First-year South Carolina baseball coach Paul Mainieri will get his first taste of the Palmetto Series rivalry with Clemson this weekend Jeff Blake Jeff Blake Photo It’s time for the 2025 Palmetto Series.

Paul Mainieri will have to wait for his first Palmetto Series win. Clemson baseball continued its hot start and clinched a series win over South Carolina and Mainieri with a 5-1 victory at Fluor Field in Greenville on Saturday.

Paul Mainieri leads South Carolina baseball through early season successes, focusing on beating Clemson, showcasing strong pitching, and improving offense.

The idea that tensions would rise to that extreme between himself and current Clemson coach Erik Bakich seems impossible to Mainieri. Though the first-year USC coach admitted he didn’t know Bakich much, they have a great mutual friend in East Carolina coach Cliff Godwin, who has always said great things about Bakich, his former college teammate.

I’ve never seen anything like it. ... I’m starting to think fans care more about how we do against Clemson than how we do in the SEC.”

The South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team won a pair of midweek games against Davidson 9-3 on Tuesday night and The Citadel 9-1 on Wednesday night. Read more:

South Carolina's new head baseball coach Paul Mainieri had a chance to speak with the media today ahead of the upcoming series against No. 13 Clemson. He discus

The South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team was swept by the No. 13 Clemson Tigers over the weekend in the Palmetto Series. It ends a previously undefeated season for Paul Mainieri's Gamecocks.