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Juan Bias / THE GAMECOCK Reese Havins .slides in under the tag of Alabama’s second baseman during Sunday’s game at Sarge Frye Field. BASEBALL • COnTinilED PROfTl 13 started off hot and led 3-0 after the first inning. Junior outfielder Cheyne Hurst homered to. center field, and _ Havens had another RBI. Alabama battled back in the second and third innings. Contributions from senior catcher Kody Valverde, freshman infielder Kyle Moore and freshman infielder Alex Avila gave the Crimson Tide a four run lead. Pitching from junior right-hander Bernard Robert gave the Crimson Tide more than enough defense to keep the Gamecocks previously-excellent hitting at bay. Robert pitched his first complete game of the season and held to the Gamecocks to six hits and only gave up four earned runs. The third game was the toughest the Gamecocks have played in quite some time. Alabama took charge early scoring four runs in the first two innings. Freshman pitcher Tommy Hunter made sure that any lead the Crimson Tide could make would keep the Gamecocks at bay. He pitched a full game and retired nine of the first ten batters he faced, allowing only ohe run. “He threw strikes. We hit the ball hard all day,” said freshman first baseman Justin Smoak of Hunter. “I guess that it just worked out for him.” After all was said and done the Gamecocks lost two games to a strong Alabama team. “This isn’t a valley. We played some great baseball; they just pitched and hit better then us,” said head coach Ray Tanner. “I’m not panicking or ready to jump off the bridge. We’re in good standing in the league. That’s what this league is all about. We beat each other up, but I’m not worried. If we did this once or twice more, then we might be in a valley.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu BROom • conTinucDFRomi3 I work with. 10:13 First Quarter: Receiver Freddie Brown puts a nice move on cornerback Fred Bennett to catch a six-yard touchdown pass from Cade Thompson. Fastenau proclaims that this was some nice “Fred on-Fred action” just loud enough for everyone to hear. Barely audible is the sound of The Gamecock sports section’s credibility, now on life support. 6:43 First Quarter: Noah Whiteside catches a nice 20-yard touchdown pass from Blake Mitchell. If Whiteside can stay healthy this year, he could add another viable threat to USC’s offense. Plus, if you squint, in uniform he looks like Jabar Gaffney. That has to count for something. 13:58 Second Quarter: Cory Boyd breaks off a 71-yard touchdown run, marking the return of the Cory Boyd Open Field Gallup. 7:58 Second Quarter: O.J. Murdock hauls in a 42-yard touchdown pass from Cade Thompson, who is now doing his Rex Grossman impersonation. He is also sporting the hockey beard in mid-season form. 2:14 Second Quarter: Kenny McKinley catches a 14 yard pass from Brett Nichols that he literally stole from two waiting defensive backs. Somewhere, Sidney Rice is smiling like a proud father. Halftime: Well, the team I picked to win is losing 28-7, and the player I picked to be my MVP has seven carries for 19 yards. Meanwhile, Cory Boyd has five carries for 87 yards, averaging 17.4 yards per carry, and Cade Thompson is looking like the second coming of Dan Marino. 12:24 Fourth Quarter: Freddie Brown catches a 56-yard touchdown pass from Brett Nichols, at one point spinning between two colliding defensive backs. No Fred-on-Fred action this time. Final Score: Garnet 35, { Black 7: Overall, this spring has given Carolina fans a lot to be excited about for the upcoming season. There is Mike West, who has moved from linebacker to receiver and has the aggressive attitude to lay some people out this year. There is Cory Boyd’s quest to remind every defense in the SEC that he is, in fact, a beast. And, this season, as always, there will be the ongoing saga known as . Syvelle Newton’s afro. ! GRRncT • connnuED prori □ “We’re young, but like I said, we’ve got some ballplayers back there, like Carlos Thomas, Nathan Pepper, Marvin Sapp, Gerrod Sinclair ... I just think they’re going to be some great players.” Another veteran player who might be in the defensive backfield with Bennett is senior utility man Syvelle Newton. The former quarterback/wide receiver/ tailback is currently listed as a safety on the depth chart, and Nix confirmed that he’s been sitting in on the secondary meetings. This is still very tentative, however, as Newton is recovering from surgery to repair his Achilles’ tendon injured in last year’s Vanderbilt game, and Nix is currently unsure if Newton will still be on the defensive side of the ball come fall. Bennett does understand the concern about this young Carolina defense, but he remains buoyantly optimistic. “Losing some of the players that we lost, people will look at our defense and say we’ve got to rebuild, but I just think we’ve got to reload,” he said. “We’ve got some great players, they just didn’t get a chance to (showcase) their talent to the world.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu SPRinG • COnTIRUED PROfTl 13 also got off to a fast start, as walk-on receiver Paul Haile returned the kickoff 36 yards to the Black’s 39 yard line. Mitchell made an early effort to hook up with senior wideout Noah Whiteside, throwing to him five times on the first drive and completing two passes for 35 yards. Whiteside’s last catch was a 20-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7. The Garnet squad could not get anything going on their next drive and punted. The Black team again moved efficiently, with the ball moving 39 yards in just over four minutes to end the first quarter. However, on the second play of the second quarter, Mitchell threw an interception to linebacker Cody Lucus. On the next play, Garnet running back Cory Boyd exploded through the left side of the line for a 71 yard TD. “It was originally supposed to be a draw play, but (Cade) checked at the line,” Boyd said. “I was hoping to get tackled a little bit earlier because I didn’t really want to make a long run that way. I saw the opening, I got a couple of good blocks, and I just took it to the house.” Thompson led another scoring drive midway through the second quarter, culminating in a 42-yard touchdown strike to fellow redshirt freshman O.J. Murdock. With the game well in hand, Brett Nichols quarterbacked the Garnet team for the remainder of the game. The senior continued the onslaught by going 4-of-6 for 80 yards and hitting Brown and Kenny McKinley for touchdowns. Meanwhile, Mitchell continued his struggles until halfway through the third quarter, finishing the game with 133 yards, one touchdown, and one interception on 10-of 27 passing. While he was the victim of dropped passes and heavy pressure, the junior often overthrew or missed wide open receivers. Despite the performance, Spurrier left no doubt about whom his starter was. “We will have to see how it plays out,” Spurrier said. “Certainly, Blake is our starter. He threw some errant balls out there today. Blake didn’t play his best, and he knows that. Blake has had the best spring of. { all the quarterbacks, until today.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gurm.sc.edu <\| Homophobia^?]/ J - Awareness ^ t Week f April 10th - April 13th j i — gay?._/ S ,k nnebyme.; , «B:00 pm m Shane Windmeyer 4 author of Out on Fraternity Row jp Russell House Ballroom Tuesday ^ April 11th, 2006 6:00 pm' f Brokeback Mountain j| . 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