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FOOTBALL USC spring football practices open to the public: 2 p.m. Saturday 3 p.m. Sunday March 27, TBA April 1, Scrimmage April 17, Spring Game Page 6 Carolin: by Jared Kelowitz Assistant Sports Editor The South Carolina men's baseball team will host the Fightin' Christians of Elon tonight. The Fightin' Christians are at 515-1 for the '99 campaign, while the Gamecocks have tallied 15 wins and five losses overall. USC has led the series with Elon 2-1, since 1916, but the two teams haven't played each other in more than 20 years. Elon is relatively new to DivisionI collegiate baseball, completing its first full season last year. Despite being novices at this level, though, coach Mike Kennedy's team still finished with a 26-22 record in 1998, his second season there. This year, the Elon squad returns six varsity starters and two of its top pitchers. "Elon has had a very tough schedule so far this season, especially with it being only their second season of Division-I play. They are a wellcoached ball club, and will be looking to make a name for themselves by up setting us this Wednesday, UbC coach Ray Tanner said. Elon's main strength is its pitching staff. It has five starters, two of whom are returnees from last year. Last season, sophomore Nathan Holcombe had an ERA of 3.79 and a record of 21, while junior Chris Hughes had a 3.29 ERA. Newcomers expected to play big roles on the staff include right-hander Scott Light and left-handers Whit Bryant and Brad Pinkerton. Although often overlooked, Elon's offensive attack is nothing to sneer at, either. The team is batting only .279, but it has the potential to explode at any moment. Elon returns six offensive starters, three of whom played large roles last year. The offensive leader on the team is probably senior outfielder/first baseman Scott Brendle. Last season, Brendle batted .327, hit 16 home runs and knocked in 47 RBIs. Two other major parts of this year's team are catcher Scott Clark and third baseman Brian Kane. Last season, Clark had 20 RBIs, while Kane followed close behind, with 16. Along with these returning starters, look for freshmen Shawn Kopczynski and Jason Tuttle to play immediate roles. The man who will have the task of shutting down the Fightin' Christians for USC is sophomore hurler Peter Bauer. Last year, Bauer was chosen as a Freshman All-American, and with [xj( |x|1 } El J LjQ ; Last year over 700 st transferred back to tl very reasonable rates We offer flexible opti telecourses let you at television. In the maj< tests! We also offer f College Online and V For a sum toll-free In SC I-I 4 > | $ SOFTBALL Freshman Megan Matthews was named SEC Pitcher of the Week for the second time in her short collegiate career. The Greer native went 3-0 at the USF/Speedline Classic March 4 to 6 in Tampa, Fla. : i baseball f r Wm it. T ?>%.z* -"?N& ^ *'?*? ,*' > ' ?.A ?t? . .??$* Sophomore first baseman Mic Knox tal Gameocks take on Elon at 7 p.m. toda CO LI Bummer 1 is the The Russ Congra s earned credits that at Greenville Tech's [ 4 MMI lie. College on TV J M or local cable f pus just to take I fita d courses through \ Jjjr^ sill or i begin Hay 17. Vl ^ 3rd Place. s us * * stats like a 7-0 record, 2.95 ERA and 68 strikeouts, it's not hard to see why. Nicknamed the "Large Item," Bauer stands at 6 feet, 8 inches and weighs about 250 pounds. So far this season, Bauer has a record of 4-2 with an ERA of just less than 4.50. I -'redit hour problei sTeed to make up ? ust want to get ah Vish you could fin o beat high tuitioi Greenville Tech's I rransient Progran answer. udents from nearly 100 Institution leir own colleges and universities ons for your busy summer schedi tend class by watching videotapes ority of courses, you come to cam Ive-week and six-week compresse Veekend College. mer transient packet, call 150-1 100-912-1183. Summer classes rGREENVILLE TECI jjjHHi College That Work Hiin Gimp in, 6rm Cimpus, Krvkirr (imp (Samecock . Sports The Gamecock I to take on Elon \ yjKJK ittto i9 vj ra^S*- fwBk- IWlBf ''''i,:?& V<<,,y<>^Xs?w?V *^*^*w<^*<?. .^<***^ , ft-" : $** v&** ttBk *? ;: V* ' V# * . ;: % * .... *? j. ; .jc,4 , .,.?? *, ; : * *fcV ?& .*_._, __ ; t - ?*' ' ' ""' , ' Sean Rayford Photo Edito kes a swing against Charleston Southern on opening day. Knox and the ly at Sarge Frye Field. For their offensive output, the batting .500. After a slow start this Gamecocks look to senior Tim Angi- season, the Gamecocks' bats are start)lini and junior Nate Janowicz. ing to come around. Janowicz, who had a 15-game hit- So, if you're tired of green beer and ing streak at one point this year, is shamrocks and have had it up to here litting about .475 for 1999, and An- with "Riverdance," come out to the giolini isn't far behind, batting well ballpark and celebrate St. Patrick's nore than .400. Day with the baseball team. USC's leading hitter in conference The game will start at 7:30 p.m. )lay is junior transfer Brian Roberts, at Sarge Frye Field. Come on in and I pick up a story! ? (Samecock Sports We meet 4 p.m. , Tuesdays. I Class or It's never too late lead? to write! T77.T1 Q9 11/ ? JLodC d a wav I W . SCHEDULE Baseball vs. Elon, 7 p.m. toda1 Sarge Fiye Field. Men's tennis vs. No. 21 Kentucky, 7 p.m. today, Sam Daniel Tennis Stadium. = NCAAt A -W j tinted \ BH break, I d what neai w every S*X)1 Am e r i ( getting ba from n Charlie Wallace s p r i n From the editor's desk break des n a t i o (beautiful Atlanta), I sat down in fro of the ol' TV set and watched the fh and second rounds of the NCAA Bj