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Friday, February 5,1999 The I by Jared Kelowitz Senior Writer On Saturday, the Gamecock baseball team will officially open its season, hosting the Cougars of the College of Charleston. The team is ranked 15th in the Country in the Rasphall America poll and is looking to make that trip to Nebraska every college player dreams about. The Gamecocks definitely have the potential to achieve this goal, but along the way at least 11 veiy good ballclubs stand in their path. These clubs include the College of Charleston. Ole Miss. Mississinoi State. Vanderbilt, Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas. "I think having six Southeastern Conference teams in the top 25 ranked teams in the country just speaks volumes for the league in which we play," coach Ray Tanner said. The Gamecocks season starts this weekend in a two-game series with the Cougars at Sarge Frye Field. COC will bring to Columbia three Baseball America preseason All-AmerlPflnc i r\ eofeKfir Rnnntr M ormnl onrf vwuu 141 vaivuvi 4VUI11IJ i'lai invri onu outfielders Monte Lee and Travis Howell. Marmol, a sophomore who was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 1997 draft, hit .309, with five home runs and 25 RBIs last year. He also set a school record by throwing out 30 attempted base-stealers. Seniors Lee and Howell combined for a .323 batting average, 17 home runs, 86 RBIs and 47 stolen bases. The Gamecocks' SEC season will open March 12 to 14 at home with a three-game series with the Rebels of Ole Miss. Ole Miss will loqk to improve upnn fk - on OQ uitu u\j-*ju main it vim last suaauu and will be doing so with a Preseason All-America candidate. Senior second baseman Brad Hendersoa-also was named to the Louisville Slugger All-America third team. Henderson earned SEC second- jA team honors last season, Jfl batting .379, with 15 homers and 52 RBIs, ifl and sporting a .979 fl i.? bluing jjerceiiiage, ranking him third in^tffj the conference in that category. S The Rebels' biggest downfall this season might be their inexperienced pitching staff, as they list only two pitchers who are upperclassmpa. The week after the Ole Miss series, the Gamecocks will travel to Dudp^oble Field to take on perennial power Mississippi State. Roac The Bulldogs gave USC, as well as much of the rest of the country, trouble last season, finishing with an impressive 42-23 record. As usual, State will have an overwhelming pitching staff this season, consisting of Preseason All-America candidate Matt Ginter and the most successful pitcher on the team last season, Jeremy Jackson. While Ginter ended the season with a disappointing mark of 64, he did lead the Bulldogs in strikeouts with 100. Jackson, on the other hand, was 10-3 with 91 strikeouts. MSU is also set when it comes to explosive hitters, one of whom is Brooks Bryan. The senior outfielder batted .346 last season, with nine home runs and 50 RBIs. After four straight games on the road, the Gamecocks will return home to face the Commodores of Vanderbilt. The 1999 baseball season looks to be a rebuilding year for Vandy, as 14 J new faces are on its roster this Coach Roy Mew-^VJ^^? KniimA in kio 01 of onoenr\ unll juui ml, iii iua jcaoun, win m rely on 11 veterans to lead his M team, particularly Hunter Bled- M M soe, Matt Kata, Andy Kropf, Da- M mon Yee 1^/ Commodore fans hope these veterans, along with the new core of talent, can (improve upon VU's dismal 25-28 overall record last season. Junior shortstop Kata M had the highest batting average on the team laat year, hitting .300, and catcher Kropf||||^iecK p^^^Hond, with outAlong withilhtir hitting skills, these fart) combined v IUI 6<J aiuien uaajg^*g;: A positive aspeqjfis oie return of Bledsoe, who wu* out with an injury ^kst season.