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-sports i naiii; i <1111 Weather hai By Johnny Boggs While rainouts continue to plague USC's baseball team, Head Coach June Raines said he isn't sure how the cancellations will affect his team's chances of making the NCAA playoffs. The Gamecocks suffered their 10th rainout of the season yesterday when rain cancelled me second game of a double-header against Georgia Southern. The Eagles won the first game 3-1, which was called after 5 1/2innings because of rain. | # "WE'VE JUST HAD bad luck," Raines said. "When the head coach upstairs says it's going to rain, there's nothing you can do about it. "I hope they (National Collegiate Athletic Association officials) take it into considerai tion the rainouts. Teams in the past have made it to the playoffs with 25 wins. "It's tough as an independent because they look at the number of games you've played, | while conference winners automatically go to ; the playoffs whether they've won 10 games v for 800." 1USC suffered seven home cancellations because of weather, including a three-game series against defending national champion I Miami. Last year, the Gamecocks had only one rainout. t ITHE CANCELLATIONS with the Hurricanes probably cost USC's biggest draw, Raines said, and also affected his team mentally. "That rainout affected us a lot," Raines said. "We were geared up for that series and were ready to play before a big crowd. Instead, we didn't play for six straight days. "I think anytime you lie around, you tend to get a little lazy mentally. We don't need that. * * O f* PAliren tKn rnin A i r\ ?-* * * ???. 1V1 wiiiow, 141V l dill VIlVI11 I ?IVt U|; llllCC 1 runs, so you can't blame the weather on our loss." FRESHMAN PITCHER Mike Cook took Former USC I k I By Dennis Switzer b ??????? ? ? Ij Columbia Mets outfielder Paul Hollins something to prove. j The former USC baseball standout said his rc jor leagues was a little different than most othei he has to earn his keep. 11 ^ "For my own thinking, I have to go out every |i| ^that I belong here. It's not just because I went t ij It's a little extra incentive for me." HOLLINS' ROUTE back to Columbia consi as a free-agent in January. He said that puts mc him to perform. "My situations a little different. I have to pre Hey, he's worth keeping around ? whereas thej ifl drafted some of these guys for a reason." IHollins played for the Gamecocks from 197 $was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He fini | season playing with the Pirates Class A team i I A wrist injury near the end of the season kept baseball the following year and he went t stockbroker in Rochester, N.Y. He has be stockbrocker since his senior year at Carolina. HOLLINS CONTACTED a Mets manager played for in the Cape Cod League about the * 1 getting back into baseball. "I contacted him in December about the pos ting a tryout ? anywhere. Either coming back I ^another team, because he has contacts through The Mets signed Hollins in January with the had to make the team. J "The main thing was I had to make the tean was here or higher," he said. "I thought this wt to get in and play a full season. ]"THAT HELPED, that I had connections to then I had to prove and show something in spr make the team, because they cut a lot of guys. ^ "I'm just glad I had a good spring training, The 6-2, 195-pounder batted .342 during career at Carolina and was named to the America second team and the Baseball Bulleti second team as a senior. , go away.. ints USC again; i thp lose VPCterHau nimnn im f"i? V.!#-. I ;VI??iwu;i gi i U|J HVb IlllO III" j eluding two home runs ? in 4 2/3 innings. Georgia Southern, 26-15, took a 2-0 lead after the third inning. Dave Pregon hit a solo homer in the second inning, and Jeff Petzoldt added another in the third. The Gamecocks cut the margin to one run in the fourth, when Jim St. Laurent scored on <jnris Boyle's ground out. David Youngberry was hit by a Cook pitch in the fifth inning as the rain fell lightly, and later scored on Ben Abner's sacrifice fly to right. The Gamecocks have 10 regular season games remaining, including three games agamsi ^lemson ana tnree away games against Miami (Fla.). LAST YEAR, USC won 15 of its last 16 regular season games to earn a berth in the NCAA East Regionals. Raines said the Gamecocks will have to win several of this year's final games to make the playoffs again. "We've got to cut some wins out of these next few games," he