LSU vs. South Carolina
At 6’6″, 247 lbs. and flashing a 100+ mph fastball that carries into late innings, Paul Skenes is undoubtedly the biggest thing in college baseball right now. On this night in Columbia, South Carolina, he was taking the mound against the Gamecocks, a team that has surprised its SEC foes and appears to be a real threat to return to its glory years of the late-aughts and early-2010s.
I happened to be visiting my brother’s family in Charlotte for the weekend, as were my LSU alumni parents, so we decided to make the 1.5-hour drive to Columbia to take in the first of a three-game series between the Tigers and Cocks.
We arrived about 45 minutes before first pitch and found cheap parking just off of Whaley Street, a short walk from the ballpark. Founders Park is located along the Congaree River just off campus, down Blossom Street from the South Carolina campus and Greek Village.
I’ll be honest: in my half-dozen trips to Columbia, I’ve never really figured out exactly where USC’s campus begins and ends. That’s partially due to Williams-Brice Stadium being located a couple of miles from campus, but also because the campus is laid out oddly close to Downtown Columbia without any single line of delineation between the two. If you walk just a few steps too far away from The Horseshoe — South Carolina’s historic main quad — you find yourself on the grounds of the State House. Or you can take a stroll through Downtown and suddenly see a sign for a University of South Carolina parking lot. Are you now on campus or are you still off? I’m not sure anyone really knows.
Founders Park is one of the largest in the SEC and, by virtue of that fact, one of the largest in all of college baseball. It’s also very well constructed, being one of the early SEC venues — along with Alex Box Stadium at LSU and Baum-Walker Stadium at Arkansas — to be both huge by college standards and more akin to minor league ballparks in its quality, premium seating, and amenities.
We entered through the southeastern gate, where there’s a playground area for kids as soon as you walk in. As you continue in down the first-base line towards home plate, concession stands wrap around a wide open concourse that provides about 140-degree views of the playing field, and the aroma of ballpark food emanating from those stands is incredibly alluring.
Above the open concourse are club suites and the press box, which I’m sure are luxurious. But I can’t imagine sitting up there and missing the buzz and energy of an SEC series opener moving through the main concourse below.
It was apparent very early on that Gamecocks fans were amped up, ready to go, and very into the game. As visiting fans, we also noticed that they were extremely chirpy — both in the typically maniacal left field bleachers, but also along the 3rd base line where we sat.
Even more so than other SEC baseball environments I’ve visited, this chirping was focused much more sharply and directly at the visiting fans, not the players or umpires on the field.
Fortunately, we sat near a half-dozen Carolina old-timers who rooted fiercely for their team but were a delight to have as seating neighbors. They were able to share long-passed stories of the evolution of USC baseball while working in hilarious anecdotes of pranks done at rival Clemson‘s expense.
Still, the chirpiest among us got the upper hand, as the Gamecock bats beat up on Skenes early. South Carolina torched two deep home runs off Skenes fastballs, depositing them in the outfield seats to take a 3-1 lead after 3 innings. And then the skies opened up…
Light rain and lightning in the area led to a 65-minute weather delay, enough to send both starting pitchers to the bench for the remainder of the game. During the wet intermission, I grabbed food and beers with the fam, but also had time to walk around and take a closer look at some of the other ballpark features, including:
- Picnic table/umbrella seating in the left field corner
- An elevated party deck along the first-base line
- Grass berm seating down the first base line beneath the concourse level
- Standing room only space in right field
- National Championship trophy display near the entrance
- Bleacher creature seating in left field; and
- Iconic South Carolina palm trees lining the far reaches of right field.
After returning to play with a scoreless 4th inning, South Carolina continued to batter the Tigers in the bottom of the 5th inning, scoring 5 runs accentuated by a grand slam from Gamecocks cleanup hitter Ethan Petry.
Carolina tacked on another run in the 6th to take a 9-1 lead. In spite of LSU’s attempt to make up ground in the late innings, South Carolina was able to match the Tigers nearly run-for-run, holding on for a well-earned 13-5 victory.
In taking down Skenes and the highly-regarded Tigers, the Gamecocks proved to be a confident team clicking on all cylinders. This is a team that can beat anyone on any given day and is a real threat to make it back to Omaha.
And in case you were wondering …
Yes, they play Sandstorm at baseball games, too.
Enjoy.
CFB Travel Guy 