#11 Tigers Face #3 Gamecocks in Annual Rivalry Series This Weekend

SERIES SETUP• Who – Clemson (6-1) vs. South Carolina (7-0)• Rankings – CU – #11 BA, #16 CB, #16 USA; USC – #3 BA, #5 CB, #14 USA• When – Friday (7 PM), Saturday (2 PM), Sunday (4 PM)• Where – Columbia, SC (Carolina Stadium) Friday; Greenville, SC (Fluor Field) Saturday; Clemson, SC (Doug Kingsmore Stadium) Sunday• Watch – Fox Sports South (Friday), WMYA (My 40) & ESPN3 (Saturday), TigerCast (Sunday)• Listen – TigerCast, Clemson Tiger Sports Network• Live Stats – ClemsonTigers.com• Social Media – Twitter/Instagram (@ClemsonBaseball)• Tickets (Sunday) – ClemsonTigers.com, 1-800-CLEMSON• Promotion (Sunday) – Social Sunday. Show voucher at @ClemsonBaseball on Twitter/Instagram and receive $2 seasoned fries.

FAN FEST & TIGER WALK SATURDAY• Fan Fest will be on Main Street outside of Fluor Field. Fan Fest opens at 10:00 AM.• Clemson’s bus will arrive at the corner of Main and Markley Street at Fluor Field at 11:00 AM. There will be a Tiger Walk into the stadium.

SERIES HISTORY• Overall Record – Clemson leads 170-131-2 (1899-2013)• Record at South Carolina – South Carolina leads 80-66-2 (1900-2013)• Record at Neutral – Tied 8-8 (1899-2013)• Record at Clemson – Clemson leads 96-43 (1907-2013)

STORIED RIVALRY• South Carolina is Clemson’s most-common opponent in history, as the two teams have faced off 303 times dating to 1899.• The two have met at least one time every year since 1945, with the exception of 1984.• South Carolina leads the series 6-2 at Carolina Stadium (opened in 2009).• South Carolina leads the series 2-1 at Fluor Field (opened in 2006). The first game there between the two was in 2010.• Clemson leads the series 49-26 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium (opened in 1970).

STARTING PITCHERS• Friday – RHP Daniel Gossett (CU) vs. LHP Jordan Montgomery (USC)• Saturday – LHP Jack Wynkoop (USC) vs. LHP Matthew Crownover (CU)• Sunday – RHP Wil Crowe (USC) vs. RHP Jake Long (CU)

SOUTH CAROLINA OVERVIEW• Led by second-year Head Coach Chad Holbrook.• The Gamecocks swept Eastern Kentucky at home last weekend. They have not allowed a run in 51 consecutive innings over six games.• Kyle Martin leads the team at the plate, going 12-for-24 (.500) with two homers and eight RBIs.

CLEMSON OVERVIEW• Clemson defeated Presbyterian College 4-2 on Tuesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium to extend the Tigers’ winning streak to six games.• The Tigers average 7.3 runs per game and hit .322 with a .388 on-base percentage and 17 steals.• The pitching staff has a 2.81 ERA, .246 opponents’ batting average, 4.91 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and .976 fielding percentage.

QUICK HITS• Of Clemson’s 35 players on its active roster, 15 are from the state of South Carolina.• Steven Duggar and Tyler Krieger have hit safely in all seven games in 2014. Duggar is also riding a 16-game hitting streak dating to 2013.• Freshman Chris Okey leads the team in RBIs (11), while both of Clemson’s homers have been by players who came off the bench.

TIGERS 14-3 AT FLUOR FIELD• Clemson has a 14-3 record at Fluor Field in Greenville, SC. That includes a six-game winning streak (2011-13).• The Tigers have outscored the opposition 144-55 at Fluor Field.• The only teams to defeat Clemson at Fluor Field are South Carolina (2010,11) and Presbyterian College (2011).

BOB BRADLEY AWARD PRESENTED SUNDAY• Clemson’s MVP of the South Carolina series will be presented the Bob Bradley Award. The Gamecocks’ MVP will receive the Tom Price Award.• The two late athletic communications directors served as baseball contacts for their respective schools for decades.

KRIEGER LEADING TEAM AT THE PLATE• Sophomore infielder Tyler Krieger is 12-for-24 this season and is leading the team with a .500 batting average.• He has a team-tying-high eight runs along with four walks against only one strikeout.• He has started all 69 games of his Tiger career at shortstop and has a career fielding percentage of .953.

Quotes – February 26

Jack Leggett, Head Coach

On playing South Carolina:“I am excited about it and looking forward to it. We have a great challenge going down there and then at the Drive’s stadium and back at home on Sunday. They have been playing well and we have been playing well, so it should be a great matchup.”

On Friday’s pitching matchup of Daniel Gossett vs. Jordan Montgomery:“It is as good as it gets. Montgomery pitched really well against us last year. ‘Goose’ has pitched pretty well against them. He is tough to hit and is a great competitor and it is the same thing with Montgomery, so it should be a great matchup.”

On the atmosphere compared to other rivalry series:“I think this is one of the better weekend rivalry series in the country. The three venues that we play at are sold out and there are people all over the place. There is a lot of interest from the fans in the state because it is a great intra-state rivalry. That makes it a big deal and we are excited about the opportunities that we have in front of us.”

Garrett Boulware, C

On playing in the rivalry:“It is the same game that it has been the whole time this rivalry has been going. We have two good teams this year and I think it is going to be a really fun game. Both teams have a lot of talent and it is going to be good competition to see how we stack up against teams like them this year.”

On looking ahead to South Carolina:“We have been ready for this day to come so we could focus solely on South Carolina. Everyone looks forward to this series because there is a lot of hype around it and bragging rights that come with it. It is definitely a series that we have been looking forward to.”

Daniel Gossett, RHP

On the matchup with Montgomery:“It’s cool, there’s no doubt about it. I faced him a couple of years ago and in high school and I have always been on the wrong side of it, so hopefully we can change that.”

On the atmosphere throughout the series:“It’s always fun. Everyone is going to be in to it and everyone is invested. Their fans are going to be coming at us and our fans are going to be going at them. That’s just how it works. As a competitor, it makes me excited to know that the fans are invested. It’s awesome.”