The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 31, 1981, Image 34
GAM
Tf
Baseball Season
Great works are perfc ted not by
strength but by perseverancf
?oamuei uuimsun, a/oi
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
have been ah so easy for the Gamecock
baseball team to hang it up, to not reach
1 ^1. r il a. a re x a. ? *
uaun. iur uiai exira enon, 10 oe sausiiea
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 jurr p well ahead in the
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 USC'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 ?
had 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.
Cowbov center fifilder St^n Ranohn
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.
The USC women's golf team concluded <
successful season Saturday with a 16th-plac<
AIAW national golf championship.
The season's finale established a solid four
young program, and more importantly-acco
Golf Coach Bobby Foster-it fulfilled a coveted 1
"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 bloc
"I'M REALLY HAPPY," Foster continued
16th 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 plac<
team fields.
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
EC0C1
ie following stories are reprinted fn
Ends At 46-15
iCOCK!
THROUGH SIX INNINGS, Oklahoma
State had connected for 10 hits and five runs
1 T~v _ w -I * '? ^
uii siarier i^ennis L.uDeri, wnue uowDoy
hurler Darren Kilks had held the
Game&ocks scoreless. But USC managaed
to tally when Jamey Thaw hit into a fielder's
Cthoice in the seventh, sending home Rob
Lowery, who 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.
TS.;r> : -11 rion
A IIu uuio 1IIIU l-lIC 111111.11 Hilling, (111 Udt/
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.
LOWEKY 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 picked up the previous pace, scoring
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
Solf Team I
par on the back nine holes to gi
a snrnri?ifif*l*j * ;? ?> - - *
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e finish in the Abare compiled a 310 total I
field of 140 players. Lee Wh
idation for the lowest scorer with a 318 total,
rding to Head Jan Rikard (326), and Lynn Sti
team goal.
started was to FLORIDA STATE captured
iter said of the edaina host Georgia hv thr?? ?f
accomplished "There sure were a lot of
k' anymore. pionship," Foster said. "I wa;
competition when I saw it. Nej
probably the most significant v
I. "We finished Foster said the team's tou
hard to beat." bring many future benefits.
,297 over the "It definitely gave us a goo<
? 16th in the 24- "Every school that beat us
established program. North Ci
USCmade the in our district, but we beat ther
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Coach June Raines and pitcher Don Gordon celebrate an 11-5 region win over <?]
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Maces 16th I n Nation
ve Carolina the needed strokes but now they want us," said Foster, who added that invitations
from three or four prestigious tournaments were
to place 24th in the individual extended to USC.
littemore was USC's second- "We're certainly not the best in the country, but we proved
followed by Julie Loebs (322), we are respectable," he said.
ffler (327). Foster expects more progress for the program, as all of
this season's players return next year along with three
the tourney with a 1,220 total, highly-touted recruits.
rokes. Lise Ann Russell, Kandf Kessler and Kim Simmons will
good players in the cham- attend Carolina next season. Russell is a New York state
> cua/.^vi at me ijuaiiiy oi me girl's amateur champion, while Kessler is the Virginia state
ct to the national amateur, it's amateur champ. Simmons, from Charleston, was a semivomen's
golf tournament." finalist in the Women's Southern Amateur championship,
irnament performance would
FOSTER ISN'T real sure what will happen next year when
J base to work with," he said, the women's golf program switches from the AIAW to the
in the tournament has an NCAA. *)
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ivam i uun i iiiuiK mai anyone Knows just what will happen," he
n decisively. said. "The NCAA golf committee meets in July, so then we
should find out more. All our tournaments next year
to get in a lot of tournaments, however, will be against the same teams we played this year."