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Inside: Schedule USC season ticket prices for the 2000 foot- a Women’s 9°lf a* Lady Gamecock Classic, today - Sun. ball season will remain the same, Wallace .. n>_ tonni • + p.^rir,0 0 n m ’ ■ Men s tennis at Florida, 2 p.m. discusses the coming of baseball ■ softball vs. Florida (DH), 5 p.m. ■ Baseball vs. Florida, 7 p.m. Friday, March 17,2000 IDlC (B&fflCCOCk PageBI Lady Gamecocks sweep Paladins Sean Rayford Gamecock Sports Third baseman Sondra Hall throws to first to make the out during the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader. by Elizabeth Rod Assistant Sports Editor USC pitcher Heather Culver got her big break Wednesday at Beckham Field. The redshirt sophomore from Orange, Calif., made her first career start memo rable with a 2-1 victory over the Furman Paladins. After striking out four and al lowing only one run, Culver was pleased with her performance. “I was really nervous,” Culver said. “This was the first time I’ve pitched in three years. I can improve a lot but I was really happy with how I played.” Culver took the mound when veteran starter Megan Matthews (11-5) was injured after throwing to just two batters. “I was thrown into it, and that was prob ably the best situation for me,” Culver said. “I just had to prepare mentally real fast. I threw about five pitches and went out there.” With the pitching transformation in place, the No. 17 Lady Gamecocks were ready to play. A scoreless first inning was followed by Furman center fielder Kay Brittain’s home run to left field in the top of the second. Culver then retired two consecutive batters in the second inning, setting the stage for a strong showing of USC defense. “It’s a nice plus to know [Culver] can come in here and get the job done,” USC head coach Joyce Compton said. “It’s been a long time coming for her to get out there.” With the score still 1-0 Furman, USC saw a light at the end of the scoreless tun nel in the bottom of the third inning. Leadoff batter and freshman center fielder Jodi Fittro, who currently leads the team in hitting, took first on an infield bunt. Shortstop Kendra McCutcheon fol lowed Fittro’s lead and bunted to take first and advance Fittro to second. With pitch er Joyce McMillin’s (12-5) slammed single to second base, McCutcheon was tagged out as Fittro moved to third. Next up, was the Lady Gamecocks’ju nior catcher, Adrienne Genovese. Genovese hit a ground single to left field, driving in Fittro and scoring a run for USC to tie the game. Neither the Lady Gamecocks nor the Paladins saw any more runs until the bot tom of the seventh inning, when USC pulled ahead. Fittro popped one into left field to start the inning and the end began. Furman left fielder Caroline Evans caught and dropped the fly, putting Fittro on base. With McCutcheon now at bat, Fur man catcher Jodi Baumgardner allowed a passed ball, which gave Fittro an opportu nity to take second. Immediately after, McCutcheon hit one to second. Furman recovered the ball and tagged Fittro out on the basepath, allow ing McCutcheon to take first. McCutcheon’s attentive eye proved valuable as McMillin followed at the plate. Finding a break, McCutcheon stole second and then third on another passed ball. Finally, McMillin rocked one past fur man shortstop Kelli Leachman to send in McCutcheon and win the game for South Carolina. The Lady Gamecocks finished what they started in the second game against Furman, winning by an eight-run maigin. McMillin took her turn on the mound, recording five strikeouts and allowing on ly one hit in the five-inning game. USC intimidated the Paladins early with impressive play on both defense and offense. To start the first inning, quick fielding and a McMillin strikeout retired three con secutive Furman batters. When the Gamecocks picked up their bats, the scoring began. McCutcheon hit a solid single to Leachman to get on base. Af ter McCutcheon stole second, Genovese placed a strong hit to left-center field al lowing McCutcheon to mn home and putting USC on the board. The second inning was reminiscent of the first. McMillin and her fielders repeated Softball see f»ge B2 ; _A— w. mm—mmmm mmm Sean Rayforo Gamecock Sports One game into USC’s matchup against Furman, sophomore Heather Culver replaced the injured Megan Matthews as pitcher. Injuries hamper USC in defeat 1 Tennis Roundup Gamecock Sports The No. 25 South Carolina men’s tennis team dropped its third consecutive match to the North Carolina Tar Heels on Tuesday at the Sam Daniels Tennis Center in Columbia. USC was missing three of its starting players - Jerome Jourdon, Juan Gamboa and Marc Pichler - who were all sidelined with sprained ankles. Pichler hopes to be back for the Florida matchup today. The Gamecocks won the dou point when by coming through with two wins out of the three matches. Guillaume Legat paired up with teammate Robert Steckley