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do bat;am tries defeat. lmn. :ocks wi in a uoru nnmnotitivo nVivoinnl Knr- 1 * ^ The Gamecocks and Bulldogs tie on ESPN. ^ The Lady Gamecock Softball t< to bounce back from Saturday's Shawn Singleton's weekly coll Page 8 Gamec asst. sports aft/or NATHAN BROWN i "Cardiac Kids." "Comeback Kids." "Made-for-TV Kids." All of these names were bestowed upon the No. 13 Gamecocks (20-5,104 SEC) for their penchant of falling behind and then storming back late in the game to get the win. In Saturday's contest against Florida (13-11, 6-8 SEC), USC found themselves in an awkward positionahead by 20 heading into the last nine minutes of the game. But just as the Gamecocks had caught up to the Gators in Frank McGuire Arena earlier this season, Florida climbed its waji back into the game cutting its deficit to four. However, four points would be as close as the Gators would get tc the Gamecocks who held on to chalk up a 79-74 victory. "I congratulate my team on playing with a lot of guts and heart here, tonight Walvieb up key f sports editor BRYAN JOHNSTON The Lady Gamecock basketball team closed out its regular season with a 67-65 victory over Kentucky Saturday night at the Frank McGuire Arena. In what was supposed to be a night for the seniors, it was the underclassmen who stole the show. Junior Nikki Miars, sophomore Annie Lester and junior Donna Carr combined for 52 of Carolina's 67 points. Miars scored 18 points, Lester scored 21 and Carr 13, eight of which were in the final eight minutes. "It was emotional, but we tried to put it aside and come out and play hard," Miars aid. "We just went out and tried to do all the little things." SEAN RAYFORD The Gamecock Junior Nlkki Miars had 18 points in the win over Kentucky. Baseball wil mark PIRAS Columnist "Holy Cow! What a great day for a Cubs game!" Every time Harry Caray stepped behind a microphone, his childlike awe and wonder of baseball came ringing through, tangible and contagious, carrying me like a child to a real-life field of dreams. He was every man and, more importantly, every fan. He was mythical and magical in the city of Chicago, someone about whom tales were spun, someone who came to represent something much larger than himself. He was mythical, even as the years progressed and his mental capacity wasn't what it once was. Even as he mangled the pronunciation of Mark Grudzelanek ("Mark Grud-ZEL-neeak!"), Harry was still loving every minute of his job. As the years have passed and baseball has had its share of problems, such as the greedy players, the greedier owners, the strikes, no commissioner and Pete Rose, Harry represented something pure and wholesome, something about the game that nothing could touch. Maybe it was the way he called the game, the comfortability that you felt when Harry was on the mike. It was like having your best friend next to you, pointing out the pretty girls or asking, "Did you see that?" and second-guessing the manager at every turn. I* T VVmi/VVAVl ? fM.M.J KJM.^+y WM. j derline, almost out of control game at times," USC coach Eddie Fogler said. 'We played very well from the 8:00 mark [ in the first half through to lOor 12min utes to go in the second half. Then Florida made some shots, and we fatigued i a little bit. But I'm fairly comfortable, and I'm happy with [the win]." Coming out of the locker room, 1 the Gamecocks were leading by 12 points. In the ensuing 10 minutes, their : advantage swelled to a game high of 20 i as USC outscored UF 21-13. With four i dunks and off-setting technicals, these 10 minutes were frill of action. Getting r in on the dunks were LeRon Williams, Ryan Stack, Bud Johnson and Antonio I. Grant, whose slam handed UF its 20> point deficit at the 10:28 mark. > The technicals took place after a basket by Florida with 13:50 to go in i the contest, when Bj Mckie cut down 1 : the lane to get the inbound pass. As he ! all picks win The Lady Gamecocks finish the regular season at 12-14,4-11 in the SEC. "If you ask any of the girls in the locker room, I don't think any of them would tell you that they're satisfied with that," said first-year coach Susan Walvius. "They all feel we could legitimately have won every game except II one. The Lady Gamecocks shot only 33 percent from the field, but owned the boards and forced 26 Lady Wildcat turnovers. Carolina finished with 22 offensive rebounds and scored 22 second-chance points. The game wasn't decided until the final minute, as both teams battled back and forth. Carr scored on a layup with 45 seconds left to put USC up 66-65. UK's Laura Meadows missed a jumper with 19 seconds left, but the Lady Wildcats got the rebound. UK missed another shot with eight seconds left and Carr grabbed the rebound. She was fouled and made one of two free throws to put USC up by two at 67-65. Meadows had once last chance, but her 15-footer clanked off the side of the rim to give Carolina the victory. Up next for the Lady Gamecocks is the SEC Tournament, where they will 1 face the No. 6 seed, which has yet to be determined. 