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THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, April 26, 2002 9 contact us game SCHEDULE VjU1> 1 u 0 BASEBALL at Kentucky, 6 p.m. Friday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? SOFTBALL at No. 15 Alabama, l p.m. Saturday E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com BASEBALL at Kentucky, 1 p.m. Saturday • • Tigers take season series FILE PHOTO/THE GAMECOCK Gary Bell and the USC baseball team have now fallen to Clemson three times this season. The Tigers now lead the all-time series, which dates back to the 19th century, 152-103-2. USC struggles, can’t even series against Clemson BY JAMES STARNES THE GAMECOCK Clemson pitcher Matt Henrie improved to 9-1 Wednesday as the No. 1 Clemson Tigers beat the-No. 5 Gamecocks 4-1 in the last meet ing of the season between the two Palmetto State rivals. A Sarge Frye Field record crowd of 6,811 saw Henrie pitch seven innings, scatter six hits, strike out seven and only allow one run en route to clinching the season series for the Tigers 3-1. Kyle Frank drove in the first three runs of the game on three hits to give Clemson (36-5) a 3-0 lead after five innings. Carolina (31-10), who had its lone rally killed in the fourth in ning with a double play and a con troversial call by the first base um pire, could never string anything lugemei. “Every time we threatened, (Henrie) threw thepitch he need ed to get us out,” USC head coach Ray Tanner said. The Gamecocks never sent more than four batters to the plate in any inning until the seventh, when All-American candidate Drew Meyer drove in the Gamecocks’ only run. Meyer also stole another base, his 26th in 32 attempts. Clemson got an insurance rim in peculiar fashion. Frank and Khalil Greene both got base hits in the eighth, and Michael Johnson was intentionally walked to load the bases with no outs. Jarrod Schmidt then hit a lin er to center field, where Justin Harris appeared to make the play for the Gamecocks. Frank tagged up and scored from third base while the other two base runners held their spots. But, apparently, Harris had not caught the ball; he actually trapped it on one bounce off the outfield grass. So Harris threw the ball back in to the infield, where Meyer tagged the two runners to give Carolina the double play. Clemson head coach Jack Leggett argued that his players could not see the . umpire’s call, but after much con fusion and a lengthy delay, the call stood. Kevin Melillo, trying to give the Gamecocks one more chance, reached base in the ninth. He nev er got past first base, though, as Meyer fliecfout deep to right to end the game. Patrick Hogan recorded his sec ond, save for the Tigers after throwing a scoreless eighth and ninth innings. Carolina starter Steve Bondurant (5-2) pitched well in de feat and did a decent job of hold ing the robust Clemson batting or der in check. He struck out five in five innings and allowed three earned runs on five hits. With the victory, the Tigers ex tended their all-time series lead to 152-103-2 in a rivalry that dates back to 1899. Clemson won the first two meetjngs this season: 9-7 in Columbia and 11-10 in Clemson. The,Gamecocks won the third meeting at Clemson 8-6. Carolina has won six of the last 10 series games, however. Carolina prepares to travel to Kentucky this weekend for a three-game set with the last-place Wildcats. They begin play Friday at 6 p.m., and then play Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com Softball team ready to face Crimson Tide USC at No. 15 Alabama 1 p.m. Saturday (doubleheader) 1 p.m. Sunday UA Softball Complex Lady Gamecocks travel to ’Bama after losing Florida series BY MATT ROTHENBERG THE GAMECOCK The Lady Gamecocks softball team hits the road again this weekend as it travels to Tuscaloosa for a three-game se ries with the 15th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. USC is looking to rebound after losing two of three games to Florida last weekend. The Tide (41-13,20-4 SEC) swept Mississippi State over the week end as it continues to jostle with LSU for first place in the SEC Western Division. Both Carolina (35-14,16-8) and Alabama have already clinched spots in the SEC Tournament next month in Chattanooga, Tenn., but this is a crucial series for both teams as far as seeding goes. The Tide has proved that it is one of the elite squads in the con ference with its timely hitting and solid pitching. The team’s mix of youth and veterans is impressive, and the younger players have been performing well. Offensively, Alabama has the current SEC Player of the Week, Jackie McClain. McClain, a sopho more, hit .500 against Mississippi State and scored key runs in the series. PHOTO 8Y COREY DAVIS/THE GAMECOCK The USC softball team will be looking to lock down a good seed this weekend for the upcoming SEC Tournament in Chattanooga, Tenn. She