Paul Mainieri prepares for first experience in Clemson rivalry
By: Alan Cole - Gamecockscoop
Chad Holbrook made a strong first impression in the South Carolina-Clemson rivalry. The Gamecocks took two out of three in his first year as head coach in 2013, then swept the 2014 series.
South Carolina lost the series three years in a row after that, and Holbrook did not return.
Mark Kingston found himself on both sides of the teeter-totter, splitting his first four series in the rivalry and never being involved in a sweep either way. Then Clemson swept the series in 2022 and again in 2024, and his tenure ended.
This is the reality — and responsibility — for a South Carolina baseball coach, that one series in week three of a 14-week season will go as far towards defining your legacy as anything else you do outside the postseason.
“I just can’t tell you how excited I am about this,” Paul Mainieri said. “I think it’s just awesome for the sport of college baseball. I talked to Ray Tanner for a long time this morning about the whole roots of the rivalry in baseball.”
South Carolina is just 16-19 against Clemson since Tanner retired, a modest 8-7 under Holbrook and 8-12 under Kingston. Tanner himself was 34-26 in the series, and his 4-0 mark in Omaha against the Tigers shines is arguably the shining bullet point on his lengthy list of accomplishments.
This weekend, Mainieri will take his first shot at college baseball’s biggest rivalry. For a coach who has been to the mountaintop of college baseball and led six teams to Omaha, this is still a unique situation.
Regardless of whether or not you think it is the single biggest rivalry in college baseball — some folks in Mississippi or Texas might have a word or two in response — it is definitely the biggest non-conference one. Any other rivalry in the neighborhood also carries the weight of conference value.
“I’ve coached a lot of games in my life,” Mainieri said. ‘And a lot of big games in and out of the SEC. Omaha, Super Regional championship games and everything, I’m excited as I’ve ever been about baseball games this weekend.”
This series, with its pre-conference placement, exists in a vacuum. Three games in three different venues, two campus games and two rosters full of players from the state of South Carolina who grew up playing with and against each other.
It cuts to the identity of a baseball-obsessed state, and to the pride of both programs. And while ultimately the Gamecocks and Tigers will both leave the weekend with 30 conference games to go and most of their seasons still in front of them, these three games are the only ones this time of year capable of reverberating behind the diamond.
“When South Carolina and Clemson get on the field, you don’t have to convince people it’s important,” Mainieri said. “And I love that. I love that people are so passionate about it, and I’m not afraid of it. I love it.”
On top of everything else, all of the emotion and intensity of playing your archrival, these games have been the barometer for South Carolina’s seasons over the last decade. You only have to look at the last two years. The 2023 Gamecocks took the Clemson series, and it was a key point on their resume towards eventually hosting a regional. Last year’s team lost both games of the abbreviated season, and never recovered.
The last five times South Carolina has played postseason baseball at Founders Park, it won the Clemson series in four of those seasons.
Likewise the last five times the program has either missed the NCAA Tournament or finished under .500 in SEC play, it lost the Clemson series four of those years. It is no accident that this down period in Gamecock baseball has coincided with a dip in the rivalry as the Tigers have won seven of the last 10 series.
Nobody is planning a parade or declaring the season over depending on this weekend’s outcomes, but there is no escaping the reality.
This rivalry has turned in Clemson's favor, and stemming that tide even for one year would go a long way towards establishing credibility for the new era of South Carolina baseball.
And after a soft first nine games of the schedule, South Carolina is about to get a gauge of how good it really is. For better or worse.
“It’s a good test,” first baseman Ethan Petry said. “I would say they’re an SEC-caliber team. Obviously they’re in the ACC, but they’re a top-10, top-15 team in the country every year. It’s a good test for us when it comes to SEC play.”
The returning players on the roster know it. The new ones are about to find out. Mainieri has heard about it since the day he stepped on campus.
Rivalry struggles were far from the only reason Holbrook and Kingston’s respective tenures did not pan out. But as with everything else in South Carolina baseball, there is correlation between the Clemson results and everything else.
If nothing else, the fans treat it that way.
“All anyone ever talks about in this town is playing Clemson,’” Mainieri said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Beating Clemson is not just a goal for a South Carolina baseball coach.