ketball Tournament. As most of the viewing public knov there were many upsets and blowou This is nothing new, though. Every year, smaller teams captu the heart of America and knock off t old favorites in the tournament. Last year, tiny Valparaiso shock Ole Miss with a last-second shot fire star Bryce Drew and eventually foui itself in the Sweet 16. This year, every team seeded 10 won its first-round game. A couple teams this year, however, stand out being out of the ordinary underdog Gonzaga and Southwest Missoi State didn't just upset the usual be ketball giants, they decidedly beat thei West Coast Conference champion Go zaga, a small school from Washingti state, defeated a depleted Minneso team hurt by suspensions in the fir round. In their next game, spurred on 1 heavy crowd support in Seattle, tl Bulldogs beat a Final Four team frc last year, Stanford. Gonzaga is almost unstoppable fro n i _ _ J iV _ o-pomi range, ana in me win again the No. 2 seed Cardinal, it did mo: than just shoot the lights out. Stanford, which has one of the talle 1 front lines in the country, was outr bounded 51-30. Gonzaga also went ll-for-20 fro 3-point range. The Bulldogs play Florida Thur day night, and don't be surprised if tl 'Zags end up playing in the regional nals Saturday, r This team is for real, but becau it's not from a high-profile conferenc teams are finding that out the hai way. ' Southwest Missouri State earnt a No. 12 seed by winning the Mi souri Valley Conference championshi ^ Its reward was a first-rour matchup against perennial Big T( ! power Wisconsin. With stifling defens ; the Bears held Wisconsin to a recor low 32 points, winning by 11. They then blew out SEC East chai pion Tennessee, 81-51, in the secor round. That score was shocking to mo of the country, but they expected i ?i Next up for the Bears is a date with tl favorite to win it all, Duke. Their luck may have run out. After four days of madness, Tve con to one conclusion: the Duke Blue De ils are almost unbeatable. At first, th team looks like a bunch of nice gu; from Durham. You won't see or hear much tras ! talk in a game, if any, from them. Thi do their talking on the court, and il very loud. All season, Duke has d stroyed the competition. LEGE B ellHoysjeJWwc FROM THE SIDELINES y, "There are only two options regarding commitment. You're either in or you're out. There's no such thing as life in-between." Pat Riley Wednesday, March 17, 1999 ourney a . -m m vim blue s If you haven't really had a chance in to look at them, the numbers alone tell most of the story behind the team's lid greatness. rly The Blue Devils swept through the rts Atlantic Coast Conference with a peri n feet 16-0 record, a feat that had never ; a been accomplished. Sure, the 1969-70 er South Carolina team went 14-0, but ck Duke became the first team to win 16 ay games. g Maryland finished its league slate ti- 13-3 and placed second in the ACC, n with two losses coming at the hands of mt the mighty Blue Devils, rst The fact that it lost wasn't that imis portant, though. Maryland, a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, a team that vs, finished 25-4 overall, got blitzed by ts. Duke twice. The outcomes weren't even close. ire Duke won the first encounter 82he 64, and the game wasn't that tight most of the way. The Terrapins hung around ed for a half, but Duke's talent proved too im much. id The second encounter, at Duke's fabled Cameron Indoor Stadium, ended th in another 18-point thrashing of the of Terps. Duke's 50 first-half points in as that game were just too much for Maryro lanrl f n O. IUIIU tv urvi wmu< iri The Blue Devils went on to disis mantle every other team in the conm. ference, including rival North Carolin na three times. on So far in the tournament, Duke ta hasn't been seriously challenged. Its st first-round matchup with Florida A & M was a joke. FAMU came into the conby test as the only team in the bracket to be have a losing record, im Duke won 99-58, placing six players in double figures, m Tulsa's upset of the College of st Charleston was rewarded with a secre ond-round matchup with the mighty Big Blue. ist For Duke, this game proved more e- of the sameV as the Blue Devils crushed the Golden Hurricane 97-56. m Duke looks to make it to the Final Four without a serious challenge after s- winning its past 11 games by an averle age of 31 points. fi- But maybe the scariest statistic for the rest of the nation is that Duke's se starting lineup features three sopho:e, mores and a junior, rd Not only are the Devils good, they're young. Sophomores Elton Brand, Shane 2d Battier and William Avery all average s- double figures in scoring, p. And with the return of senior and i d team leader Trajan Langdon in the tourin nament,. the Blue Devils are at the top le, of their game. d- It's even said of talented freshman Corey Maggatte that by the time he n- graduates, he might be one of the id best players in Duke history. He doesn't st even start now. it. This team may be the best college le basketball squad since the 1990 UNLV team that blew out another Blue Devil squad in the national champiae onship game. That matchup pitted Larv ry Johnson and the Running Rebels is against a Blue Devil team led by Bobys by Hurley and Christian Laettner. This year, the roles are reversed, sh Enjoy watching Duke play for these 2y next couple of weeks. In five years, at ;'s least half this team will be reaping the e- rewards of the NBA. By the way, coach Mike Krzyzewski's record in the tournament is 45-12. In two weeks, when OWL 3rsity Union ege Bowl imament j A V