The heat is on

"And this right here is our dugout brick oven, just in case we get hungry ... or something."

Pretty sure that last week in this space, someone carried on about how cool it was that Clemson's baseball rivalry with South Carolina is so civil and respectful.

How it's such a nice respite from all the bitterness and spitefulness and pettiness that have colored the football rivalry for so long. How there's such a healthy respect between the coaches, and even the fans.

So it only makes perfect sense for the Tigers and Gamecocks to debunk those notions by going out and turning the heat from simmering to boiling.

And you won't hear any complaints from me. As neat as it is for these two programs to co-exist relatively peacefully -- relative to football, that is -- the bickering and the animosity is a good thing because it makes things more interesting.

It all started Friday night in Columbia, when South Carolina scored all six of its runs off two-run bombs. Word from the Clemson camp is that the Gamecocks' bats were hot to the touch when Tigers catcher Spencer Kieboom grabbed them to toss them aside.

So you assume Clemson carries some suspicion into Sunday's game at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, and that suspicion turns into conviction after Jackie Bradley mashes that opposite-field homer in the first inning.

First of all, this heating-the-bats thing is a new one on me. Does a heated bat create more power by altering the physical composition of the bat? Are there even rules in place that forbid the heating of bats?

Gamecocks assistant Chad Holbrook was fuming yesterday when asked about this on a Columbia radio station, according to The Post and Courier.

Holbrook said that was true -- but USC was using readily available sunlight to do so.

"Maybe Clemson needs to be asked what the problem was," Holbrook said Monday on the team's flagship station, WNKT-FM (107.5 "The Game"). "All I know is it never has been a part of anything going on. You can't do anything to these bats. You try like crazy to keep them as warm as you can. You don't want them cold.

"We've got some players with some injury problems, with their thumbs, because they vibrate so bad. There's nothing in a rulebook. There's nothing, anything written down anywhere whatsoever that (says) keeping the bat in the sunlight makes the bat perform better."

Holbrook then pointed out the Gamecocks finished with five hits in Clemson's 10-5 come-from-behind victory.

"They outperformed us. You've got to tip your hat to them," Holbrook said. "I really don't know what the accusation was. I can assure you there's nothing -- never has been, never will be -- anything from a rules-breaking standpoint going on in our dugout."

Good stuff.

There's also some figurative heat that's been added to the rivalry, thanks to Will Lamb. After Sunday's 10-5 win, Lamb was asked by Greg Wallace of the Independent-Mail what the win meant given the Tigers' devastating losses to the Gamecocks last year in the College World Series.

“We got that two-run inning off Webb and we kind of rattled him,” Lamb said. “We knew he was kind of a soft kid…. he pitched well but gave up a few more hits and he was rattled.”

Lamb was referring to Gamecocks starter Ty Webb, who lasted just three innings Sunday. Webb also started against Clemson once last year and didn't make it out of the second inning in a 19-6 Tigers rout. So a strong case can be made that Clemson has reason to view Webb the way a 15-foot alligator views a Shih Tzu puppy.

South Carolina pitcher Michael Roth took exception to the comments.

"It doesn't matter who it is about. You call one of us out, you call all of us out."

Tanner didn't approve, either.

"I don't think there's a place in the game for any of those kind of comments. Sometimes young people say things they shouldn't say. In (his) case, if he said it, I would advise against it."

So consider my initial stance on the rivalry amended. A little spice sprinkled on top is always nice.

LW