COLUMBIA — While Aidan Knaak is considered the ace of the Clemson pitching staff, it’s Michael Sharman who has been by far the Tigers’ best starting pitcher over the first three weeks of the season.

After Clemson suffered a 7-0 demoralizing defeat at the hands of the Gamecocks on Friday night, the Tigers needed Sharman to deliver on Saturday, and that is exactly what the redshirt senior did.

In his first taste of the rivalry, Sharman pitched his first career complete game, scattering four hits and holding South Carolina to just one run, while striking out four and not walking a batter. The 4-1 win at Segra Park knotted the annual rivalry series at one game apiece, giving Clemson a shot to clinch the series on its home field on Sunday.

Sharman came in determined to treat it like any other game rather than a huge rivalry game, and that mindset more than paid off.

“I came out here, and I was like, ‘This is going to be fun,'” Sharman said. “It is a cool park. A lot of fans from each side. But at the end of the day, I go out there and treat it like a regular baseball game. I don’t try to get too high, too low, I try to stay present. I know that God’s got me. I go out there and try and have as much fun as I can. Nerves definitely calmed down a little bit as the game went on, but it was just fun.”

Sharman’s performance on Saturday makes him one of Clemson’s new heroes in the annual rivalry series. Not only did he throw a complete game, but he only needed 78 pitches to do it. 67 of those were strikes, giving him an 86% strike percentage.

He did not throw more than 11 pitches in any one inning. South Carolina hitters were routinely swinging at the first pitch, and not once did Sharman get to a three-ball count. Only twice did he get to a two-ball count. Add in that the Gameocks never got a leadoff runner aboard, and it was a downright efficient and dominating effort.

“Been a part of this rivalry since 2002 and even when I wasn’t here, followed it very, very closely,” head coach Erik Bakich said. “Knowing Clemson history like I do, that was one of the all-time single-game performances. Position player, pitcher, it doesn’t matter. What Michael Sharman did was special and one for the record books.”

The way Clemson lost on Friday night made it fair to question how the Tigers were going to respond. However, with the series on the line, Sharman kept the team alive, and now Clemson only needs a victory on Sunday to win the series for the third consecutive season.

“Not to get too high, we got to get back to the middle,” Bakich said. “We got another big one (Sunday). Which is why we don’t celebrate out of control like we just won the World Series after one win. We still got a lot to play for and it is a big one (Sunday).”

Photo courtesy of Peter McLean/Clemson Athletics