No. 7 Gamecocks Slam Tigers, 21-8

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CLEMSON -- The crew that moved the fences ten feet in earlier this season at

Doug Kingsmore Stadium would have done the Tigers a big favor Saturday by

moving them ten feet out.

No. 7 South Carolina (13-0) hit three home runs in the first two innings and

buried No. 14 Clemson (6-4) early. The Gamecocks beat the Tigers 21-8 in

front of 4,113, most of which left after the first two innings when Clemson

trailed by 10 and the rain arrived.

It drizzled constantly from that point on, but not hard enough to help the

Tigers by raining out the game.

Clemson starter Jared Schmidt walked South Carolina's first four hitters.

Tim Whittaker then sent a Schmidt pitch over the right field fence to give

South Carolina a 4-0 lead. The ball landed outside the current fence and in

front of the old fence, which is still in place.

The next batter, Tripp Kelly, then hit a home run off Schmidt that cleared

both fences for a 5-0 lead before the Tigers could record an out. Schmidt,

who didn't lose a game last year, left the game after Kelly's home run. This

season, however, he hasn't made it longer than 5 2/3 innings in three

starts.

In the second, off Clemson's Mike Henrie, Whittaker drove in three more runs

with a double. Four batters later Bryon Jeffcoat hit a grand slam that gave

South Carolina a 12-2 lead.

Gamecocks celebrate a HR.

"You want to make sure you're up early," said Jeffcoat. "We just kept

pouring it on and pouring it on and we kept our confidence up."

Clemson scored two runs in the first and third innings.

Ryan Riley led off Clemson's half of the first with a homerun. Kyle Frank

drove in Jeff Baker with a single to cut the lead to 5-2.

In the fourth, with South Carolina up 13-2, Frank drove in Kahlil Greene

with a single. Steven Jackson then hit a double down the line to drive in

Frank. That cut the lead to 13-4, but South Carolina added to the lead in

the top of the fourth.

Bouknight gave up 6 runs in 6 innings.

South Carolina's Matt Riddle added another home run in the top of the sixth.

He hit a shot over the 400-foot sign in centerfield to give South Carolina a

16-4 lead.

Clemson added two in the bottom of the sixth on a homerun by Jeff Baker.

Jeffcoat added a 3-run homerun in the top of the seventh to give South

Carolina a 20-6 lead. He hit a solo-homerun in the top of the ninth, his

third of the game.

"We didn't play well early in the game pitching wise," said Clemson coach

Jack Leggett. "We just didn't give ourselves a chance to win."

The two teams play again Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in Columbia.

Staff Report: Two Grand Slams Lift South Carolina to 21-8 Victory

Four different players homered for the Tigers.

CLEMSON - South Carolina used grand slams by Tim Whittaker in the

first inning and Byron Jeffcoat in the second inning on its way to a

21-8 win over Clemson (6-4) on a rainy Saturday at Doug Kingsmore

Stadium. Starter Kip Bouknight (4-0) pitched six innings for the

undefeated Gamecocks (13-0) while Clemson's Jarrod Schmidt (1-2)

picked up the loss.

After the first three batters of the game walked, Whittaker sent a

shot over the fence in right-center field. Tripp Kelly hit a solo

home run two batters later that knocked Schmidt out of the game and

gave South Carolina a 5-0 lead. Clemson responed in the bottom of the

inning with a home run by leadoff batter Ryan Riley and an RBI single

by Kyle Frank to make it 5-2.

Casey Stone pulls the pitch down the line.

South Carolina exploded for seven runs in the second inning after a

three-run double by Whitaker and Jeffcoat's grand slam four batters

later. The offensive attack continued as the Gamecocks scored in each

of the game's first four innings. The biggest lead of the game came

after a three-run home run by Jeffcoat in the seventh inning that

made it 20-6. Jeffcoat's third home run of the game in the ninth

inning gave South Carolina 21 runs, the most allowed by Clemson since

1956 against Georgia Tech.

Third baseman Jeff Baker and first baseman Michael Johnson each went

2-4 with two-run home runs to lead the Tigers.

