The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 31, 1981, Image 33
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