1 miss Caray Maybe it was the seventh-inning stretch, when he would teeter toward I the edge of the broadcast booth, swing his beer (spilling it all over the adoring fans below) and bellow out some of the lines to "Take Me Out To The Ballgame." Maybe Harry was truly the master showman, bringing something to life in baseball that made it America's pastime for decades before football and basketball grabbed the spotlight. Maybe it was the sound of his voice, well-worn like an old pair of shoes, soft J J :l aiiu niaueauit! uespiu: lis graveieu exterior. Every spring when the season started and I would turn on the television during the afternoon to hear Harry complaining about what a jerk an op- s posing player was or preaching the future stardom of an unproven Cubs rookie, I would know that summer was right 1 around the corner. Harry brought people to the game s who wouldn't have found it otherwise, and he kept them there, excited and E anticipating, wondering whose name ^ he was going to try to say backwards ** today. * Baseball will miss Harry Caray, but E hopefully not all that he came to symhnliTo in fhp wnrlH nf snnrfa Hp ncrn. C ? " " to- r nized over every loss and celebrated L through every win. I just know that sometime this sum- u mer, when Mark Grace lines a two-run d single to right to knock in the winning run with two outs in the ninth, I'll hear s Harry yelling, "Cubs Win! Cubs Win!" and, for a moment, everything '< will be all right again. ^ Spor' The Gamecock n physica put up his arms to slide past a de- points with les fender, Mckie clipped a Gator player in maining in the the jaw with an elbow and was called "Basically, I for the foul. Afterwards, UF's Brent do this [when I tir i_ i- i j _ a- i: , ,, m. wngnt siucjs. llls urau mtu me v^aiuu- back], Lelvon V> aa huddle and then was pushed out by thing happenet Recus Nix. Both Wright and Nix were jea(j iast year,; ?iven technical fouls. won j was ^ "It was a very physical basketball t_ tb j th ?ame," Mckie said. 'Probably one of the ^ fang will b most physical weVe played in this year. , j wa8 just h< We played physical, and they played m aw with phys,caL Williams w Mckie finished with a game-high 31 ,, ' points shooting 8-for-ll from the field . . 0ri(T'm< and 4-for-6 from behind the 3-point arc. m Gamesville si But Mckie's hot hand cooled down when coc^' be stepped to the free throw line where ^at was r be drained 11 out of 18 shots. During f?r wai the last nine minutes of the contest, "Just S? ahead a Mckie missed five free throws. from the fans] o From the 8:57 mark to the final going to be fans, buzzer, Florida outscored Carolina 35- were like 'Go L 23 and slimmed its deficit down to four And now it's tra I Softball teai sports editor BRYAN JOHNSTON g "To defeat a team like South Carolina takes a Herculian-like effort," Georgia State coach Bob Heck said. Either that or a lackluster effort from the Lagg dy Gamecocks. The Lady Gamecock softball team got a strong wakeup call Saturday when it was upset by the Lady Panthers of Georgia State in the second game of a doubleheader. Carolina dominated the first game, winning 50, but looked like they were asleep at the wheel in the second game, losing 4-3. USC was trailing 4-1 heading into the seventh and final inning and managed to score two to pull within one run. With two out, the tying run at third and the winning run on first, junior Kim Pietro grounded to second to end the rally and the game. The effort in the second game had USC coach Jovce ComDton verv unhaDDV. "We shouldn't have let it get to the last inning," Compton said. "We were very lethargic the whole second game. They did a good job of jumping on us and putting pressure on us. We were just going through the motion, and you can't do that against a good team." In the first game, Carolina jumped up 2-0 in | the third inning when sophomore Kim Schultze and Pietro were driven in by senior Carrie Elliott- r Hoshour's single up the middle. The RBI were Elliott-Hoshour's sixth in three games. After freshman Kendra Meano scored on Schultze's single in the sixth, Pietro came to the A plate and accomplished something no other Lady s Gamecock has managed to do m the 33 prior games 13 at the new softball complex: hit a homerun. s Pietro jacked a two-run homerun to straightaway centerfield to give Carolina the 5-0 lead it would end up with. 0 "Petey's got the capability to be an excellent hitter," Compton said. "I think she showed it on ^ that one at bat she had." g Senior Sky Brown (W 2-0) picked up her 22nd ^ consecutive victory since 1996. Brown went the v distance, giving up five hits while striking out three. After the successful start to the day, things d quickly turned sour in the second game. t The No. 6 Lady Gamecocks (3-1) fell behind for the first time this season in the fourth inning when d GSU scored two runs on two hits. But USC came t back, picking up a run in the fifth inning. t' Junior Nikki Beers (L 1-1) led off the inning t with a single up the middle and moved to second on Karri Peters' sac bunt. After moving to third on Meano's groundout, Beers was driven in by fresh- n man Megan Donohoo's infield single. But the sixth inning proved to be disastrous, b Georgia State scored two more runs on three hits g and one USC error. s USC baseball te taff writer JOE QUINN DerickUrqul run in the first i With a 10-1 victory over Cleve- season, and Eric and State on