The two teams will play Sunday in Columbia at 1:30 PM. The game will

be broadcast by WGOG-FM (96.3) in Walhalla.

South Carolina 21 (13-0)

Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A


Marcus McBeth cf..........  5  2  1  0    1  2  3  0


Drew Meyer ss.............  4  3  1  1    2  0  0  2


Brennan Dees rf...........  5  4  2  1    1  1  3  0


Tim Whittaker c...........  5  2  3  7    1  1  7  0


Garris Gonce lf...........  5  2  2  1    0  2  2  0


Trey Dyson dh.............  4  0  0  0    0  0  0  0


 Kevin Melillo dh.......... 1  1  0  0    0  0  0  0


 Landon Powell dh.......... 1  0  0  0    0  1  0  0


Tripp Kelly 1b............  5  3  3  3    1  0  8  1


Bryon Jeffcoat 2b.........  6  3  5  8    0  0  0  0


Chris Plummer 3b..........  5  1  1  0    0  2  3  3


 Chris Bono 3b/ph.......... 1  0  0  0    0  1  0  0


 Steve Thomas 3b........... 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0


Kip Bouknight p...........  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  1


 Blake Taylor p............ 0  0  0  0    0  0  1  1


Totals.................... 47 21 18 21    6 10 27  8





Clemson University 8 (6-4)


Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A


Ryan Riley 2b/ss..........  5  1  1  1    1  1  1  0


Casey Stone lf............  4  1  1  0    1  0  1  0


Khalil Greene ss..........  5  0  2  0    0  1  1  3


 Russell Triplett 2b....... 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0


Jeff Baker 3b.............  4  3  2  2    0  1  0  4


Chad Coder cf.............  4  0  0  0    1  2  1  0


Kyle Frank rf.............  5  1  2  1    0  0  1  0


Jarrod Schmidt p/dh.......  4  1  1  1    1  0  0  0


Michael Johnson 1b........  4  1  2  2    1  1 13  0


Seth Miller c.............  2  0  1  1    0  1  3  2


 Steve Pyzik c............. 2  0  0  0    0  0  5  0


 Matt Henrie p............. 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0


 Kevin Lynn p.............. 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0


 Paul Harrelson p.......... 0  0  0  0    0  0  1  1


 B.J. LaMura p............. 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0


Totals.................... 39  8 12  8    5  7 27 10




Score by innings:                      R  H  E


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South Carolina        571 201 401   - 21 18  1


Clemson University    202 002 002   -  8 12  2


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E - Plummer(2), RILEY(4), GREENE(2).


LOB - S. Carolina 6, Clemson 11.


2B - Whittaker(8), Gonce 2(3), GREENE(1), MILLER(3).


HR - Meyer(2), Whittaker(3), Kelly(1), Jeffcoat 3(6), 


RILEY(1), BAKER(4), SCHMIDT(2), JOHNSON(4).


SB - Plummer(1). CS - Jeffcoat(2).


SF - MILLER(1).


South Carolina         IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB BF


Kip Bouknight.......  6.0   8   6   6   5   5  25 32


Blake Taylor........  3.0   4   2   2   0   2  14 14





Clemson University     IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB BF


Jarrod Schmidt......  0.2   2   5   5   3   1   4  7


Matt Henrie.........  0.1   3   5   4   1   0   5  7


Kevin Lynn..........  1.0   3   3   3   1   2   7  8


Paul Harrelson......  4.0   6   3   3   1   2  17 18


B.J. LaMura.........  3.0   4   5   4   0   5  14 14




Win - Bouknight 4-0.  Loss - SCHMIDT 1-2.  Save - Taylor (1).


WP - Bouknight(2), HARRELSON(1). PB - MILLER(2). BK - Bouknight(1).


HBP - by HENRIE (Gonce), by Bouknight (BAKER).


Umpires - Home:John MaGNUSSON  1st:Tony Maners  3rd:Jeff Head


Start: 3:01 PM   Time: 3:14   Attendance: 4113


HENRIE faced 5 batters in the 2nd.


LYNN faced 2 batters in the 3rd.

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