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Inside: Schedule USCmen’s tennis freshman Seth Rose wins a Men’s 9°lf at SEC Championships ... , .. ~ .. , „ . (Opelika; Ala.), today-Tue. sixth match in a row, Carolina volleyball wel- i , . . .. , .... _ ' 7 ■ Women s tennis vs. Vanderbilt, 2 p.m. comes new assistant coach a Men’s tennis vs. Vanderbilt, 2 p.m. ■ Softball vs. LSU (DH), 5 p.m. Bouknight, Meyer tame Tigers by David Cloninger Sports Editor When he was tabbed as USC’s start ing pitcher Wednesday, Kip Bouknight made a deal. “I made a deal with [USC reliever Scott] Barber before the game,” Bouknight said. “I said, ‘If I can give you eight strong, I’ll giyg you the ninth.’” Bouknight delivered on his part of the bargain, pitching eight innings, giv ing up seven hits, three runs, three walks and striking out nine on his way to a 6 3 triumph over No. 7 Clemson. Barber closed the door in the ninth, knocking out the only three batters he faced, to give No. 2 USC its 33rd win and break ing a five-game losing streak to the Tigers. Bouknight improved his record to 10-0* while Barber recorded his eighth save of the year and notched his 53rd strikeout. Bouknight also has not given up an extra-base hit in 30 innings. “He came down [to the bullpen] and said, ‘I filled my end, and now it’s time to uphold your end,”’ Barber said. “I went out there, and luckily I was able to do that.” The game started out with a bad omen, when Clemson head coach Jack Leggett prepared for his pre-game ritual. Before every Tiger home game, Leggett runs and dives on to the ground in the middle of his players. Leggett stumbled on the start of his run Wednes day, perhaps foreshadowing what was about to happen to his starting pitcher. Clemson senior Scott Bemey came into the game with a 7-2 record and an ACC-leading 1.46 ERA. Known for his pinpoint control, Bemey bore down on leadoff hitter Nate Janow icz. The senior outfielder belted Berney’s third pitch through the middle for a single. USC’s other hero of the night, freshman shortstop Drew Meyer, stepped in next to face Bemey. Meyer watched the first two pitches miss the outside comer, and stepped out of the batter’s box for instructions from head coach Ray Tanner. “I was half-heartedly giving him the take, and it was not a good signal,” Tanner said. “He thought I was telling him to take a look at the third baseman.” Meyer stepped back in and crushed Bemey’s next offering over the right field fence for a two-run lead. “Getting that home run didn’t hurt,” Mey er said. “We realized we could take control of this game, and we did.” The two-run cushion was all Bouknight needed to fulfill his obligation, as he received timely defense and clutch hits for the victory. “It’s the first time in my career we beat them here,” Bouknight said. “It was a big win, and I’m very proud of our guys.” Berney was chased from the game in the fourth inning after loading the bases with one out. The score was 3-0 at that point, stemming from a Brandon Pack solo home run in the sec ond inning. After giving up a one-out double to Mar cus McBeth, a Chris Plummer single and hit ting John McHenry with a pitch, Leggett sent Bemey to the showers and replaced him with Thomas Boozer. Janowicz welcomed Boozer in the same way he greeted Bemey, rocketing a 2-2 pitch to almost the same place as his first single. The hit scored McBeth and Plummer, giving USC a 5-0 lead. Clemson (28-8, 6-3 ACC) clawed back in the fifth when rightfielder Casey Stone drove in Michael Johnson with a single. The Tigers had runners at the comers with two outs, but Bouknight struck out Khalil Greene on a called third strike to end the rally. USC tacked on an insurance run one inning later when Meyer lofted a long fly to left, scor ing Plummer on the tag-up. The Gamecocks then found out that a lit tle luck goes a long way, as Bouknight gave up three successive singles in the sixth to Jeff Bak er, Patrick Boyd