Clemson took advantage of a rocky first inning for South Carolina starter Brannon Jordan and scored the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly from Bryar Hawkins to take a 1-0 lead.
Elijah Henderson drew a leadoff walk and Kier Meredith worked an eight pitch at bat that ended when he was hit by a pitch to give the Tigers a pair of runners with no outs. Davis Sharpe reached on a fielder’s choice that put out Meredith at second but advanced Henderson to third. Hawkins delivered a deep fly ball to the fence in right center that resulted in an out but scored Henderson to give Clemson a 1-0 lead.