to take down the Tar Heel duo of Tripp Phillips and Tyne Brown low, 8-6. Gamecock senior Olof Akesson and sophomore David Nelson had the second half of the point, winning a tough match over Tar Heels David Cheatwood and Trystan Meniane, 9-7. The singles matches started with UNC’s Assaf Drori retiring from the match after losing the first set 6-0 to Legat. Legat raised his record to 23 ^ 2 and remained undefeated in the ™ s'Mng with a dual match record of 7-0. Freshman Seth Rose also had a stellar performance, winning his second straight match in straight sets. Ahead of them for the rest of the season, South Carolina can look forward to nine of their 12 remaining games to be SEC matchups. The scheduled teams outside of the conference are Georgia Tech, Clemson and Duke. The Gamecocks travel to No. 7 Florida today and to No. 16 Mis sissippi State on Sunday. The next home match will be March 24 at 2 p.m. against No. 4 Tennessee. UNC vs. USC (Winners in bold) Singles Matches 1. No. 55 Robert Steckley vs. No. 56 Tripp Phillips North Carolina 6-4, 6-0 2. No. 40 Guillaume Legat vs. As saf Drori USC 6-0, ret. 3. Akesson vs. David Cheatwood North Carolina 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 4. Seth Rose vs. Trystan Meniane USC 6-1, 6-2 5. David Nelson vs. Chad Riley North Carolina 6-2, 6-3 6. Jeff Bergman vs. Greg Archer North Carolina 2-6, 6-3,6-2 Doubles 1. Legat/Steckley vs. Pliillips/Tyne Brownlow USC 8-6 2. Akesson/Nelson vs. Cheat wood/Meniane USC 9-7 3. Bergman/Rose vs. Archer/Ben Elix North Carolina 8-4 USC’s Guillame Legat stepped up in the Gamecocks’ loss to North Carolina Tuesday, winning two matches. USC track & field holds Weems-Baskin relays Track & Field Roundup Gamecock Sports Fresh off the NCAA Indoor Championships, South Carolina will host its first outdoor meet of the season this weekend. The Weems Baskin Sprint Classic will begin at 3 p.m. today and run through 5:30 p.m. Saturday, the meet will begin at 11 a.m. and run until about 4:30 p.m. At the NCAA Indoor Championships last weekend, the women’s team finished second with 41 points and the men finished eighth with 20 points. It was the highest-ever finish for a USC women’s team and ties men’s soccer in 1993 and baseball inl975 and 77, who also were run ners-up in their respective sports. Carolina brought home three NCAA titles with Terrence Trammell in the 60m dash and 60m hurdles, along with Miki Barber in the 200m. Bar ber was the runner-up in the 400m and led the re lay team to a runner-up finish as well in the 4x400m. The schedule of events for the weekend is as follows: Friday 3 p.m. Hammer (Men followed by Women) 3 p.m. Javelin (Women followed by Men) 3 p.m. Triple Jump (Women followed by Men) 3 p.m. Pole Vault (Women) 4 p.m. Short Sprint Medley (100,100,200,400) (Wbmen) 4:10 p.m. Short Sprint Medley (100,100,200,400) (Men) 4:25 p.m. 4 x 1500M (Women) 4:45 pm 4x 1500M (Men) 5 pm 3000M (Men) 5:15 p.m. 4 x 300M (Women) 5:30 p.m. 4 x 300M (Men) Saturday 11 am Shot (Men) Discus (Women) High Jump (Men followed by Women) Long Jump (Women followed by Men) Pole Vault (Men) 110M Hurdles (Men) 11:10a.m. 100M Hurdles (Women) 11:20 a.m. Sprint Medley (200,200,400,800) (Men) 11:30 a.m. Sprint Medley (200, 200,400, 800) (Women) 11:40 a.m. 5000M (Women) 12:00 p.m. 4x 100 (Women) 12:15 p.m. 4 x 100 (Men) 12:30 p.m. 1500M (Women) 12:45 p.m. 1500M (Men) 1 p.m. 100 yds. (Men) Top 16 Entries 1:05 p.m. 100 yds. (Women) Top 16 Entnes 1:10p.m. 400M Hurdles (Women) 1:20 p.m. 400M Hurdles (Men) 1:40 pm. 800M (Wbmen) 2 pm. 800M (Men) Shot Put (Women) Discus (Men) 2:15 pm 4 x 200 Relay (Women) 2:30 pm 4 x 200 Relay (Men) 2:50 pm 3000M Steeplechase (Men) 3:10 pm 3000M (Women) 3:20 p.m. CoEd 4 x 200M (Open) 3:30 pm. 5000M (Men) 3:50 pm. 4 x 400 (Women) 4:10 pm 4 x 400 (Men) 4:30 pm Awards Gaspar wins SEC Swimmer of the Year Swimming Roundup Gamecock Sports South Carolina swimmer Zsolt Gas par was named SEC Swimmer of the Year by the Knoxville News-Sentinel, which was announced Wednesday. Gaspar, the 2000 SEC champion in the 100-yard butterfly, has broken five school records this season in the 50 free (19.65), 100 free (43.77), 200 free (1:35.92), 500 free (4:29.26) and 100 butterfly (46.58). With a time of 1:46.62 in the 200 butterfly, Gaspar also leads the all-time Gamecock list. The sophomore front Budapest, Hungary will compete next week at the NCAA Championships in Min neapolis, swimming in the 100 and 200 butterfly, as well as the 50-yard freestyle. He had also qualified in the 200 and 500 freestyle, but NCAA rules on ly allow a competitor to compete in three events. One of the top-ranked swimmers in Hungary, Gaspar currently is ranked 12th in the world in the 200-meter but terfly. Gamecock fans can look forward to watching the star swimmer for the remainder of this season and beyond, as he has a very good chance of com peting in the 2000 Olympics in Syd ney this summer. GASPAR