By Will Vandervort.
By Will Vandervort
When an athlete wears a Clemson uniform, no matter the sport, one of their main goals during their four years as a Tiger is to beat South Carolina.
Probably nobody on the Clemson baseball team understands that more than pitcher Daniel Gossett, which might be good considering he gets the baseball first Friday night when the Tigers open up a three-game series with No. 7 South Carolina at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Gossett grew up only an hour from both in-state schools. The Lyman, SC native grew up as a Clemson fan, attending almost every Clemson regular season and postseason game since he was eight years-old.
Some of Gossett’s friends grew up South Carolina fans, and in fact, three of them play for the seventh-ranked Gamecocks – Joey Pankake, Grayson Greiner and Tanner English.
“It is actually kind of weird because a bunch of guys that I played with when I was smaller, actually go to Carolina and are in the starting lineup now,” he said. “So it is a little awkward to know that I don’t necessarily like Carolina, but I’m actually friends with these guys… They’re going to give it everything they have.”
That’s the message Gossett is sending to some of his younger teammates who have never experienced playing in a rivalry of so much magnitude. The so-called college baseball experts across the country classify the Clemson-Carolina matchups as the best rivalry in college baseball. Three times in the last 11 years, the two have played in the NCAA Tournament, twice while in the College World Series and in most cases the games always come down to the final at-bat.
Four of last year’s five games did just that, including both contests in the NCAA’s Columbia Regional. The Gamecocks won three of those four one-run games.
“I think this is the best rivalry in college baseball,” centerfielder Thomas Brittle said. “I will put it up against any other rivalry. I think it will be a competitive game tomorrow and the same thing on Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully, we will be able to pull it out.”
It should help that two of the Tigers three starting pitchers this weekend have played in this series once before. Gossett will be making his third appearance against the Gamecocks, while Sunday starter Scotty Firth will also be making his third appearance.
“It helps a lot, but they also have the same thing,” Clemson head coach Jack Leggett said. “They have (Jordan) Montgomery and Colby Holmes that have pitched in these situations. It helps us to know we have a couple of guys that have been here before and I’m sure it helps them to know they have some veteran guys going out there on the mound for them.
“I will say things are fairly equal that way in terms of experience. Now it is a matter of which team and which players can step up and make the plays.”
Firth made the pitches last year, as he was the winning pitcher of record in Clemson’s lone win – a 6-5 victory at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The senior, who is 14-2 overall, including an 8-1 record as a starter, will get the start for Clemson when the series shifts to Columbia for Game 3.
In the game at Clemson last year, Firth pitched four innings of relief and gave up just three hits and one run, while striking out four to earn the win on March 4.
“I’m excited about getting the start (Sunday),” Firth said. “It is always an exciting series. There is a lot of animosity and tension to go with the excitement that surrounds this weekend. I have pitched in Columbia a couple of times before so I have to really just make it another start, but obviously, that one will have a little bit more on the line.”
Gossett knows all about that too. Perhaps his best performance in his young career came in the first meeting of last year’s Columbia Regional. Then a freshman, he outpitched All-American Michael Roth, thanks to a two-run, four-hit effort in seven innings of work that allowed Clemson to build a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the eighth inning.
“It was good to happen. But I can’t live off that,” Gossett said. “I have to take what I got from it and build on what I have right now.
“It is going to help me a lot with confidence, but I still know I have to come out and have my A-game. They are a great team and are ranked seventh in the nation so I’m going to have to have my good stuff. No, I’m going to have to have my great stuff to pitch effectively.”
The Tigers wasted Gossett’s effectiveness last year as South Carolina rallied to score runs in the eighth and ninth innings to force extra innings, and then LB Dantzler’s base hit to right in the bottom of the 12th lifted the Gamecocks to a 5-4 victory.
“(Gossett) took a step there. He pitched in a big game, in a tough environment and did extremely well,” Leggett said. “We fell a little bit short, but he pitched really well. He has seen this big game. He has seen what this is all about.
“He is a South Carolina kid, so he has it in his blood. He knows what the rivalry means. I’m excited to see him out there Friday night.”
So is all of Clemson.