The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 18, 1997, Page 8, Image 8
Men's tf
NATHAN BROWN Senior Writer
The USC men's tennis team lost
to the Auburn Tigers Thursday in
the first round of the SEC
Championship Tournament, 4-0.
The Gamecocks were seeded eighth
while the Tigers were the ninth seed
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second seed in the singles cnmpetitian,
faced Auburn's Adham Alaily. Brill,
who played very strong at the start
of the match, jumped out to a 5-0
lead.
However, Alaily fought his way
back to win the first set. Then the
match was suspended as Auburn
captured the three singles wins to
give them the overall win, 4-0.
But Brill and Alaily continued to
battle it out in the second set which
Brill unofficially won.
Earlier in the day, Brill and his
teammate, Jorge Esqueda, dominated
their doubles match. With Brill
leading the way, he and Esqueda
were winning 6-2 when the game
was suspended since Auburn captured
the other two matches.
Carolina bas<
MARK PIBASSatff Writer
The USC baseball team battled
back several times against a
formidable Clemson team, but ended
up falling just short as the Tigers
won 12-9.
Coach Ray Tanner said before
the game that the keys for starting
pitcher Jake Whitfield would be to
throw strikes and get past the first
couple of innings. Tanner must have
forgotten to tell that to Whitfield.
Clemson opened the bottom of
the first with four runs.
Jason Embler singled to left,
scoring Gary Burnham and chasing
Whitfield from the game with no
outs in the first inning.
Freshman Bryan Kirby came in
to relieve Whitfield, and quickly
walked Kurt Bultman to load the
bases. Larry Borgert singled to right,
scoring LeCroy and Embler and
giving Clemson a 4-0 lead.
Matt Padgett singled to right to
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things were looking bleak for
Gamecock fans. But USc got the
Tigers to fly-out and hit into a double
play to end the inning.
The Gamecocks, as they did all
game, battled back in the top of the
second inning. Freshman Adam Poe
doubled to right-centerfield. Rob
Streicher followed with a single to
right that scored Poe, and the
Gamecocks were on the board, 4-1.
Brandon Walters followed Ryan
Szwejbka with a single to left that
moved Streicher to second. Mike
Curry grounded out to first, moving
the runners to second and third, but
making the second out of the inning.
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Head coach Kent DeMars was
fairly certain that Brill and Esqueda
would have won.
"It looked pretty evident we were
going to win number three doubles.
We were up 6-2 at the time," DeMars
said.
The entire Gamecock squad
quickly fell behind by one point after
losing the two doubles matches. The
No. 1 doubles team of Jerome Jourdcn
and Greg Badurowicz fell 8-5, and
the number two team, Olof Akesson
and Robert Wojcik, lost 8-3.
The third match was suspended
due to Auburn capturing the required
two matches out of three in the
doubles competition. In doubles
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were just not up to level of the Tigers.
"They have two outstanding
doubles teams. Their one and two
teams were really better than ours,"
DeMars said.
Despite being down by one, Coach
DeMars was optimistic that the
Gamecocks could come back.
"I thought we were good enough
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Adam Everett came dp to the
plate and stroked a single into rightcenter
that drove in Streicher and
Walters, and put USC down by only
one run, 4-3. Everett stole second,
and Derrick Urquhart walked.
That brought to the plate Eric
Stanton, who was hitting in the cleanup
spot for the first time all year,
filling in for. a sick Ryan Bordenick.
Stanton hit a high fly ball to left that
seemed to elude the soft wind blowing
inward, and carried just over the
fence for a three-run homer. The
Gamecocks took their tirst lead ot
the game, 6-4, and chased the
Clemson pitcher, freshman Jeff
Parsons.
Kirby pitched well until the bottom
of the fifth, when he began to tire.
He hit Embler with an off-speed pitch
to start the inning, then allowed a
deep homerun to Bultman. The Tigers
were back, threatening the
Gamecocks, 7-6.
USC used Stanton's fifth RBI of
the game and a run-scoring single
by Streicher to go back in the lead,
9-7, in the top of the sixth.
In the bottom of the sixth, things
began to unravel for the Gamecocks
quickly. DeMoura singled to center,
and Burnham singled off the second
base umpire to put runners on first
and second Tanner removed Hoshour
in favor of Tyler Speer.
