The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 05, 1999, Gamecock Sports Extra, Page 7, Image 15
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