said. "We don't need any rainouts, but there's nothing to do about that. "I did a bad job scheduling this year. It seems we had games on all the bad days, and all the sunny days we had off. "What makes a difference in college is that you can't keep the team around (for the next day for a makeup game). They've got to go DacK nome because of classes and expenses." RAINOUTS HAVE been "everywhere," Raines said, and that could help USC's chances of earning a playoff bid. Pfeiffer College, which USC beat 11-6 Tuesday, has had 22 rainouts. Rain also delayed the ACC baseball tournament. "I'm not worried about it, because there's nothing we can do," Raines said. "I just hope the NCAA takes the rainouts into condsideration. You know, 22-8 is not a -bad record." NCAA tournament bids go out May 9, 16 and 23. baseball play< says he has v nite to the ma- jS| r players. Now ? II Sjjjj day and prove a o school here. j|| >re pressure on / went out and 8 to 1981 and ]| n Alexandria, Hollins out of o work as a en a licensed in with him or : Slipuituiuil II? Columbia Mets' i whether it He was also twice named t< is my best shot team, making the third team as as a senior. get me in, but HOLLINS SET the school re< ing training to ga es' inrougn Friday night's game " he said. batting .333 with one home run He said he doesn't feel any pr his tour-year rather play a full season in Coh \yOBCllCS All" n All-America "I feel I need to play a full yea taking each day as it comes IB Gamecocks suffe $&.-, ' v4\'&.?%'^^^ \ V, - ^m iilii: ;iiM?iiii??iiiiii^^ >' ' ' , t:"^' : " Ijf i i . M?m$ h ? ,: -^11;;/ <-V ' .. ' I |g. H I^R :;1 Mr #*K >:*> illllI8 i i; -?m j, i?? ' <*$< ?!$& : 'fi-y-' ii&S*& f I sxj. < USC second baseman Art Finley throws tc : ?:? ~.t x 1_ < - ? ii 111 u iiiiiiiig ui yesieraay s game against Ue 3-1 in the rain-shortened contest. er trying to pr< something and pla ^ ^ Care Plsfg: ! up and get a shot serious about it. Hollins said he broker, but he wj thing is it's nice to my No. 1 right he i HOLLINS SAI1 professional base! length of the seast "The main thinj quality players eve same caliber of ba going to play top "The other m; becomes a physica f up and ready ever) jy / I almost all the tim< M _ t g "Here's it's a li games. So that's w t Jm "YOU'RE GOII Photo by Laura Ferguson as hard or harder 1 Paul Hnllins i uu iaiways iat ) the Academic All-America be *iere- *n college a junior and the second team Hollins said th players to perform up in the ranks. x>rd for walks with 120 in 178 "There's a lot gone. There's the with Charleston, Hollins was lineup we're a and eight runs batted in. they have to conte essure to move up and would duce and stick arc jm ia* But Hollins said r, even if it's at one place. I'm to be back playing and trying to accomplish in fr0nt of the far r 10th rainout M^iP' \J?k ' - ' ' . ?>#: . ...vx. : . . .. V -4 I .. ";'V Photo by Andy lovelley ) first baseman Greg Morhardt in the orgia Southern. The Gamecocks lost ove himself y the best I can." er in the major leaeues. Hollins said that k possibility. son for me to go out there trying to play and t it (moving up). I got to do what I'm doing (playing baseball) for fun, but I'm also very freak break. If I get lucky enough to move at it and produce at a higher level, I'll be : could earn more money as a full-time mts to play baseball for now. "The main have something to fall back on. But this is re." [) the major differences between college and jail are the quality of the players and the )n. I is consistency. You're always going to face :ry day, whereas in college you can play the II against a couple of teams, but you're not notch teams all the time. ajor difference is playing every day. It 1 and mental game,Jbecause you've got to be ' day. At South Carolina, at least, we played i, but it was a shorter schedule. ttle longer season ? 140 games versus 60 rhcn it's going to begin to tell ? the longer NG to see guys in college that can throw just 3Ut you're not going to see them every day. ing quality, good players, or they wouldn't : it can vary much more." ere is a lot of pressure on minor league , because everyone wants to be able to move of pressure. You produce here or you're regular pressure of just trying to stay in the II coping with that. That's something else nd with besides the fact they've got to proiund." he's in no hurry to move up and is just glad the sport he loves. He is even more glad it's niliar Columbia baseball crowds.