Gamecocks, Tigers bringing baseball rivalry to Riley Park in 2012

CLEMSON -- The South Carolina and Clemson baseball rivalry is likely headed to Charleston next year.

The teams have a verbal agreement to play a neutral site game at Charleston's Riley Park next spring, Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips confirmed Monday.

The deal is expected to be for two years, 2012 and 2013. The neutral site game is set to be played March 2 at the home of the Charleston Riverdogs. The game will be the first of a three-game, three-day series with the second game played in Columbia followed with the finale in Clemson.

For the past two years, the Tigers and Gamecocks have played a three-game series in March, with a game at each home field and one neutral site game in Greenville.

South Carolina was 2-0 in the two games played at Greenville's Fluor Field.

The rivalry is heating up as the Gamecocks have won back-to-back national titles in baseball, and this spring there was controversy surrounding whether South Carolina was warming its bats to increase offensive performance.

The Gamecocks hold a 5-3 edge against Clemson the last two seasons, including a 4-0 record in neutral site games. Clemson has advanced to the Super Regionals in two of the last three years and advanced to six College World Series under coach Jack Leggett but has not won a College World Series title.