CLEMSON — When you think of Clemson’s legendary heroes in the South Carolina rivalry through the years, you think of players such as Jerry Butler, Willie Underwood, Rod Gardner, Charlie Whitehurst, Deshaun Watson, Larry Nance, Horace Grant, Greg Buckner, Terrell McIntyre, Khalil Greene, Seth Beer and Valerie Cagle.
You can now add Marian Collins to that list.
The freshman from Marietta, Ga., smacked two home runs Tuesday night. The first tied the game and sent it into extra innings, while the second one was a walk-off, as No. 15 Clemson rallied to beat the ninth-ranked Gamecocks 2-1 at McWhorter Stadium.
“I was just trying to slow the moment down and do whatever was best for my team,” Collins said.
What Collins did was hand the Tigers their biggest win to date over their rivals in the short history of the softball series. Never before had so much been riding on the outcome between the two rivals in softball. It was the highest ranked matchup between the two, as well as regional and possible super regional implications on the line.
The Gamecocks (32-11) ranked No. 3 in the RPI coming in, while the Tigers were No. 17. Plus, the Tigers were trying to avoid being swept by South Carolina for the first time in the program’s six-year history.
“I was very excited. It was a great moment,” Collins said. “They are a great program, too. It is always going to be a good game and a good fight, but my teammates had my back the whole time. We rallied off our energy, but that has kind of been our go-to the whole year.”
Collins’ journey into Clemson-South Carolina history began in the bottom of the sixth inning. With two outs and the Tigers (35-11) trailing by a run, she lifted Sam Gress’ 3-1 offering to right centerfield to tie the game, eventually sending it into extra innings.
Then in the bottom of the ninth, the shortstop led off the inning and came through again in the clutch, this time taking Gress’ 1-2 pitch to left center for the game winner.
“I thought the top of our lineup was really good tonight, but we just could not get that timely hit until Collins did,” Clemson head coach John Rittman said. “Boy, that was a big one to tie the game and then to walk it off with another home run, just a stud freshman.”
And now she will forever live in Clemson lore.
“The hitters had a plan,” Rittman said. “Obviously, Mar followed through and executed. Like I said, Gress was pitching a heck of a game, she just made another mistake to Mar and Mar made her pay.”