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GAM Baseball ?doson CfJURAKI Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance. Qamiiol Inhncnn 17Q1 We just stuck our noses out and hung in there. ?June Raines, 1981 There were times, many times, during the NCAA College World Series when it would nave oeen an so easy for tne Gamecock baseball team to hang it up, to not reach back for that extra effort, to be satisfied with an already successful season. There was the five-run lead by Oklahoma State in the opener, the infest of errors against Maine, the three-innings of sure-fire scoring threats in the Mississippi State game, and of course, the bruising bats that allowed Arizona State to iumn wpII ahpaH in thp fourth contest. But it didn't take long for observers at the Omaha, Neb. event ? as well anyone else who lent an ear or eye to the proceedings ? to realize that it would never happen that way. From (JSC's opening CWS contest, the Gamecocks made it evident that they were there to fight, not fold. And they did fight. After scrathchingiand scrapping in an opening-game loss, Coach June Raines' never-say-die squad outlasted opponents in the following two outings to finish among college baseball's Final Four of the 1981 season ending the year with a 4615 record, including a 2-2 CWS mark. THE SERIES ENDED in a loss, and therefore disappointment for USC, but not before the team ? who only a few weeks earlier had sweated out a post-season bid ? nad overcame unfavorable odds by endurance. It was Carolina's third trip to the CWS, and like the previous trips of '75 and '77, the Gamecocks made it to the Final Four. In the first two tourneys, however, USC continued to the championship game, but then lost to Texas and Arizona State, respectively. Carolina began CWS action by absorbing a heartstopping, heartbreaking 8-5 loss to Oklahoma State May 30. Cowboy center fielder Stan Baughn tagged a three-run home run off Bobby Kish in the bottom of the tenth to downplay a valiant USC rally and give OSU the win. Women's I The USC women's golf team concluded i successful season Saturday with a 16th-plac< AIAW national an If nhamni/wn>i<!? P)v" viiuiiipiuXU>lll|J, The'season's finale established a solid four young program, and more importantly-accoi Golf Coach Bobby Foster-it fulfilled a coveted t "The main thing we wanted when the season be regarded as a legitimate competitor," Fos first-year unit's desires. "And we definitely that. We won't feel like the 'new kid on the blocl "I'M REALLY HAPPY," Foster continued 16^h in the country for our first year and that's Carolina carded a four-day total of 1 University of Georgia's par-74 layout to place tpnm fiolHc Backed by Robin Abare's third-round 74, tournament's final cut Friday, assuring the La of at least a 16th-place finish. Abare streaked I ecoc: te following stories are reprinted fr Ends At 46-15 ICOCK! THROUGH SIX INNINGS, Oklahoma State had connected for 10 hits and five runs off starter Dennis Lubert, while Cowboy hurler Darren Kilks had held the GameCocks scoreless. But USC managaed to tally when Jamey Thaw hit into a fielder's c.hoice in the seventh, sending home Rob i^owery, wno had doubled and advanced on a Chris Boyle single. Carolina continued the surge in the eighth inning as Paul Hollins unleashed a double to score Rod Carraway ana Jim Curl after their respective singles. Lowery then singled in Hollins to cut OSU's advantage to 5-4. Two outs into the ninth inning, all USC hopes fell on Carraway. The Tampa, Fla. native responded with a double down the left-field line that scored Jamey Thaw, who led off the inning with a single. Kish easily retired the OSU side in the bottom of the ninth, sending the contest into extra innings. But after USC failed to score in the top of the tenth, Baughn converted Kish's pitch to a three-run blast, giving the Cowboys the win. LOWERY SMASHED TWO home runs ? a feat not done since 1956 in CWS play ? and Curl added a two-run blast to boost Carolina to an error-plagued 12-7 triumph over Main June 2. Joe Kucharski, who relieved starter Don Gordon after four and two-thirds innings, was credited with the win. Gordon allowed seven hits, yet all of the Black Bears' seven runs were unearned, as USC committed five errors. After Maine chalked up their first unearned run in the opening inning, Hollins hit the first of his three singles and was promptly driven in with Lowery's first homer. Maine scored four runs on two hits and two errors in the top of the third, but Carolina countered with a Curl home run that scored Carraway, who reached on error, and tighted Maine's margin to 5-4. AFTER OVER AN HOUR of rain delay, USC Dickftd un th#> nrm/inuc r?nr?o c^r?ri?c* r -I" 1 "& two unearned runs in the fourth. Maine's Dick Whitten returned the favor in the fifth, singling in two unearned runs to give the Bears a 7-6 lead. Carolina ended the scoreboard seesaw from the fifth inning on, tallying at least a See Devils, page 23 ***!? T I juir i cum i par on the back nine holes to g i surprisingly to survive the cut. ; finish in the Abare compiled a 310 total fuu 14A ?i ? ?"1 iieiu ui iw piayers. L#ee wi idation for the lowest scorer with a 318 total, rding to Head Jan Rikard (326), and Lynn St earn goal. started was to FLORIDA STATE capturec ter said of the edging host Georgia by three s accomplished "There sure were a lot o k' anymore. pionship," Foster said. "I wa competition when I saw it. Ne prooaDiy the most significant !. "We finished Foster said the team's toi hard to beat." bring many future benefits. ,297 over the "It definitely gave us a goc i 16th in the 24- "Every school that beat u established program. North C uscmade the in our district, but we beat the dy Gamecocks to three-under- "LAST YEAR WE had to beg vm mis summer s eamoi % % IBPRSI It*- \ Slmma > _ 1- ' ?S!l? ?? - ?J wnvii june Raines and pi Memphis State May 25. Places T ive Carolina the needed strokes to place 24th in the individual hittf?rr>nr#? u/?g ITRP'c followed by Julie Loebs (322), iffler (327). I the tourney with a 1,220 total, itrokes. { good players in the chamis amazed at the quality of the Vt fn national 1mn??nf ;?'? V..V IIUV1VIIUI UIIIOIUUI y II a women's golf tournament." umament performance would id base to work with," he said, s in the tournament has an arolina had been the best team m decisively. ; to get in a lot of tournaments, 1 ns. p ?i ' .. j 1Mb t@3BMWalliSBMB^w^^^;' ^^^IBjS ^'^aB " <$$? I * *' ' I jk amm BresMK Jl |pJ?Hte^*re8^nt^rna Uona I itcher Don Gordon celebrate an 11-5 region win over $) B Z.4L !?*. U>a! 1 wan 111 nation I but now they want us," said Foster, who added that in- H vitations from three or four prestigious tournaments were extended to USC. "We're certainly not the best in the country, but we proved I we are respectable," he said. ? Foster expects more progress for the program, as all of | uus season s piayers return next year along with three highly-touted recruits. Lise Ann Russell, Kandi Kessler and Kim Simmons will I attend Carolina next season. Russell is a New York state j girl's amateur champion, while Kessler is the Virginia state ; amateur champ. Simmons, from Charleston, was a semifinalist in the Women's Southern Amateur championship. R FOSTEK ISN'T real sure what will happen next year when the women's golf program switches from the AIAW to the ll NCAA. *)? "I don't think that anyone knows just what will happen," he 11 said. "The NCAA golf committee meets in July, so then we should find out more. All our tournaments next year I however, will be against the same teams we played this year." H