Two Grand Slams Lift South Carolina to 21-8 Victory

March 3, 2001

CLEMSON, S.C. – 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.

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 in a home game 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.