It’s a job requirement.
By: Alan Cole - Gamecockscoop
Chad Holbrook made a strong first impression in the South Carolina-Clemson rivalry. The Gamecocks took two out of three in his first year as head coach in 2013, then swept the 2014 series.
South Carolina lost the series three years in a row after that, and Holbrook did not return.
Mark Kingston found himself on both sides of the teeter-totter, splitting his first four series in the rivalry and never being involved in a sweep either way. Then Clemson swept the series in 2022 and again in 2024, and his tenure ended.
This is the reality — and responsibility — for a South Carolina baseball coach, that one series in week three of a 14-week season will go as far towards defining your legacy as anything else you do outside the postseason.
“I just can’t tell you how excited I am about this,” Paul Mainieri said. “I think it’s just awesome for the sport of college baseball. I talked to Ray Tanner for a long time this morning about the whole roots of the rivalry in baseball.”
South Carolina is just 16-19 against Clemson since Tanner retired, a modest 8-7 under Holbrook and 8-12 under Kingston. Tanner himself was 34-26 in the series, and his 4-0 mark in Omaha against the Tigers shines is arguably the shining bullet point on his lengthy list of accomplishments.
This weekend, Mainieri will take his first shot at college baseball’s biggest rivalry. For a coach who has been to the mountaintop of college baseball and led six teams to Omaha, this is still a unique situation.
Regardless of whether or not you think it is the single biggest rivalry in college baseball — some folks in Mississippi or Texas might have a word or two in response — it is definitely the biggest non-conference one. Any other rivalry in the neighborhood also carries the weight of conference value.
“I’ve coached a lot of games in my life,” Mainieri said. ‘And a lot of big games in and out of the SEC. Omaha, Super Regional championship games and everything, I’m excited as I’ve ever been about baseball games this weekend.”
This series, with its pre-conference placement, exists in a vacuum. Three games in three different venues, two campus games and two rosters full of players from the state of South Carolina who grew up playing with and against each other.
It cuts to the identity of a baseball-obsessed state, and to the pride of both programs. And while ultimately the Gamecocks and Tigers will both leave the weekend with 30 conference games to go and most of their seasons still in front of them, these three games are the only ones this time of year capable of reverberating behind the diamond.
“When South Carolina and Clemson get on the field, you don’t have to convince people it’s important,” Mainieri said. “And I love that. I love that people are so passionate about it, and I’m not afraid of it. I love it.”
On top of everything else, all of the emotion and intensity of playing your archrival, these games have been the barometer for South Carolina’s seasons over the last decade. You only have to look at the last two years. The 2023 Gamecocks took the Clemson series, and it was a key point on their resume towards eventually hosting a regional. Last year’s team lost both games of the abbreviated season, and never recovered.
The last five times South Carolina has played postseason baseball at Founders Park, it won the Clemson series in four of those seasons.
Likewise the last five times the program has either missed the NCAA Tournament or finished under .500 in SEC play, it lost the Clemson series four of those years. It is no accident that this down period in Gamecock baseball has coincided with a dip in the rivalry as the Tigers have won seven of the last 10 series.
Nobody is planning a parade or declaring the season over depending on this weekend’s outcomes, but there is no escaping the reality.
This rivalry has turned in Clemson's favor, and stemming that tide even for one year would go a long way towards establishing credibility for the new era of South Carolina baseball.
And after a soft first nine games of the schedule, South Carolina is about to get a gauge of how good it really is. For better or worse.
“It’s a good test,” first baseman Ethan Petry said. “I would say they’re an SEC-caliber team. Obviously they’re in the ACC, but they’re a top-10, top-15 team in the country every year. It’s a good test for us when it comes to SEC play.”
The returning players on the roster know it. The new ones are about to find out. Mainieri has heard about it since the day he stepped on campus.
Rivalry struggles were far from the only reason Holbrook and Kingston’s respective tenures did not pan out. But as with everything else in South Carolina baseball, there is correlation between the Clemson results and everything else.
If nothing else, the fans treat it that way.
“All anyone ever talks about in this town is playing Clemson,’” Mainieri said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Beating Clemson is not just a goal for a South Carolina baseball coach.
It’s a job requirement.