has a team-leading .408 bat ting average and is also first on the team in hits, home runs, doubles, RBIs, slugging percentage and on base percentage. Freshmen outfielders Ashley Courtney and Jackie Wilkins pro vide some pop for the Tide. Courtney is hitting .397 on the sea son with a team-leading four triples, and she’s also tied for the team lead in RBIs with McClain. Wilkins owns a .333 batting aver age, and she has scored 41 runs. Senior infielder Suzanne Olcott leads Alabama with 13 stolen bases. On the mound, senior Shelley Laird is the unquestioned ace for the Tide. Earlier this season, she became the third SEC pitcher to notch ^,000 career strikeouts, fol lowing LSU’s Britni Sneed and USC’s Megan Matthews. Laird is 23-7 this season with a 1.39 ERA and 250 strikeouts. She also has four saves to her credit. Erin Wright seems poised to take over for Laird next season. The No. 2 pitcher has an 11-3 record, 100 strikeouts and a 2.35 ERA this year Freshman Jennifer Wright (7 3,3.22) has also seen plenty of in nings this season. The Lady Gamecocks need to perfect their defensive play this weekend, as errors cost them two possible wins last weekend. Kim Evans continues to lead USC in hitting with a .331 average. Her three stolen bases and 45 hits are team highs as well. Sophomore Amber Curtis is not far behind Evans, batting .316. She also leads the team in dou bles (10), home runs (five) and RBIs (27). Senior Adrianna Baggetta has a .303 batting aver age and a .420 on-base percentage. After notching her sixth career no-hitter last Sunday against Florida, Matthews will look to shut down the Crimson Tide hit ters this weekend. She has a 19-6 record, a 1.20 ERA and 176 strike outs this season. The Lady Gamecocks will also counter with sophomore Stacey Johnson, whose 10-6 record, 83 strikeouts and 1.40 ERA place her just behind Matthews. Aleca Johnson (6-1,1.67) has a team-lead ing five saves. Saturday’s doubleheader, as well as Sunday’s game, begins at 1 p.m. at the UA Softball Complex. -If' Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com China to get half of Yao’s NBA contract BY MARTIN FACKLER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SHANGHAI, CHINA - Yao Ming will have a big partner in his NBA career — the Chinese government. Under regulations issued by the China Basketball Association, the 7-foot-5 Yao would be forced to hand over half of his income to China’s government and sports authori ties. The regulations also include complicated procedures for Chinese professional players seeking to play overseas, ac cording to Wednesday’s Shanghai Morning Post. The newspaper criticized the regulations as “complicating and confusing Yao Ming’s NBA prospects.” Yao, a center, is considered a probable lottery pick and possi ble top-three selection in the June 26 NBA draft. rao s current ream, me Shanghai Sharks, finally gave him permission Friday to enter the NBA draft after blocking him for years. “I’ve already had many frus trations,” the newspaper quot ed Yao as saying. “A few more won’t break me.” The Yangzi Evening News, a Hangzhou-based newspaper, re ported Thursday that the new regulations would not affect Yao’s plans. It quoted China Basketball Association assistant director Hu Jia as saying his organiza tion “has always supported Yao Ming’s joining the NBA draft.” As a high draft pick, Yao would likely to receive at least $2 million in his first war and even bigger contracts in years to follow. That’s a big jump for a 22 year-old Yao, whose parents now ride to his games on bicy cles. But Chinese professional players like Yao will only be al lowed to keep half of all earnings under the new regulations, which cover endorsements as well as salaries. The rules state that players overseas must give 30 percent of earnings to the China Basketball Association — China’s state-run equivalent of the NBA. Government agencies will take another 20 percent, the Shanghai Morning Post said. It is unclear whether this must be handed over before or after paying U.S. taxes. It also was unclear whether these regulations were new or merely formalized existing prac tices. fTTL____3_>_ _m:__ iiui JUUJ O 1UUV/U1V ported athletes overseas already pay half their income to the gov ernment. Two Chinese players are already in the NBA—Dallas Mavericks forward Wang Zhizhi and Denver Nuggets center Menk Bateer. Beijing routinely requires other citizens — from engineers to concert pianists — to turn over large chunks of what they earn abroad. The newly issued regulations also require professional play ers to be ready to return to China at any time, ostensibly to join the national team. They can also be punished for revealing the national team’s plays and strategies. Violators will be banned from the national team and from all domestic play in China for at least one year, the Shanghai Morning Post said. .. .. _ I I