Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Gamec By JOHN MACMILLAN Staff Writer ?? The South /, Carolina baseball team's I \ seasOn came V / t0 a crashin? halt as they were eliminated early in both the SEC Eastern Division Tournament and NCAA Regional Tnnrnnmpnf The Gamecocks (38-18-1, 1510-1) were the first team eliminated from the six-team series at Sarge Frye Field, May 20-23. Sixth-seeded Georgia, who had only two division wins in their past 14 games, defeated the Gamecocks 3-1 on the first day of the tournament. The Bulldogs took the lead in the top of the fifth inning. Center fielder Todd Crane led the inning off with a double to rioht-center. .. ? -- - -0 ? He then advanced to third on an infield hit by Rodney Close. USC pitcher Rich Pratt then hit John Yselonia to load the bases with one out. An error by second baseman Stacy Stokes on a sharply hit ball scored one Georgia run and kept the bases loaded. Terry Weaver then followed with an RBI single to right. Georgia added an insurance run in the ninth to make the score 3-1. South Carolina's only run came in the eighth inning on a two- out single by Mike Dezenzo that scored designated hitter Ted Rose. USC left twelve men on base. Georgia pitcher Jim Musslewhite (7-5), the only pitcher to beat the Gamecocks in a three-game series at Georgia, picked up the win with six strong innings of work. He struck out six while giving up four hits and holdine the Gamecocks to no runs. "We didn't swing the bats," said IISC coach June Raines. "We were very tentative at the plate and swung the bats defensively." Rich Pratt was stuck with the tough luck loss for the Gamecocks. He pitched a complete game while Rogers, By PAT McNEILL Staff Writer Two mem ucuigc i\ugcii Scott, have rejoined the Gamecock football team ? this time as staff members. Rogers, considered by many to be the finest football player ever to ocks sti giving up 10 hits and three earned runs. He struck out nine. With one loss in the tournament, South Carolina faced Vanderbilt in the losers' bracket. The Commodores would use the Micuglii of 0 five-fun eighth inning for an 11-7 victory, eliminating the Gamecocks. With Carolina leading 7-6, Raines brought in ace reliever Rob Mosser, who was the previous SEC Pitcher of the Week. Mosser entered the game with a runner on second and none out. Allan Purdy, who hit two of Vanderbilt's four home runs, laid down a bunt single which moved Thomas to third. Gabe Whatley then drove in Thomas with a sacrifice fly, tying the score at 7-7. Mickey Ellison followed with a double off the right field wall which gave Vanderbilt an 8-7 lead, and Reese then doubled off the left field wall to make the score 9-7. The bio hlnw came from Vee D U1 UOL 5CddUll C11UCU lViajr 29, the third day of the Atlantic Regional. The Gamecocks, needing a win Scott reti attend USC, began his new assignment last week as part-time recruiting assistant. Scott, Rogers' former teammate, will join Coach Sparky Woods' staff as a graduate assistant. Rogers, 35, a former All American running tiacK, is nest known for winning the 1980 Heisman Trophy as the nation's top collegiate player. In his new job he will be responsible for coordinating on-campus recruiting visits and giving speeches at Gamecock Club fundraising events. Hightower, who smacked a two-run homer to straight away center field that gave Vanderbilt an insurmountable lead of 11-7. USC scored two runs in the second, third, and fifth innings, and added one in the seventh. Ted Rose, who hit die only Gamecock home run in the game, believed the team's mind was elsewhere. "The NCAA tournament was on some of the players minds," Rose said. "We had plenty of hits, but they didn't come in timely situations." Rose also pointed out the twohour rain delay the previous night iifhtoh rr\A\mrl tho CioArnio nomn fA YV111V.11 111V/VV.V1 UIV VJVYM i. let ^CUIIV/ IV/ 9:30 p.m. The game ended at 12:30 a.m. "The team was very sluggish the next morning," he said. "We as a team did not show up to play." Despite the two straight losses in the tournament, the Gamecocks were still the ninth team selected for the NCAA tournament and were placed as second seed in the Atlantic Regional. D..? TTOC'n K/(a., imble i to stay alive in the double elimina lion tournament, were oeaieu oy the host team and number one seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 120. South Carolina generated very little offense as they had only four hits and SuaP.clcd izr. runners. The four hits were their second lowest total of the season. As a team, the Gamecocks batted .243 for the tournament. The first game for USC in the tournament against fifth seeded East Carolina turned out to be their best. The game was highlighted by a two-out rallv in the ninth innins which saw the Gamecocks take a 65 come-from-behind victory. The Pirates were up 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth when Mark Gugino had a two-out infield hit. Gugino then stole second to set the table for Stacy Stokes. Stokes promptly slapped a single past the shortstop which scored Gugino and brought up the hot hitting and SEC batting champion Joe Biernat. Biernat, who made consecutive errors in the third inning at short stop to help the Pirates take a 5-0 lead, was looking to atone for his mistakes. "You put them in this position to win," he said. "Now you have a chance to pull it out." Biernat did not let his team down. He lined a single up the middle, knocking in the winning run. The win was Carolina's only one in the tournament. Wally Maynard picked up his first victory of the season for the Gamecocks, pitching three and one third innings in relief. He struck out six, walked only one batter and gave up no hits. Starter Jason Haynie gave up five hits through five and two-thirds innings, strikinn nut fiup hattprc anfl nn parnpH runs. South Carolina saw their best chances in the Atlantic Region pass with a 3-2 loss to third-seeded Wichita State in the winners bracket. The Gamecocks collected seven hits but failed to score in crucial situations. They struck out 10 times, several times with runners in urn to f< "My job is to tell kids about the ertnrnfinn thev ran oet here, how J O ? ? important it was for me to g t mine," Rogers said. "All I want to do is help. And I know I can." Rogers' NFL career began with the New Orleans Saints in 1981, when he led the league in rushing and was named NFL Rookie of the Year. He admitted to using cocaine recreationally the next year. After several losing seasons with the Saints, he was traded to the Washington Redskins. n post j ?w # Joe Biernat, shown here in ar Southeastern Conference's leading I scoring position. USC scored their first run in the first inning off of a Joe Biernat grounder that brought in Stacy Stokes. Carolina's only other run came off the bat of Jeff Parnell, whose solo shot in the seventh inning tied the score at 2-2. Wichita State's Toby Smith answered Parnell's home run with his own shot in the eighth inning which put the Shockers up for Dotball p In 1986, while playing with the Redskins, he led the NFC in touchdowns. The next season, however, saw Rogers sitting on the bench as Washington defeated the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII. Upon retiring, Rogers was hired as a fundraiser by USC's College of Applied Sciences, a job which pnrlprl in 1000 with hit nrrptt fnr possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. The charges were dropped, and Rogers was rehired by USC after going through a drug reason _ ... Courtesy of Sports Information Desk i earlier game, finished as the hitter. good. Scott Pace (3-3) suffered his - i -c .u . ? ^ U11IU IUSS U1 U1C 5C<l.>UII, jsiivuiiig three and one-third innings while giving up four hits and one earned run. He struck out five. Starter Rich Pratt pitched five and two-thirds innings while giving up six hits and two earned runs. He struck out six batters. The Gamecocks finished the season with a 39-20-1 record. rogram rehabilitation program. "*4 wac an rmKtandino tight end at USC and was later a first round draft pick of the Kansas City Chiefs. After an eight-year career with the Chiefs and the New England Patriots, Scott came back to the South Carolina. Scott was an assistant coach at Newberry College and served as USC's assistant ticket manager. While coaching here Scott will be looking to complete his master's degree.