Sunday, the Gamecocks the bases empb wept the Vikings 3-0 in their weekend third of the seas eries. Stanton also Mike Curry and Adam Everett, the gle as South C inal two players in South Carolina's hits off losing pil latting order, had seven hits between and reliever Ma hem Sunday to grab the win in a game USC starter hat was called after six and a half in- 7-0, left the gam lings due to rain. his pitching han By sweeping the series, the Game- bat of the Vikinj ocks improved their record to 8-2 while fourth inning. Cleveland State dropped to 1-5. Senior rightCurry went four for four, singling 1-0, came on to i a the first, second and fifth innings and Cleveland ? loubling in the fourth. scored in the fif! He stole his eighth base of the sea- lash's second he on and drove in a run. Lillash also had Everett singled in the first, second half of Clevelan md fourth innings, driving in a run Russ Gladis vith each hit. nia had singles rs Wy agair ^15 seconds re- importantly, they ct now was like'aw God, don't In iq ^-deitscome- TOia^S^ ^whentheyp-; fi&KdE ^ to came back and Next up fiTthe w, tins can't happen, the Georgia Bulldog; ' are going to kill me. lumbia on Tuesday all over us.' Basical- at 9'30 p.m. and wj )pm? we'd hold on and ESPN as the second i 1 a wm [which we didj." dayho transferred to USC In their last me e his first appearance cocks defeated the mce becoming a Game- capture their first w joining the SEC in 1 two losses from last ny purpose [in coming But the Bulldog! m-ups]," Williams said. j0t since their conte ind get [the harassment na on January 18 ut of the way. Fans are first four SEC cont When I was here, they bounded to win si eRon, you're the man.' contests. The Dogs tding all this. But most against Mississippi n splits wi . _ . JShHIL* , 4% SEAN RAYFORD The Gamec Jbove: Senior Sky Brown picked up ti econd victory of the year Saturday rame 1 of USC's split with Georg outhern. At right, sophomore Sondra pu a a pop up. But once again, Carolina staged a comebai nly this time they didn't have enough. With one out, Brown drew a walk and mo\ 0 second on freshman Adrienne Genovese's s ;le. Both advanced when Meano drew a walk Doi too reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Bro^ dale Genovese was forced out at third. Schultze came to the plate and singled to rig [riving in Meano, but Pietro's groundout end he game. Schultze held the hot bat for Carolina Sati iay, going four for seven in the doubleheader. j er moving from the No. 9 spot to the No. 2 sp he Upton, Calif., native had two RBI and scoi wo runs. "Schultze did a nice job today," Compton sa 1 thought she did a good job in the second sp loving up in the lineup." Up next for the lady Gamecocks is a 3 p.m. d< leheader Tuesday against Louisiana Tech. i ames are at Beckham Field and are free to U! tudents with an ID. :am pounds lart hit a two-run home Tripp Kelly had inning, his third of the five South Carolina j Stanton homered with each, including Urq ir in the third, also his Jay Lambert hit a d son. In Saturday's coi had a double and a sin- three-run home run; arolina collected 17 Gamecocks homered tcher Randy Gray, 0-1, Cleveland State in t tt Porras. the series. Clint Collins, leading Kelly, a freshim e after being struck on ter, hit his first career d by a line drive off the a 1-1 tie in the four gs* Adam Miller in the another three run Gamecock sixth inn hander Patrick Sexton, Adam Poe hit h claim the win. sixth home run of t State's only run was runner on base in tl: ;h inning on Keith Lil- Derick Urquhart ime run of the season, men aboard in the sb a double to account for d State's four hits. h and Sean Manffedo for the Vikings. * Nate says the U.S. women's Olympic hockey team will be featured on an upcoming box of Wheaties. General Mills, makers of Wheaties, made the decision Saturday. Mnnrlau Cahrnarv 93 1 QQfi A ist Florida in eat their words da, No. 15 Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Alabama. of playing time, The Dogs took on the No. 8 Ken) 10 points, six of tucky Wildcats on Sunday. At one point, ior-6 shooting from Georgia had a seven-point lead, but the jr rebounds. 'Gats came back to win 85-74. jramecocks will be Carolina returns home, after two 5 who travel to Co- tough road games against Florida . The game starts an(j Arkansas, for a two-game home 111 be televised on taking on the Dogs on Tuesday part of Super Tues- ^Kentucky on Saturday. ,, p "It's nice to get back home," Fogler Bulldogs 68-60*to sai* "Certainly Georgia is playing as in in Athens after wel1 aS m our lea&ue here m 992 and to avenge the last two or three weeks- They a*? season playing probably to the capabihties of ^ 3 have improved a a team w^? returns everyone from an ist against Caroli- NCAA team. Georgia has always played After losing its well against us and has played well in ;ests, Georgia re- Columbia." x out its next 10 In the overall series, Georgia has a grabbed victories 36-33 advantage, but in the ColiseState, LSU, Flori- um, the Gamecocks lead 17-12. th Ga. state IV? *I m Ik, - ' > " c: ? ? Mpj^v * " ? Bkv^ ^?it- ? id- ^ ^ m i Air . ~ jjj %# - ' /^1 t J ^leveiaiiu ouuc * S^^mO'l he Ci jmcuKk ??? :? Led by strong pitching, (JSC ^ USC page nine swept Cleveland State