Gamecocks Rally Past Tigers

Trent Kline's run-scoring single in the ninth inning propelled No. 4 South Carolina to a 3-2 victory over No. 2 Clemson in front of 5,913 fans at Sarge Frye Field on Sunday afternoon.

The Gamecocks won both weekend games in the home-and-home series. The two teams will play twice more during the 2007 regular season in April.

The Gamecocks improved to 10-1, while Clemson fell to 7-3. It was Clemson's first one-run defeat in 2007, as it dropped to 3-1 in one-run contests.

Will Atwood (1-0) earned the victory by pitching a scoreless ninth inning. Starter Mike Cisco limited Clemson to one run on five hits in 6.2 innings pitched. Daniel Moskos (2-1) suffered the loss. Tiger starter Ryan Hinson pitched 6.0 effective innings, allowing four hits, one run, and one walk with five strikeouts. Three Clemson pitchers combined to not allow a hit from the second inning until there were two outs in the eighth inning.

Clemson, who outhit the Gamecocks 8-7, were led at the plate by Andy D'Alessio and Marquez Smith, who had two hits apiece. Phil Disher and Kline each had two hits to lead South Carolina. Disher also had the game's only extra-base hit, a two-out, run-scoring double in the eighth inning.

Travis Jones led off the first inning with a single up the middle and went to third on Lonnie Chisenhall's single through the right side. Two batters later, Disher laced a 1-2 pitch up the middle for an RBI single to plate Jones.

Neither team scored until the seventh inning when the Tigers tied the score. Brad Chalk led off with a single up the middle. Taylor Harbin reached on a fielder's choice to third base, but Chalk was retired at second after James Darnell snagged a chopper. D'Alessio followed with a sharp single through the right side, advancing Harbin to third. Smith finally got the Tigers on the scoreboard with a single through the left side, scoring Harbin.

Clemson took the lead in the eighth inning. Wilson Boyd led off with a single through the right side. J.D. Burgess' sacrifice bunt moved pinch-runner D.J. Mitchell to second. Addison Johnson then came through with a single through the right side to score Mitchell. It was the freshman's first career RBI. The ball got past Chisenhall in right field, allowing Johnson to advance to third base on the error. But Chalk and Harbin were both retired to keep the score 2-1.

South Carolina tied the score in the bottom of the eighth inning after the first two batters were retired. Chisenhall drew a walk and Justin Smoak followed with a sharp single up the middle on a 1-2 pitch that went off Moskos' glove. Disher then lined a double to left-center to score Chisenhall, but Smoak was retired at the plate on a perfect relay throw from Harbin to keep the score tied 2-2.

The Gamecocks sent their fans home happy with a run in the ninth. Darnell led off with a walk and advanced to second on Steven Reinhold's sacrifice bunt. After Jon Willard was intentionally walked, Kline lined a one-hopper right to Harbin at short. Harbin, who was shielded from seeing the ball by Darnell, could not come up with the ball cleanly on what could have been an inning-ending double play. The ball rolled into shallow left field and Darnell scored the winning run.

Clemson will play host to Coastal Carolina on Wednesday at 4:00 PM.