No. 2 Clemson Heads to No. 4 South Carolina for Sunday Matchup

March 3, 2007

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Clemson vs. South Carolina Clemson (7-2), ranked as high as #2 in the nation, will travel to Columbia to take on #4 South Carolina (9-1) on Sunday at Sarge Frye Field in the second of four scheduled matchups between the two rivals during the regular season. First pitch for Sunday’s game between the top-five teams is scheduled for 1:30 PM. The game will be broadcast live on the radio by Clemson Tiger Sports Network. Live stats will be available on Clemson’s athletic website at ClemsonTigers.com. South Carolina defeated Clemson 12-0 on Saturday. The two teams will also play two more contests in April, including on April 11 at 7:15 PM at Doug Kingsmore Stadium and on April 18 at 7:00 PM at Sarge Frye Field.

The Series Clemson and South Carolina have met 276 times on the diamond, with Clemson holding a 162-112-2 lead in the series dating back to 1899. South Carolina is Clemson’s most-played rival in history. On Saturday, South Carolina hit three home runs on its way to a 12-0 victory over the Tigers at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. It was the first time in 166 home games that Clemson was shut out. In 2006, Clemson won three of four meetings with the Gamecocks, including each of the last three games. South Carolina won the first game by a score of 6-2 in Columbia, then the Tigers won 6-4 the following day at Clemson. In April, Clemson won by scores of 3-2 (at Columbia) and 10-5 (at Clemson). The two teams split the four-game season series in both 2004 and 2005. The Gamecocks hold a 70-65-2 lead over Clemson all-time in games played at South Carolina. Tiger Head Coach Jack Leggett is 27-21 against South Carolina as Clemson’s head coach, including a 14-9 record in games played at South Carolina. The Tigers are 13-13 against a top-10 Gamecock club under Leggett as well.

The Starting Pitchers South Carolina will start sophomore righty Mike Cisco (1-0, 3.86 ERA) on the mound. The Mount Pleasant, SC native has made three starts for a total of 18.2 innings pitched. He has yielded 17 hits (.236 opponents’ batting average) and three walks with 18 strikeouts. The Tigers will counter with sophomore lefty Ryan Hinson (0-0, 1.00 ERA) on Sunday. The Rock Hill, SC native has made two starts for a total of 9.0 innings pitched. He has yielded 11 hits (.314 opponents’ batting average) and four walks with seven strikeouts. Hinson has made two appearances, including one start, against the Gamecocks in his career. In that start as a freshman in Columbia on April 5, 2006, he allowed just one run on six hits with seven strikeouts in 5.0 innings pitched in the Tigers’ 3-2 victory.

The Gamecocks South Carolina, led by 11th-year Head Coach Ray Tanner, enters Sunday’s game with a 9-1 overall record after downing #2 Clemson 12-0 on Saturday and sweeping Eastern Michigan in three games last weekend. The Gamecocks are ranked as high as #4 in the country and have a 3-0 home record. South Carolina has outscored its opponents by a combined score of 90-27 this season. Offensively, the team is hitting .315 with 19 home runs, and 63 walks against only 54 strikeouts. The team has swiped eight bases in 11 attempts and has 10 sacrifice bunts as well. Phil Disher is hitting a team-best .421 with four doubles, four home runs, and 17 RBIs. Freshman Lonnie Chisenhall is hitting .383 with seven extra-base hits, seven multi-hit games, and 10 RBIs, while Cheyne Hurst is batting .409. James Darnell is hitting has a team-high five home runs along with 12 RBIs. The pitching staff has a 2.18 ERA and .204 opponents’ batting average. The team has allowed just three home runs and 26 walks with 96 strikeouts, good for a 3.7 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Junior righty Curtis Johnson has the team’s lone save. The Gamecocks have one of the nation’s best defenses, as they have committed just five errors in 10 games, good for a .986 fielding percentage.

The Tigers Clemson enters Sunday’s game against #4 South Carolina with a 7-2 overall record after falling to #4 South Carolina 12-0 on Saturday and rallying to defeat Winthrop 6-4 on Wednesday. Sunday’s game will be Clemson’s first away from home in 2007. Each of Clemson’s last eight games has seen the team trail by at least two runs, as the Tigers have a 6-2 record in those eight games. The team is hitting .282 with a .374 on-base percentage. Brad Chalk is hitting .412 with a .512 on-base percentage, and has reached base via a hit or walk in 36 straight games. Doug Hogan is hitting .433 with four homers, two triples, and seven RBIs, while Taylor Harbin is hitting .294 with a homer and eight RBIs. The pitching staff has a 3.49 ERA and .255 opponents’ batting average. It has combined to strike out 77 against only 25 walks. Veteran relievers Stephen Clyne and Daniel Moskos have combined to allow no runs in 17.1 innings pitched this season. The Tigers are fielding at a .964 clip as well.

Gamecocks Shut Out Clemson 12-0 South Carolina, ranked #4 in the country, hit three home runs on its way to a 12-0 victory over #2 Clemson at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on March 3. The shutout broke Clemson’s streak of 165 consecutive home games of scoring at least one run dating back to 2002. Justin Smoak had a game-high three hits and three RBIs, including a two-run homer. Phil Disher and James Darnell each hit three-run homers and totaled four RBIs, while the Tigers had just two hits the entire game. South Carolina also left just three runners on base and had 12 hits in the game. Harris Honeycutt pitched 7.0 innings, allowing two hits, no runs, and four walks with seven strikeouts to record the win.