Homegrown Hennessy takes the mound Friday night in college baseball's greatest rivalry
CLEMSON – College baseball’s greatest rivalry is back.
The Clemson-South Carolina traveling rivalry series begins Friday night in Columbia at 7:00 PM. The teams will then travel to Greenville for Saturday’s game and Clemson on Sunday to cap it off.
The Tigers are undefeated this season while the Gamecocks are coming off of two consecutive losses to in-state opponents Furman and Charleston Southern.
Clemson head coach Monte Lee has spent plenty of time on both sides of the rivalry. From 2003-08, Lee was on staff at South Carolina as a volunteer assistant head coach before taking a head coaching job at College of Charleston, his alma mater.
The homegrown head coach knows exactly what this rivalry is all about and what it means to the people in the of South Carolina.
In a word: it’s special.
“I grew up in the state of South Carolina, I’m the head coach at Clemson, and everyone knows I’ve been an assistant at South Carolina so I’ve been on both sides of it,” Lee said. “It’s definitely a special series to me because it means so much to the people of South Carolina. We are the
Yankees and the Red Sox for the people of South Carolina.”
Lee has many great memories of the series’ he’s been a part of. Last year’s was the first that came to mind.
You remember that one – when Seth Beer stepped to the plate, down 3-2 with two outs in the ninth, was down to Clemson’s final strike before he belted a hanging curveball out of Founders Park in Columbia to tie the game. Clemson went on to win the game and take the series for the third year in a row - Yeah, that one.
This year there will be new memories to be made.
It all starts with Jacob Hennessey, who will get his third career start in one of the most hostile environments he'll face.
The sophomore from Moore, South Carolina near Spartanburg is another homegrown individual who knows the South Carolina-Clemson series all too well. Except Hennessy only knows the rivalry from one side.
Hennessy grew up a big fan of the Tigers and had always wanted to play for them. He’s never been a big fan of the garnet and black. The No. 2 left-handed pitcher in South Carolina committed to Clemson early on in his high school career.
“Outside of baseball, (Clemson) is such a great school,” Hennessy said. “It really does have that ‘family’ atmosphere. The program is unbelievable with great players and a great coaching staff.”
Even though Hennessy will be a first-time starter against the Gamecocks, he does have some experience against them. He pitched in all three games of the series last year coming out of the bullpen. It was an experience he will hone in on when he arrives in Columbia on Friday night.
“It really helps being in that situation before in that atmosphere,” Hennessy said. “I feel like I handled it very well last year, but always having that experience helps going into it.”
Hennessy settled in last season once he got the first batter out of the way. It was “just another game” except the roar of the crowd was a little bit louder and the excitement to play the game was just a little bit greater. Friday night will be just another night on the mound for him in Columbia.
In two games so far as a starter, Hennessey is 1-0, has a 2.45 ERA, and has pitched 11 innings. He's only thrown walked two batters and has 14 strikeouts.
Friday night will also be a reunion for Hennessy. Not just because he’ll have around 15 family members in attendance, but he’ll be going up against players he grew up playing with. Two players, in particular, are relief pitcher Sawyer Bridges and right fielder TJ Hopkins.
Bridges is one of two pitchers who have any experience pitching against Clemson’s powerful lineup. Hopkins is a player who has torched Clemson in the past. The junior has a .333 average against Clemson and is the only player on South Carolina who is batting over .300 against the Tigers.
It’s sure to be an exciting weekend as these two teams travel across the state. But for two people who grew up around the rivalry so much like Hennessy and Lee, it’ll mean just a little bit more.
“It’s great to be a part of it, that’s for sure,” said Lee. “You got to pinch yourself as a coach – and as a player – to say, ‘I get to play and coach in the greatest rivalry in college baseball.’"