CLEMSON – The rivalry between Clemson and South Carolina is a heated one, and that stands regardless of the sport it’s being played in.

For Will Taylor, he’s played a part in the rivalry for both football and baseball. Since he turned his full focus to the latter, this weekend series against the Gamecocks has a lot of meaning.

After Tuesday’s win, Taylor talked about what this series means as a member of the Tigers program.

“It’s a big time weekend. Big time baseball. South Carolina-Clemson, no better matchup in the country. Very good club we’re going against this weekend Obviously South Carolina, guys on this team know how important it is and it’s going to be very exciting…one of the best weekends of the year so as a player, you’ve got to enjoy it and live in the moment,” Taylor said.

Taylor described this rivalry in baseball as “very similar” to the football iteration. It comes at a perfect time for him, fresh off a three home-run performance that he hopes to carry into the weekend.

There’s a lot of lead-up into this rivalry, and consequently the emotions. Taylor is aware of that but putting on the blinders to appreciate this moment.

“Fans get into it. You’ve got a lot of distractions outside as a player. You’ve got to minimize the distractions and just focus on the task at hand so it’s a very fun weekend to play and going to be some energy that needs to be kind of calmed down as a player and let that energy work for you so it’s going to be a great weekend,” Taylor said.

Last season, Clemson went 1-2 in the series against South Carolina and the hopes are to get back what was lost. It won’t be easy as the first two games will take place in Columbia, but Taylor and the Tigers understand and appreciate what this series means.

The three-game slate starts Friday at 7 p.m., televised on SEC Network+.