March 2, 2015

Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Brody Koerner pitched a four-hit complete game as Clemson clinched the series with a 7-0 victory over fifth-ranked South Carolina on Monday night at Carolina Stadium. The Tigers improve to 7-3 on the season while the loss drops the Gamecocks to 7-3.

Clemson went ahead 2-0 after plating a run in both the second and third innings with RBIs from Chris Okey and Eli White.

The Gamecocks threatened in the sixth with a pair of base runners. Gene Cone walked and Elliott Caldwell singled, but Koerner induced a double play and followed it up with a strikeout to end the threat.

In the seventh inning, the Tigers scored three runs to increase their lead to 5-0. After a pair of one-out singles from Reed Rohlman and Tyler Krieger, Steven Duggar knocked a double to left center that brought home Rholman. Okey then drove in Krieger with a RBI groundout and Duggar scored on a wild pitch.

Clemson added a pair of insurance runs in the top of ninth.

Koerner hurled nine scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and three walks while striking out seven batters to earn the win for the Tigers. Gamecock starter Josh Reagan suffered the loss after pitching three innings and allowing two runs on five hits.

GAME CHANGER

Clemson plated three runs in the seventh inning to increase the lead to 5-0.

KEY STAT The Tigers out hit the Gamecocks 11-4.

NOTABLES

• Gene Cone has hit safely in all 10 games this season. He has an 11-game hitting streak dating back to last season.
• The sellout crowd of 8,242 is the 39th in Carolina Stadium history.

QUOTABLE South Carolina Head Coach Chad Holbrook

“Clemson deserved to win the game today and over the course of three games, they deserved to win the series. They played better than we did. (Brody) Koerner was extremely impressive today. When we were in the middle innings and it was a 2-0 game, I felt like we were lucky it wasn’t six or seven to nothing at that point. It still felt like we had a chance to win. They put three across in the seventh that made it an up hill battle for us. We didn’t do enough offensively. Their pitchers, over the course of three games, pitched extremely well and their position players, their better players, stepped up and drove the ball and hit the ball. Their good hitters made plays and our good hitters couldn’t do much and you have to credit their pitching staff for that. They outplayed us today and we’ll go back to the drawing board and try to get better. I’ve got to try to find the right combinations because offensively we just haven’t been good enough the last couple days. I’ve got good hitters in our dugout. I’ve just got to figure out the ones to put in there. Congratulations to Clemson. They played better. They’ve got a good, solid team. They pitched extremely well. They played defense. They deserved to win.”

UP NEXT

The Gamecocks are back in action at Carolina Stadium on Tuesday as they host Charleston Southern. First pitch is set for 7 pm and the game will be available on SEC Network +. It can also be heard on the Gamecock IMG Network including flagship station, 107.5 FM, “The Game.”