Clemson’s Boyd makes Gamecocks pay in baseball series opener

CLEMSON — As Wilson Boyd saw Kyle Enders stand and move to the right of home plate, he got excited.

South Carolina was gunning for him.

Clemson’s senior center fielder has been locked in a nasty slump to start 2010, with his average dipping near .200 as Gamecock reliever Michael Roth intentionally walked Kyle Parker, the Tigers’ hottest hitter.

So what? With the winning run at third base in the bottom of the eighth Friday night, Boyd was ready for his moment.

“Honestly, I like it,” Boyd said of receiving the pitch-around strategy. “It’s exciting to me. It’s like, ‘Oh well, OK.’ That’s part of it.”

Boyd made South Carolina pay for its hubris, lining the game-winning single past shortstop Bobby Haney and lifting Clemson to a 4-3 win over the Gamecocks in the opener of a three-game weekend series.

No. 13 Clemson improved to 8-0, while No.15 USC fell to 5-3.

The series shifts to Greenville’s Fluor Field today for a 2 p.m. neutral-site game, followed by Sunday’s 2 p.m. series finale at Columbia’s Carolina Stadium.

On a chilly night before 6,346 in Doug Kingsmore Stadium, Boyd was the clear hero, turning USC’s decision on its ear.

“That’s their strategy and it could have worked out for them,” he said. “But it kind of gets me going, and gets me in the zone. I was excited for that at-bat.”

With DH Chris Epps at third and two out, USC coach Ray Tanner elected to walk Parker, who, with a .451 average, is Clemson’s hottest hitter.

It was a classic by-the-book move; Boyd was 0-3 on the night, hitting .208.

“It’s probably something you think about doing at the time,” Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. “Just putting another runner on base, that’s the only problem, and Parker is a dangerous player. Will hits lefties pretty good. So I felt pretty comfortable when he came in the box.”

Following a failed bunt attempt, Boyd lined a dribbler past Haney’s glove, scoring Epps for a 4-3 lead.

“A guy like that, you’ve got to bury your front shoulder, focus on the six-hole, opposite field up the middle,” Boyd said of Roth. “That’s what I was doing up there for that at-bat.”

Tanner was comfortable with his strategy, despite the results.

“Absolutely,” he said. “Just play the numbers, play the personnel. We got a ground ball and it went in the hole, base hit. “

Reliever David Haselden finished the Gamecocks in the ninth, allowing a one-out walk and striking out Scott Wingo to end the game.

He picked up his second win of the season with four innings of no-hit ball, striking out three and walking one. It was an impressive outing considering he entered Friday with 3 1/3 innings total for the season.

“I had to focus on making my pitch and not letting all that other stuff get in the way,” Haselden said. “That was about all I could do.”

Leggett was very pleased with Haselden’s effort.

“He’s consistent for us,” Leggett said. “He throws strikes, has a pretty good breaking ball and throws his fastball well, and spots that thing up, the ball dips and dives away from a lefthander. He’s in control, a level-headed pitcher for us, he’s consistent. You know what you’re going to get every time.”

After Casey Harman escaped a two-on, two-out situation in the top of the first, Clemson got a boost from an unlikely source. Epps — who entered the game hitting .143 with no homers or RBI — deposited a Blake Cooper pitch just over the left field wall for a leadoff homer and 1-0 lead.

Second baseman Mike Freeman struck out, but left fielder Jeff Schaus continued the fun with a jack of his own, taking Cooper over the right-center field fence for the second solo shot of the inning and a 2-0 Tiger advantage.

“They jumped on us in the first,” Tanner said. “I thought they were going to knock the fences down.”

South Carolina struck back in the third.

With one out, right fielder Whit Merrifield reached on an infield single down the third base line. Jackie Bradley Jr. followed with a single to left, and Christian Walker’s fly-out moved Merrifield to third.

Enders — who started the night hitting .450 — cashed both runners in with a double to the right field corner; Bradley slid in to tie the game as Parker’s throw went left of the plate.

Cooper settled in, and the Gamecocks finally took the lead in the sixth. Enders lashed a leadoff double to right center, and Harman pitched around Nick Ebert for a walk, ending his night at 94 pitches.

Haselden entered, and left fielder Robert Beary laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, moving the runners to second and third. That brought up third baseman Adrian Morales, who looped a liner to right field. Parker caught it, saving a run, but Enders scored on the sacrifice fly for a 3-2 lead.

It didn’t last long.

With one out in the seventh, shortstop Brad Miller walked and went to second on John Nester’s groundout.

No. 9 hitter Jason Stolz — hitting .211 entering the game — cashed Miller in with a single to left, tying the game at 3.

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