Speer walked the first hitter to
load the bases, and Embler followed
by blooping a single into short center
that scored DeMoura The next hitter,
buitman, hit a long tly hail that the
centerfielder, Curry, somehow caught
as he was falling down. All three
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initiated
to come back and win four singles,"
DeMars said.
But in the singles matches, No.
1 seed Jouidon lost 6-4,6-1. Number
three seed, Badurowicz, was defeated
6-1,6-0. And No. 4 seed, Esqueda,
fell 6-4,6-4. With
the three losses, Auburn
was able to claim victory which ended
the rest ot the matches. Ut the three
suspended matches, the Gamecocks
were likely to win them all.
"There looked like there was a
good chance we would win the three
remaining matches," DeMars said.
At the close, Akesson was two
points away from victory, Brill was
winning the second set, and Wojcik
had been leading nearly the whole
match.
With the loss, the Gamecocks
were eliminated from the SEC
tournament, but their season may
not be over. They will probably be
attending the NCAA Regionals.
Auburn will go on to free the No.
1 seeded Georgia Bulldogs tomorrow
at 2 pm on the Sam Daniel Courts.
llemson, 12-9
runners tagged up and moved one
base, scoring Burnham.
Stanley grounded out to second,
but LeCroy scored on the play to give
Clemson the lead for good, 10-9.
The Gamecocks could not solve
Alex Additon, the reliever that
Clemson used for the final three
innings, and Clemson went on to win
12-9.
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Lady Gam
SEC cham1
GOLF continued from page 1
on their home course. SEC rival
Tennessee walked away from The
university uiud witn tne
championship of the Classic.
This time around Arney says
her team will be better prepared
to not let the excitement of playing
at home affect their play.
"We had a learning experience
[at that tournament]," Arney said.
"It was one of those things that they
wanted it so bad, that they overtried
a little bit. They felt like they
had something to prove, and in
reality golf is such a game where
you have to stay in the present. I
feel like we are ready mentally to
stay in the present this week."
Senior Rebekah Lee-Owens, the
team's leader, said she hopes this
time around will be a better
experience for the Lady Gamecocks.
"[The Lady Gamecock Classic]
was definitely a learning experience,"
Lee-Owens said. "It was kind of a
mini-SECs, or that is how we tried
to look at it Everybody was playing
real well, but we kind of crumbled
under the pressure. We've learned
from it, and we are ready to come
out here and do well."
Freshman Camilla Faaborg
Andersen said she was nervous at
the Lady Gamecock Classic, and
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now with that tournament unc
her belt she will be able to pi
better this time around.
"After the Lady Gameco
[Classic] we wanted to pro
something, because we pressui
ourselves a bit to much," Faabo
Andersen said. "It was a gre
tournament, but results-wise
wasn't as good, so of course we wj
to forget about it.
"For me it was very goc
because the event was the first tu
that I played a tournament on c
home course.
Junior Libby Howard said s
felt more pressure at the La
Gamecock Classic because of t
familiar faces watching her, a
she hopes to use that tournamt
as a learning experience for t
SECs.
"I think that we put too mu
pressure on ourselves last tin
and we pressed too hard and tri
to make things happen instead
letting things happen," Howa
said. "We learned from the k
tournament. Everyone played w
in the last round, and just went <
and let things happen.
"It was good to have o
tournament here before this (t
SEC Tournament)," Howard sa
"All of our parents were out h?
supporting [us], and everybody ji
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bis weekend
ler wanted to play so well, but we didn't k
ay really have a good turnout. I think
that this will be better for us."
ck Amey said the Lady Gamecocks
ve have an NCAA bid locked up with
ed their strong play this year, although
rg- a strong showing at this weekend's
sat tournament is still needed to ensure
s it that bid.
mt "We feel pretty secure in our
regional bid right now," Arney said
id, "Agood showing here will nail down
me those possibilities, but we feel like
>ur we should get a bid We have played
a very, very tough schedule this
he year. I think we should be looking
dy to a trip to Illinois in May (to the
he NCAA Tournament)."
nd Arney added that any team in
mt the field can sneak up and win this
he tournament. She said she hopes
that it is her girls that are on top
ch of their game this weekend, and
le, that her team will be the one to
ied bring home USCs second-ever SEC
1 of Championship,
ird We will just have to hide and
ist watch this weekend and see who
rell can put it all together and have
jut their 'A' game," Arney said.
Having finished third in last
ur year's tournament the Lady
he Gamecocks will be in the last three
id. teams to tee-off on Friday.
;re Admission is free to all days of
jst the event.
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