The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 10, 1978, Page Page 8, Image 8
sports
Belling
By CHRIS MYERS
Asst. Sports Editor
When a boy picks up a baseball
bat or a basketball ? or even a
bowling ball ? it's hard for him not
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Jeff Bellinger, recently nar
champion, practices his form
Bellinger beat the field in St. L
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Record drops to 20-7
Tenth
By CHUCK WRIGHT
Gamecock Staff Writer
Mark Sterritt's tenth innine
homerun to right field lifted
Mercer University to a 9-8 victory
over Carolina Saturday aftemoor
in a game played at the Roost.
"This was a tough one to lose,'
said Carolina Coach June Raines
"I'm proud of our players, though
We were down 8-1 and facing theii
ace, and our guys just kept pecking
away and pecking away and finally
caught them. Barry (Myers
Mercer coach) is an excellent
coach and they have an excellent
club. Thev are Dlavine excellent
ball right now."
Indeed, Mercer was an excellenl
ball club Saturday, especially ir
the first three innings. In the firsl
inning, the visiting Bears jumpec
on starter Aaron Scott for two runs
on a two-run homerun down the lefl
field line by Joel Selph.
CAROLINA COUNTERED in the
home half of the inning as Johr
Marquardt tripled home Tom
Willima s to cut the lead to 2-1, the
*er claii
to imagine himself being the
professional, the champion of the
sport. The goal for most is to gain
the recognition of being a "pro."
There are exceptions to this rule,
and USC's premiere bowler Jeff
Arlene Morgan-THE
ied the 1978 national bowling
i at Star Lanes in Columbia,
.ouis by 99 pins to win the title.
i inning I
last timo the game would be close
for quite a time.
I n the third inning, Mercer
r exploded. Lead-off batter Skeeter
I Sommers reached on an error by
r Williams at second base. Jerry
i Copeland's infield hit and a bunt
single by Selph loaded the bases.
? Designated hitter Phil Welch
reached on a fielder's choice,
' scoring Sommers.
Scott then reloaded the bases
[ when his pitch hit Gree Ennle
r Mercer then upped their lead to 5-1
on a single by Scott Hallam and a
[ sacrifice fly by Mark Sterritt.
t While there was action in the
t Gamecock bullpen, Aaron Scott
threw his last pitch of the day,
t which Bud Turner carried out of
i the ball park to give Mercer an 8-1
t lead.
I Mark Toalson came on in relief
; and got Mark Byrum to ground out
t to retire the side, but the
vjamccocKs were aown seven runs.
; CAROLINA CAME back with
i two runs of their own in the bottom
i half of the third on four straight
. hits. Randy Rodgers led off the
\
tns nati
Bellinger is one of them. Although
Bellinger has the credentials, as he
prove<l Tuesday and Wednesday
when he dominated the Association
of College Unions International
(ACUI) national finals in St. Louis,
he does not feel that he is ready for
the pro tour.
"There is so much to do in the
next two years that I don't even
think I could even consider the pro
tour," Bellinger said.
BY WINNING the singles and
all-events titles in the national
finals. Bellinger earned a triD to
the 14th annual World Cup tournament
in Bogota, Colombia next
November.
After that Bellinger is looking to
be invited to participate on the
world team.
"This team is the most
prestigious amateur team
around," he said. "Since bowling is
not an Olympic sport, this team
and other teams like it around the
world, compete like the Olympics."
The world team has tryouts
every two years for their invitees,
and Bellinger hopes that they see
him as a prospect.
IN BETWEEN all of this bowling
action, Bellinger must still
graduate next fall with an accounting
degree, and he is also
getting married. His fiance,
Phyllis Rowe, will graduate with
the same accounting degree this
semester, and they will marry
August 12.
So between his bowling plans,
marriage and school, Bellinger
sees himself quite busy, however
as he puts it, "if I do get on the
world team, and do well, I may
Wast lifts
inning with a bloop single to center
field. Williams, who went 4 of 5 at
the plate, collected his second hit of
the day, a double off the fence in
center field, pushing Rodgers to
third.
