COLUMBIA — The Clemson Insider takes a look back at Clemson’s (6-2) 8-2 setback to #18 South Carolina (10-0) in the Palmetto Rivalry series opener on Friday night at Founders Park.

What happened?

The Gamecocks took an early lead with a single run in the bottom of the first after back-to-back two-out hits. South Carolina blew the game open in the bottom of the fifth; scoring five runs on four hits and three Tiger errors to take a 6-0 lead. The Gamecocks would add two more insurance runs in the eighth before Seth Beer hit a long solo homer in the top of the ninth to get Clemson on the board. The Tigers would get no closer, losing 8-1.

Game-Changing Moment:

The game changed in the fifth inning. South Carolina took advantage of several Tiger miscues and mental mistakes to blow open a close game and take control of the game.

What went right?

Honestly, not much. Eli White and Beer each had two hits in Clemson’s six hit attack. Outside of those two, the Tigers struggled in Columbia.

What went wrong?

Offensively, Clemson couldn’t build innings early in the game and left too many runners on base in the early frames when they had several chances to capitalize and push runs across. The Tigers also hit into three double plays in the game, including both the second and third inning. Defensively, Clemson committed three errors in the field and had several other mental mistakes as the pitching staff had what was arguably their worst outing of the year.