point each up for grabs for three other categories: most LIFE Scholarship recipients, most Palmetto Fellows Scholarship recipients, and most entries into the Rival Play Second-Chance Promotion through the tickets.
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The softball teams play on March 28 and April 11, while both golf teams are listed as TBA.
The Palmetto Series resumed in 2022 with this year’s competition presented by the South Carolina Education Lottery.
Over the last two decades, education funding in the state of South Carolina has benefited from $7.2 billion in lottery proceeds, with students at USC and Clemson receiving more than 350,000 lottery-funded scholarships and grants.
The Gamecocks lead the overall Palmetto Series 4-0.
SCORING
1 point to the winner of each of the following South Carolina vs. Clemson match-ups:
- Baseball – March 3-5 – SOUTH CAROLINA, 2-1 (2-5, 11-9, 7-1)
- Men’s Basketball – Friday, November 11 – SOUTH CAROLINA, 60-58
- Women’s Basketball – Thursday, November 17 – SOUTH CAROLINA, 85-31
- Women’s Cross Country – Friday, November 11 – SOUTH CAROLINA, 497-541
- Football – Saturday, November 26 – SOUTH CAROLINA, 31-30
- Men’s Golf – TBA
- Women’s Golf – TBA
- Men’s Soccer – Friday, September 2 – CLEMSON, 1-0
- Women’s Soccer – Thursday, September 1 – DRAW, 2-2
- Softball – Tuesday, March 28, Tuesday, April 11
- Men’s Tennis – Friday, February 3 – SOUTH CAROLINA, 7-0
- Women’s Tennis – Tuesday, February 14 – CLEMSON, 4-2
- Volleyball – Tuesday, September 6 – CLEMSON, 3-2
- 1 point for the school with the current most LIFE Scholarship recipients
- 1 point for the school with the current most Palmetto Fellows Scholarship recipients
- 1 point for the school with the most entries into the Rival Play Second-Chance Promotion through the tickets (variable and up to fans/players to decide)