Rodgers then scored on Greg
Johnson's opposite field single,
bringing up John Marquardt.
Marquardt singled to right, scorine
Williams to cut the Bear's lead to 83.
Mercer starter Gary Green got
Wes Westbrook to foul out and
Chuck McLean bounced into a
double play to end the inning.
AFTER NO ONE was able to
reach base on the Mercer half of
the fifth, Williams doubled to lead
off the Carolina half. A fly ball to
deep center by Johnson moved hiin
to third, setting up Marquardt's
towering homerun to left field, his
1 Oil-, nf tkn
IdUl U1 (.IIC JfCfll .
After Westbrook followed with a
line drive single down the right
field line, Wayne Nix came on in
relief of Green. Nix survived an
error by second baseman Jerry
Copeland and retired the
Gamecocks on Paul Hollins ground
ional til
start looking for a sponsor for the
tour.*'
For Bellinger, it was not his first
trip to the nationals; he's been
there two other times, which is a
feat which has only been accomplished
once. He finished 18th
and 6th in the all-events competition
in those two years out of 32
national finalists.
THIS YEAR was different.
Bellinger, consistently USC's top
bowler on the club's team, surged
ahead of the pack and won by an
overwhelming 99 pins.
The dominance of the field came
The man and his trophy. E
presented to him in St. Louis
States in the World Cup Tourna
; Bears 01
out. After five innings, Mercer's
lead was 8-5.
Carolina tacked on another run
in the sixth inning on William's
sacrifice drive to left field. That
scored Ray Messemer, who was
pinch running for designated hitter
Eddie Adams. Adams reached on
an infield hit, and Messemer got to
third on a wild pitch by Nix and a
ground out by Rodgers. Carolina
was now right back in the ball
game, trailing 8-6.
NEITHER TEAM could score in
the seventh inning, but the
Gamecocks came back to tie it up
in me eigntn. Messemer, walked on
four pitches. He was forced out,
however, on a ground ball by
Rodgers, leaving the Gamecocks
with a runner on first.
Williams singled with a hit and
run play on, moving Rodgers to
third. After Williams stole second
base, Johnson laced a two-run
single to tie the game at 8-8. Nix
then intentionally walked
Marquardt, and got Westbrook and
McLean out on ground ball.
*k
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tie
after Bellinger and Virginia's
Glenn MacCullough's disasterous
doubles match in which they came
in dead last.
The condition of the lanes was
the major reason for Bellinger's
520 series (173 avg.) in the doubles.
"In order not to give any one
bowler an advantage, the lanes
were oiled evenly across,"
Bellinger explained. "What this
meant is that the ball would not
hook as much as it would on an
unevenly oiled lane or even a dry
lane."
See BOWLING, page 10
leliinger looks over the statue
. He will represent the United
iment in Bogota, Colombia.
*
ier USC
THAT SET UP Sterritt's blast,
which came with two outs. The
junior from Florida lofted the ball
high to the opposite field, and it
just cleared the park as Hollins ran
into the fence trying to make the
play. That one run lead held up,
just barely.
After Rodgers grounded out to
lead off the Gamecock tenth,
Williams blasted a Nix pitch into
deep center field. Selph made a
leaping grab right over the fence to
rob Williams of a homerun in what
had to be the play of the game. Nix,
the winning pitcher, then got
Johnson to ground out to second
base to end the game. t
Ironically, it was Toalson, the
game's most effective pitcher, who
took the loss. The left hander
pitched seven and one thirds in
nings, giving up only the run on I
Sterritt's homerun. jj
For Mercer, now 19-9 on the I
year, it was their tenth straight
win, and sweet revenge of
Carolina's 5-3 victory earler this
year. It was only the second loss in
the last 13 outings for the
Gamecocks, now 20-7 on the year.