and Brian Ellis to load the bases with no outs. With the crowd of 6,134 all standing and screaming, Johnson knocked Bouknighj’s next pitch to deep right field. “When it went up, it looked like a grand slam,” Tanner said. “If you noticed, the scoreboard put up four runs. It stunned the runners.” The ball missed going over the fence by three inches, instead ricocheting to right fielder Brennan Dees. Dees fired back to the infield to hold the runners, but was too late to stop Baker from scoring from third. Jarrod Schmidt hit a sacrifice fly to cen ter field for the first out, scoring Boyd. Then, with the score 6-3, Bradley LeCroy knocked a grounder right to Bouknight. Even though he didn’t have to, Ellis tried to score and was tagged out by a throw from Bouknight to Pack. In stead of a one-out, bases-loaded jam, the Game cocks had a two-out, two-runner jam. A Stone fly to third ended the inning. The Tigers would be shut down the rest of the way. “That was huge,” Tanner said. “It feels aw fully good to come in here in front of a packed house and get the win.” Tanner wouldn’t comment if Bouknight and Barber would have a chance to make another deal April 19 in Columbia, when the rivalry begins again at 7 p.m. at Sarge Frye. Field. USC (33-4, 12-3 SEC) will travel to Van derbilt for a three-game series beginning today at 8 p.m. Junior Peter Bauer (6-0) is expect ed to start for the Gamecocks. i jc.__am ■■_m_«» Sean Rayford Gamecock Sports Pitcher Kip Bouknight high-fives teammates after his 1-0 victory over Mississippi State last weekend. Against Clemson Wednesday, Bouknight struck out nine and won his 10th game of the season. Special to Gamecock Sports Shortstop Drew Meyer drove in three runs in USC’s 6-3 win over Clemson Wednesday. Meyer collected two runs with a home run. Win over Tigers proves mettle of Carolina baseball Charlie Wallace | Senior Writer For Gamecock fans in every cor ner of the world, Wednesday couldn’t have come at a better ume. At a time of the week when jobs start to feel like a burden, students lose their beginning-of-the-week zeal, and teachers don’t feel like guiding the na tion’s youth, there finally was a rea son to look forward to Wednesday. Also commonly referred to as “hump day,” Wednesday would be the stage where two old rivals would meet on the diamond. It’s commonly said that if one can get past Wednesday, then the rest of the week is clear sailing. Enter the Clemson Tigers, USC’s hated intra-state rival. A never-ending war that dates back to 1899 would showcase perhaps the most anticipat ed matchup in its history. The hatred between Carolina and Clemson would be on display once again. USC pitching ace Kip Bouknight would take the mound for the Game cocks. Bouknight, who usually is re served to pitch on Friday nights that open SEC series, asked manager Ray Tanner on three separate occasions to let him pitch against the Tigers. Tan ner obliged. The rest of the story is now his tory. Bouknight pitched a gem of a *■ game against the No. 7 team in the na tion, and reliever Scott Barber came in to help his teammate and hold on for a 6-3 Gamecock victory. The Tigers, long having been a thorn in Carolina’s side, succumbed to the magic that is taking place this season for the Game cocks. And in the back of every Carolina fan’s mind lingers the thought “This might be the year...” Could it be? Could getting past the stiffest test so far for the Gamecocks prove how good this team actually is? As if a gaudy No. 2 national ranking and first-place status in the SEC, ar guably the nation’s toughest confer ence, weren’t enough, USC is starting to raise more than eyebrows. Expectations, general tan interest and even ticket sales are also on the rise. All of these ingredients stirred to gether make an interesting brew that tastes like this: What would this town do with a national champion ? No one knows. USC has never had a champion before. Never in its long