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The Palmetto State rivalry is one of college baseball’s best, and on Monday, it showed that the hatred runs deep! Both squads were selected to participate in the NCAA Tournament, with Clemson landing a Top 8 national seed.
South Carolina, meanwhile, will travel to NC State as a two-seed in the Raleigh Regional. While the teams won’t have the opportunity to play one another until the College World Series, both rivals were top of mind when the field was set.
Each held a watch party to celebrate their inclusion into the field, which led to an interesting interaction in the Gamecocks’ facility.
There were two loud cheers heard on Selection Monday. One came when South Carolina found out its seeding in the regional bracket, and another when players found out that SEC brethren Vanderbilt was being sent to Clemson.
The Gamecock baseball team with 2 reactions during the NCAA selection show
1) being selected for the Raleigh regional
2) watching Vandy be selected for the Clemson regional@GamecockBasebll @ClemsonBaseball @VandyBoys pic.twitter.com/TV4bhZlMfJ— Reggie Anderson (@ReggieWLTX) May 27, 2024
Now, there could be a few different reasons for that reaction.
Firstly, the Gamecocks currently boast a number of players that transferred in from Vandy, most notably slugger Gavin Casas. Secondly, the team’s hitting coach, Monte Lee, was previously the head coach at Clemson – and he was seen giving a sly smirk to the reaction in his clubhouse.
Most on the South Carolina side believe the Commodores can give the Tigers trouble, potentially continuing a trend that’s plagued the program over the last 10 years.
Those on the Clemson side, though, simply called it “little brother behavior.”
The Tigers earned bragging rights this season with a sweep of South Carolina. Still, the Gamecocks chirped with the postseason approaching!
Clemson head coach Erik Bakich shaded South Carolina during his team’s watch party.
Those in Columbia like to bring up the Tigers’ recent history in the NCAA Tournament. Over the last 13 seasons, despite hosting on five different occasions, Clemson’s failed to make it out of a regional.
One of those seasons ended at the hands of their archrival, while the Gamecocks also ended the Tigers’ most recent College World Series bid with back-to-back wins in Omaha in 2010 – the last time CU advanced past the opening round.
Rubbing salt in those Clemson wounds, South Carolina would go onto win two straight national titles and appear in a third in 2012 while the Tigers watched from home.
Erik Bakich was asked about his program’s postseason struggles over the last decade-plus, not-so-subtly shading his rival with his response.
“Everyone wants to talk about [our lack of postseason success],” Bakich said while addressing the media. “And the people who bring that up over and over again, those are called, ‘Gamecocks.’
“Those aren’t Clemson fans. That’s South Carolina’s fanbase that loves to troll. They’ve got bragging rights for what they accomplished a decade ago, and that’s fine.”
Shots fired, and that watch party reaction in Columbia essentially proved the head coach’s point!
The rivalry runs deep in the Palmetto State. We’ll see who gets bragging rights this postseason.