No. 4 South Carolina beats No. 10 Clemson 5-4

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina's bats may not have been fired up, but coach Ray Tanner was following the Gamecocks' 5-4 victory over Clemson in Tuesday night's rubber game of a three-game series between two of the nation's top teams.

Jack Williams drilled a pitch-hit, three-run homer in the seventh inning and closer Matt Price came in to quash a ninth-inning Clemson rally before 7,125 at Fluor Field.

At his post-game news conference, the normally easy-going Tanner voiced his displeasure at remarks and allegations he attributed to the Tigers (7-3) in the two days since their victory over the Gamecocks (9-1) at Clemson.

“I didn't appreciate it. I'm offended by it,” Tanner said. “I don't cheat. I don't allow my players cheat. We haven't done anything wrong. We were called out a little bit.”

The bad blood started in the first inning Sunday when the Tigers questioned whether Gamecock slugger Jackie Bradley Jr. had applied heat to his bat before hitting a homer to left field. During a post-game interview, a Tiger player referred to a Gamecock pitcher as “soft.”

The teams sniped back and forth over the next two days, though Tanner said no rule bans teams from using devices to keep their bats warm. Umpires warned both benches early in Tuesday's game.

Tanner said his relationship with Clemson coach Jack Leggett had suffered. But he said he wouldn't make the first move and call Leggett.

“It's OK to be emotional,” Tanner said. “I'm proud of our players. We responded. These guys were offended by some of their comments.”

“It's a rivalry,” Leggett said of the bad blood. “We can expect that at times.”

Prior to Tuesday's game, Gamecock players gathered and rubbed their hands together in an effort to poke fun at the Tigers' bat-heating allegations.

“We were just a little fired up and ready to get back on the field and show we were a tougher team than them,” Bradley said.

The defending national champion Gamecocks, who beat the Tigers twice at last year's College World Series, are No. 4 in the Baseball America college poll. The Tigers are No. 10.

Williams, who grew up in the Greenville area, hit the second pitch from Clemson left-hander Joseph Moorefield over the left-field wall to break a 1-1 tie.

Tanner brought in Williams when Leggett brought in the Moorefield to replace Alex Frederick (0-1).

Leggett thought Gamecock left-handed hitter Michael Roth was entering the game to pitch-hit, but said that it wouldn't have changed his decision to bring in Moorefield.

“It was as special as it can be,” Williams said of his long home run over the faux Fenway Green Monster. “I didn't have time to think. I just put my gloves on and went to the plate.”

Bradley joked that Clemson should have checked Williams' bat.

Richie Shaffer homered in the fourth inning to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Tiger starter David Haselden threw six shutout innings. Reliever Forrest Koumas (1-0) earned the victory with 2 1/3 shutout innings before getting knocked out in the Tigers' three-run ninth. Adam Westmoreland allowed only Shaffer's homer in 5 1/3 innings for the Gamecocks.

Price struck out pinch-hitter Jon McGibbon for the final out with Will Lamb on third after a triple into the right-field corner. Tanner said if he had complaints about the Tigers, he would go directly to Leggett.

“ If I've got a problem, I'll handle it personally,” Tanner said. “I would have really appreciated it if he would have confronted me face to face about any situation. He never has done that.”