Clemson Rebounds for 7-4 Win Over Gamecocks in Columbia

March 4, 2001

COLUMBIA, SC – Jeff Baker went 5 for 5 with a solo home run in the ninth inning as Clemson cruised to a 7-4 victory over South Carolina Sunday afternoon in front of a record crowd of 6,727 at Sarge Frye Field. With the win the Tigers got revenge for Saturday’s loss to the Gamecocks in Clemson and handed South Carolina its first loss of the season.

Clemson wasted no time in building a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. After singles by Casey Stone and Baker, Chad Coder homered to left field. Coder had his nine-game hitting steak halted in Saturday’s loss but finished Sunday’s game 2 for 5 with four RBI and a run scored.

The Tigers held their lead until the fourth inning. After Clemson starter Steve Reba walked the second and fourth batters of the inning, Gamecock catcher Landon Powell singled to right-center field to score Garris Gonce. Clemson answered with a run in the top of the fifth inning with back to back base hits by Baker and Coder to give the Tigers a 4-1 lead.

South Carolina came back with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to pull within 4-3, but Clemson again countered in the top of the sixth on Michael Johnson’s fifth home run of the year. The Gamecocks scored in the bottom of the sixth but could not respond to Clemson runs in the eighth and ninth innings.

Reba went just four innings for the Tigers, but allowed back-to-back singles in the South Carolina fifth. He was replaced by Nick Glaser, who pitched 2 2/3 innings allowing only two hits and one unearned run in getting his first win of the year against no losses. Gamecock starter Gary Bell fell to 4-1 on the year after allowing seven hits in five innings.

Clemson improved to 7-4 on the year while handing South Carolina its first loss in 14 games of the year. The two teams will meet again in Columbia on April 18 and again in Clemson on April 24.

The Tigers next host the College of Charleston on Wednesday at 3:00 PM at Doug Kingmore Stadium.