CLEMSON — Through the first two weeks of the season, the Clemson baseball team has relied on several newcomers as the Tigers have started the campaign on an eight-game winning streak.

Transfers Nate Savoie, Ty Dalley, Bryce Clavon and Tyler Lichtenberger have all been regulars in the lineup. Transfer pitcher Michael Sharman is in the starting rotation and freshmen hurlers Dylan Harrison, Danny Nelson and Eston Simpson have all made clutch contributions.

As good as most of those players have been out of the gate, they are fixing to experience something on a whole other level this weekend when the Tigers and Gamecocks renew what many consider the best rivalry in all of college baseball.

Head coach Erik Bakich will do everything in his power to have his players ready for what’s on tap Friday night at Founders Park, which includes having Sandstorm blaring from the speakers at Doug Kingsmore Stadium this week. However, nothing done in practice can really replicate the raucous atmosphere the Tigers will face in the series opener in Columbia.

“There is nothing you can do to get them ready for that experience on Friday night,” head coach Erik Bakich said. “They’ve seen the atmosphere here, at times. And playing in an atmosphere like the Savannah Bananas, as silly and crazy as that atmosphere gets. The chaos of that atmosphere is part of the reason why we do that game. To draw from the experience of what it’s like where you have a lot of things going on.”

Clemson has won eight of the past 11 season series dating back to 2015, and the Tigers come in having won five straight over the rival Gamecocks. To keep that winning streak intact, Bakich’s team will have to go out and take care of business in its first road game of the season.

“It will be a great opportunity,” Bakich said. “Expect packed houses, not only at Founders Park, but at Segra Park and here (at DKS) on Sunday. I mean, who would not want to play in that environment? The biggest stage and the brightest lights.”

Ace Aidan Knaak gets the start for the Tigers on Friday. In two starts against South Carolina, Knaak has allowed six earned runs in 9.2 innings, with 14 strikeouts and seven walks.

However, if the Tigers are going to come out with a win, Knaak will need some help from the guys behind him, several of which will be getting their first taste of the rivalry.

“It will be a great opportunity for them to experience that and get thrown into the fire,” Bakich said. “It will be a part of a Clemson tradition they get to experience.”