history of participating in athetics has USC ever been “the best.” It’s come close before, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. How ever, of all the sports at USC, baseball has been the closest to accomplish ing that unreachable dream. And this year just might be something special. There’s a certain spice in the air. Tire fans feel it. The coaches feel it. And most importantly, the players feel Wallace SEE PAGE 10 I m Gamecock track & field takes 13 events at state championships Track & Field Roundup Gamecock Sports Entertaining the crowd in the last home outdoor meet of the year. South Carolina junior Terrence Trammell automatically qualified for the 100m and then led the 4x100m relay to an NCAA provi sional time. The Gamecock women won nine events and the men won five at the South Carolina State Collegiate Championships Wednesday at the Weems Baskin track. The Gamecocks return to action this weekend when the team travels to Knoxville to participate in the Sea Ray Relays. Trammell ran a 10.17 in the 100m, qualifying automatically for the NCAA Championships May 31-June 3 in Durham, N.C. It is the first time Tram mell has run the 100m outdoors in 2000 as he has run all relays the last three weeks. He will make his 2000 debut in the 110m hurdles this weekend at the Sea Ray Relays. On the women’s side, Mechelle Lewis won the 100m at 11.50, an NCAA provisional time. Kanisa Williams was second at 11.80, and Takoya Thomas was third at 12.30. Candy Mitchell continued to lead the Game cocks in the javelin, tossing an NCAA provisional mark of 154’ 10 in capturing the win. Kylene Nixon, the SEC indoor and outdoor record holder, won the pole vault with a vault of 11’ 7. Lori Tvarkunas was second at 11’ 1 3/4. On the men’s side, Patrick Tvarkunas won the men’s vault with a mark of 15’ 11. Lisa Barber stepped in for twin sister Miki to win the 400m at 53.93, as USC finished 1-2-3-4-5 6 in the event. Joyce Peebles won the 800m at 2:16.22. She lat er anchored the 4x400m relay to victory at 4:06.67. The men’s 4x100m team (Clint Crenshaw, Tram mell, Jimmie Hackley and Corey Taylor) edged South Carolina State at 39.67 to 39.78. USC and S.C. State both posted NCAA provi sional times. 6 « Taylor later won the 110m hurdles at 14.01, just .01 from an NCAA provisional time. Shontel Pow ell won the 100m hurdles at’ 14.50. Gerald Pressley of Greenville won the 200m at 20.90 and was second in the 100m at 10.47. The Gamecocks went 1-2-3 in the 200m as Jimmie Hack ley was second (21.03) and Shamus Singletary was third (21.39). Jarred Johnson was second in the 400m hurdles at 53.13. Men’s team moves in polls. South Carolina’s track and field women continued to sit at No. 4 in the lat est poll released by Trackwire and the Gamecock men moved up two spots to No. 15. Arkansas’ men and Texas’ women are No. 1 in their respective polls. The SEC has eight men s teams in tne top 25 including: No. 1 Arkansas, No. 3 Aubum, No. 4 Florida, No. 7 LSU, No. 9 Tennessee, No. 15 South Carolina, No. 18 Alabama and No. 21 Geoigia. The SEC has seven women’s teams in the top 25 including: No. 2 LSU, No. 4 South Car olina, No. 5 Arkansas, No. 12 Florida, acid Aubum and Geoigia are tied at No. 20. S.C. State Championship USC Winners Men 4x100m relay Crenshaw, Trammell, Hackley, Tay lor 39.67** 110m hurdles Corey Taylor 14.01 100m Terrence Tram mell 10.17%% 200m Gerald Pressley 20.90 Pole Vault Patrick Tvarkunas 15m 11 Women 100m Mechelle Lewis 10.50** 4x100m relay USC 44.27 Javelin Candy Mitchell 154’10** Discus Alana Robinson 159’ 8 100m hurdles Shontel Powell 14.50 Pole Vault Kylene Nixon 11 ’ 7 3/4 800m Joyce Peebles 2:16.22 3000m Katie Orr 10:28.35 4x400m relay USC 4:06.67 ** - NCAA provisional qualifying time %% - NCAA automatic qualifying time Special to Photo Editor Junior Terrence Trammell automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships at the S.C. State Championships this weekend. * 4