#4 South Carolina Hits Four Homers to Clip #13 Clemson 4-2 Wednesday

April 18, 2007

Columbia, SC –

Fourth-ranked South Carolina hit four solo home runs in the first three innings and held on to defeat #13 Clemson 4-2 Wednesday in front of 5,821 fans at Sarge Frye Field. The Gamecocks improved to 30-8 overall, while the Tigers fell to 25-11.

The two rivals will face each other for the final game of the regular-season series on April 25 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Gamecocks lead the season series 3-0, meaning 2007 marks the first time since 2001 that the Gamecocks will capture the regular-season series since 2001.

Travis Jones, Harley Lail, James Darnell, and Justin Smoak each hit solo home runs for South Carolina. Andy D’Alessio went 2-for-4 with a homer, double, and two RBIs. Wilson Boyd also had two hits and extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

Gamecock starter Mike Cisco (3-2) limited the Tigers to just four hits and one run while striking out five in 6.0 innings pitched to earn the win. Will Atwood picked up his first save as well.

Freshman starter Matt Zoltak (1-3) suffered the loss for the Tigers, as he yielded three home runs in 2.1 innings pitched. Matt Vaughn pitched 4.2 solid innings in relief. He allowed just one run on three hits.

The Gamecocks wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the first inning, as Jones hit an opposite-field solo homer to right field. It was his 11th long ball of the year.

South Carolina tacked on three more runs with three solo home runs in the third inning. Lail led off with his fourth long ball of the season, a solo shot to left field. Two batters later, Darnell blasted another homer to right-center. It was his 13th home run of the season. Smoak followed with the Gamecock’s fourth homer of the game, a solo shot to right-center. It was his 12th home run of the year.

The Tigers scratched with a run in the fourth inning, as Marquez Smith tripled to center and scored on a groundout to second by D’Alessio.

After four scoreless innings, D’Alessio blasted a two-out solo homer to center in the ninth inning. It was his fourth home run of the season. It was also the 46th of his career, including his first against South Carolina.

After 15 straight days without a home game, Clemson will return to play host to Virginia in a three-game series this weekend beginning Friday at 7:15 PM.