CLEMSON, S.C. — The Gators got their first look at Kingsmore Stadium on Friday afternoon when they practiced under a blazing sun that made them feel right at home.
Still, a trip to Clemson is an oddity for the UF baseball team, which opens the best-of-three Clemson Super Regional on Saturday against the host Tigers. The last time a UF team played a game here, no one associated with the Gators was born.
Heck, neither were famous nonagenarians Clint Eastwood and Willie Nelson.
Florida and Clemson have played 30 times – none since 1983 – but only two games in April 1930 took place in the vicinity of scenic Lake Hartwell on Clemson's campus. A brief Associated Press story provided limited details of Clemson's 9-3 win on April 8, 1930, telling readers Clemson evened a series in which Florida won the first game 5-2. Two days later the Gators were back in Gainesville playing the Jacksonville Tars.
The most notable detail from the box score is that Florida had a player with surname "Clemson" in the lineup. That instantly sent this typist to the Gators media guide to confirm.
Maybe it was a typo or a press box pundit with a sense of humor. Or perhaps Florida's Clemson is lost forever. According to UF's media guide, the Gators have never had a letterwinner named Clemson, but they did have a V.N. Clemons on the team from 1930-32.
For now, it will have to remain a mystery. What is certain is that when the schools last played here 94 years ago, then-Gators coach Brady Cowell did not have half a dozen TV cameras and 15 reporters around him when the game ended.
But that was the case for Gators head coach Kevin O'Sullivan on Friday when practice concluded. O'Sullivan came to Florida from Clemson 17 years ago and has the Gators two wins from a trip to the College World Series.
He had not been back since until Friday, and O'Sullivan knows second-year Clemson coach Erik Bakich well from their days working together at Clemson in 2002.
"They're older, they're athletic, they've got some length to their lineup,'' O'Sullivan said of the Tigers. "They are playing with a lot of energy. Their team chemistry, from the outside looking in, looks like it's as good as can be. And they don't beat themselves."
Since it has been awhile, here is a closer look at Florida's opponent in the super regional:
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY
Founded:1889
First baseball season: 1896
Location:Clemson, S.C.
Enrollment:28,466
Record:44-14
Coach:Erik Bakich, 2nd year (88-33, .727)
NCAA Tournament appearances:46
CWS appearances: 12 (1958, '59, '76, '77, '80, '91, '95, '96, 2000, '02, '06. '10)
Season highlight:You don't need to go back far. The Tigers advanced to a super regional for the first time in 14 years last weekend, highlighted by a pair of one-run wins to snap a streak of losing five consecutive home regionals. Clemson defeated Coastal Carolina in the championship at raucous Kingsmore Stadium, igniting a celebration that featured head coach Erik Bakich jumping onto the top of a fence and join fans in the moment.
The angle y'all have been waiting for! https://t.co/B9EbNdS5Q0 pic.twitter.com/hWcnNhGlnG
— Clemson Baseball (@ClemsonBaseball) June 3, 2024
Player to watch: Senior infielder Blake Wright is versatile in the field where he has played third base and second. And when he's at the plate, be careful. A Florida native who played at Clearwater Central Catholic High, Wright has 21 home runs and 72 RBI entering the super regional. Wright slammed three homers and drove in six runs in a win over Presbyterian in March. Wright's most notable play of the year came in last weekend's win over Coast Carolina when he pulled off the rare hidden-ball trick to record an out at third base. Wright visited the mound briefly, took the ball and then applied the tag when the Coastal Carolina runner drifted off the base.
Buzz: Clemson fans are pumped for the program's first opportunity to advance to the CWS in more than a decade. Kingsmore Stadium is expected to be stuffed over the weekend with the Gators in town seeking their second straight trip to Omaha. Tigers infielder Jacob Hinderleider, a transfer from Davidson, became the first Clemson player with five hits in an NCAA Tournament game since former Padres shortstop Khalil Greene in 2002. Hinderleider was named regional Most Outstanding Player after recording nine hits in Clemson's three wins. Meanwhile, Tigers freshman starter Aidan Knaak has been excellent in his rookie season. Knaak has a 2.96 ERA and 103 strikeouts over 79 innings. Opponents are batting .220 against Knaak and Clemson is 13-1 in his 14 starts.
Quote of note:"When you do accomplish something and you have these checkpoint moments that are these awesome memory-making things along the way, you got to go all in and celebrate that. So, it would have been an opportunity missed if we didn't jump into the Clemson Cafe and hang out with everyone in the cheap seats throwing beer on us." — Erik Bakich on the postgame celebration after the regional-clinching win over Coastal Carolina
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