* IVoyoars ago, Bledsoe led the team with a .389 batting average, and he is expected to be back to that form this year. Gamecock Sports ?xtra I I to 4 After the three-game series against Vandy, USC will travel to Alabama to face the 101 ranked Crimson Tide. The Tide returns six starters a three of the top five pitchers in I SEC, and produced an outstanding 18 record last season. This is the second time in five ye that Alabama 1s ranked in the top in the nation in the Dreseason Doll The 1997 team finished as runm up to the national champion USC I jans in the College World Series. Looking at this team, there is anv one individual who stands out: stead, Bama presents a wide rang* arsenals. Then, as in any other USC sp( the biggest game of the season v a come when USC goes to Death Valley to face long-time rig\ val Clemson. /AV The Tigers are^^^fc m ra n ked 20th in the I fly Jpreseason polls I 1| | bring an inter k ^ esting variety of tributes to the table. they carry two pros son All-America pa ^S^\to the 199^ 8 sa? outfiy ld?r Pa t r Bo^d aod pitch Ryan Mottl. Boyd received Freshen All-Am ica honors last season is the lei > ing returning hitter onihe squad t season. Junior right-hander ftlottl has cc piled a career record of 19-7 at Cle son and led the tesrn in wins and stri outs last seasffh. 1 Last spring, Mottl pitched his w to m record of 9-4 and 96 strikeou JffiKi with Boyd, 10 of the Tigers' | leading hitters will makeLheir retui iferthe '99 campaign. tThe team compiled a .326 combir irage to lead the ACC last seasi Another team that will try to g r T?:..? I: fuiuveiaiijr ui ouuui vxiiuiiiia ua team trouble this season is Aubu They will do so with veteran pit and a crop of solid returning h The Tigers return every pitch from their staff last season. Pitchers Chris Bootcheck, Hayd Gliemmo and Brent Schoening co bined for a record of 32-10. Some key losses for Auburn inch Scott Pratt, Heath Kelly and Jo Etheredge. Pratt led the team with a .407 b ting average last season, while Ke and Etheredge weren't far behind w .319 and .340 marks, respectively. H( ever, the Tigers'offense shouldn't stri gle that much this season. There i Dm/ th- five other guys ready to pick up I departed seniors' slack: Casey Dui md Todd Faulkner, Dominck Rich, Ch the Wandall and Hayden Gliemmo. 46- Dunn batted .320 with 10 honv and 61 RBIs. ars Faulkner was the second-leadi 1? hitter on the team behind Pratt, b s. ting an impressive .382 with 20 hom ?rs- and 63 RBIs. | \ ro Rich, Wandall and!flHk Gliemmo combined for a ;n't .335 batting average, 14 jj V in- homers and 82 RBIs. J |1 - of Probably the toughest | | team USC will face this! L >rt, year is the Florida Gators, at- cruiting cl^jn the country, . :*' % t ..,*##4 I Ji 1 ,.| i""^ " -"" m# ^^?':::; * W" Tin A&flfc! J air ' s USA Today lh: ERPNfVwi ick The 1909 Preseason USA Tod; 25 Poll, with first-place votes i er TRAM adhis 1. Southern California ( 2. iMiami, Ha. (51-12) ^ 3. Louisiana State (48-1 4. Wichita State (56-7) 5. Florida State (53-20) ts 6. Stanford (42-14-1) 7. Georgia Tech (41-22) 8. Florida (46-18) ied 9. Long Beach State (4? 10. Rice (46-17) lve 11. Alabama (46-18) ^ 12. Cal State Fullerton ( ch- 13. Auburn (46-18) ?it- 14. Texas A&M (46-20) 15. Arizona State (41-23 iu. vjciunuu \i?/ iu/ len 17. South Carolina (44-1! m- 18. Mississippi State (4219. Arkansas (38-21) OA rp rr I. /II OA\ 6\). lexa* lecu ytt-cvij 21. Washington (41-17) at- 22. UCLA (24-33) "y 23. Wake Forest (43-23) lth 24. Oklahoma State (40Jg: 25. North Carolina (42-! ire m i HA ;he All of college baseball is aware of nn! the power Br|d Wjlkerson possesses iad both thf fyfttftr1^ bo^. and on the mound. ",0. ers This 3$%on ho^Jl try to lead the ing and 10^iS3S!|f^ at- Florida is ranked HBRirFthe cotTfiers try and looks to dupliG&ie last year's : i:ui_ _i. ,.rni o i? - I i in 1cu 1 uie orA- loarn. oi ii-o. vM/EM I We're very happy to see that we are being njeopnized nationally, after a fens years of real hard work," $?8<h Andy Lopez "But now we can't I rest onipir laurels. "We have to go out H 8 an/1 nr/wa that wo arn f y vwvuav|Hflil|as goo(|y|| our. reputaVJIhK tion." ors AmmmmZr No;fnatter who or when1 ne USC |p's this season, it ig. should certaifily be an exciting contest. e- Gamecock tapis hope their success nd will make upM the football and basng kr''ii 1 teams' lack thereof, especially ||l since the Gamecocks come into the season so highly touted. Baseball Weekly/ ehes Top 25 Poll iv Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches Top 11 parentheses and last season's records: POINTS 49-17) 964 885 9) 844 827 783 732 713 , _ 708 5-23-1) 661 648 611 47-17) 537 534 491 ) 471 349 3) 295 -23) 2G9 248 210 189 145 133 21) 132 23) 128