Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Inside: Schedule . USC women’s golf and men’s tennis see ac- u Basebal1 vs- Wofford, 7 p.m. ■ Mpn’<5 tpnnk Tpnn^^pp Fri tion, Cloninger writes on the baseball team’s . Softball vs. Mississippi State (DH), Fri. success ■ Baseball at" Louisiana State, Fri. ■ Women’s tennis vs. Florida, Sat. : Carolina looks to start new streak ,1 Second-ranked Gamecock baseball squad tries for 23rd victory against Wofford tonight Baseball Roundup Gamecock Sports The South Carolina baseball e will try to begin anew win _ streak at 7 p.m. as they take on in-state rival WofFord at Saige Frye Field. The Gamecocks (22-1, 5-1 SEC) are currently ranked No. 2 while the Terriers (10-14, 3 6 Southern Conference) come in on the heels of three consec utive losses to The Citadel. Both teams lost their previ ous game, South Carolina drop ping a 17-8 decision to Florida and Wofford losing 15-3 to the Bulldogs. The last time the two teams met was in Columbia last sea son. jf South Carolina won 13-3 and Qso leads the all-time series, 47 21-1. The Terriers will start junior ighthander B.J. Turner at pitch ar. Turner is 0-2 on the year with 14.74 ERA and 20 strikeouts. The Irmo native will try to get his first v/in of the season, but opponents are batting an aver age .290 against him for the year. The Gamecocks will counter with sophomore Brett Price on the mound. Price, usually a re liever, has a 2-0 record with a perfect ERA of 0.00. The south paw has 12 strikeouts for the season. If the starting pitchers get into trouble, they each have ex cellent setup men in the bullpen. Wofford'coach Steve Traylor’s pen is anchored by sophomore Tate Osterman, one of the top closers in the SEC. Osterman has compiled a 2-0 record with a 3.34 ERA and 25 strike outs. Also, opponents are hit ting just .222 against him. Gamecock head coach Ray Tanner has junior Scott Barber to bolster his bullpen, which was shelled in USC’s only loss of the season. Barber has been called on five times this season to save games and has converted every opportunity. The righthander from Belton, has a 3-0 record, a 1.61 ERA and 33 strikeouts. The Terrier offense is led by senior catcher Jeremy Vigna, who is batting .319 with a .426 slugging percentage. Also, se nior outfielder Aaron Price is hitting .298 and is the Terriers’ most reliable baserunner. Junior Chad Livingston leads the team with 26 hits and two home runs, along with a .289 average. The Gamecocks are led by catcher Brandon Pack, who is batting .368 with seven homers. The junior catcher will also receive help from nine other Gamecocks hitting above .300. First baseman Tripp Kelly leads the team with nine home runs. Both teams have excellent fielding percentages, with Liv ingston leading the way for Wof ford and the Gamecock trio of Pack, second baseman John McHenry and shortstop Drew Meyer. The triple threat carries fielding tallies of .995, .936 and .920, respectively. " • Jacquelyn Poston Gamecock Sports Gamecocks Shane Nelson (29) Chris Spigner (25) Brennan Dees (12) and Steve Thomas (15) congratulate Trip^ Kelly after a home run earlier this season. USC takes on Wofford tonight at 7 p.m. at Sarge Frye Reid. National polls recognize South Carolina Baseball Roundup Gamecock Sports The 22-1 South Carolina baseball am was recognized Monday when three itional polls ranked them among the p three collegiate baseball teams in the *Mon. * The Gamecocks, who stormed to a hool and SEC record 22 straight wins fore being beaten by Florida on Sun y, jumped two spots in the Baseball merica poll, moving from No. 5 to No. two spots in the USA Today/ESPN >11, moving from No. 4 to No. 2; and e biggest improvement, three spots the Collegiate Baseball poll, from No. to No. 2. The Collegiate Baseball poll, recog nized as the most official of the three, placed the Gamecocks at their highest national ranking since 1977, when USC reached the championship game of the College World Series. South Car olina also was ranked No. 2 in 1975. Another South Carolina baseball team, the Clemson Tigers, was ranked No. 1 in the Collegiate Baseball poll. This is believed to be the first time ever the two in-state rivals have been ranked first and second over the rest of the nation. In the USA Today poll, the Game cocks received 11 first place votes from college baseball coaches around the nation, while Clemson received one. The poll ranks Clemson No. 5 af)pr the Tigers swept their weekend series with Mary land, improving their record to 19-3, 3 0 Atlantic Coast Conference. The two teams will play each other twice this season on a home-and-home basis. South Carolina will travel to Clern son’s Doug Kingsmore Stadium on April 12, while the Tigers travel to Saige Frye Field on April 19. Collegiate Baseball said Clemson’s pitching staff was the main reason for its No. 1 status. The Tigers’ trio of Scott Bemey, Ryan Mottl and Jarrod Schmidt boast a com bined record of 13-0, an ERA of 1.13 in almost 112 innings and a cumulative op ponent batting average of below .200. The other top-ranked teams in the polls are Stanford in Baseball America and Florida State in USA Today. Collegiate Baseball Rankings 1. Clemson(19-3) 2. South Carolina (22-1) 3. Florida Stale (254) Baseball America Rankings 1. Stanford (16-6) 2. Florida Stale (254) ' 3. South Carolina (22-1) 4. Texas (22-5) 5. Houston (19-7) 6. Arizona State (24-6) 7. Clentson (19-3) USA Today/ESPN Rankings 1. Florida State (254) 2. South Carolina (22-1) 3. Stanford (16-6) 4. Texas (22-5) 5. Clemson (19-3) 2000 USC Baseball Statistics (through 23 games) G AB R Q 2B 3B HR RBI SB Avg. 9 Marcos Rios 9 8 2 4 2 0 0 3 0 .500 21 Braodoo Pack 23 76 20 28 8 1 7 29 1 .368 7 Drew Meyer 23 91 25 31 3 2 5 24 11 .341 12 Brennan Deea 23 97 25 33 5 2 4 17 8 .340 15 Sieve Thomas 7 3 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 .333 2 Nate Janowlct 23 86 25 28 4 3 4 18 11 .326 A3 Trip Kelly 23 80 22 26 5 0 9 27 1 .325 27 John McHenry 23 66 18 21 6 1 3 14 1 318 17 Tlpey Dysoo 11 19 6 6 t 0 1 6 1 .316 1 Chris Plummer 19 65 13 19 3 0 3 14 2 .292 16 Clint Collins 4 7 2200 6 00 .286 3 Matt Riddle 6 73200 1 30 ,2W 41 Bo Mobley 9 23 6 6 0 0 2 6 0 .261 8 Marcos McBeth 23 81 21 20 3 3 3 15 3 247 29 Shane Nelson 13 49 8 11 2 0 2 6 3 .224 18 Bryoo Jeffcoal 23 32 7 6 1 0 I 3 1 .188 26 Tim Whittaker 14 7 110 0 0 0 0 .143 19 Rico Bravo 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 ERA IP H R ER BB SO W L Sv 4 Brett Price 0.00 11.0 5 3 0 6 12 2 0 0 38 Peter Bauer 150 36.0 25 12 6 12 32 4 0 0 36 Scott Barber 1.61 2S6 23 7 5 4 33 3 0 5 14 Kip Boukmght 2JK 522 35 13 12 5 57 7 0 0 23 Lee Gronkkwfcz 2.25 120 5 4 i 3 13 1 0 1 46 Matt WOsoo 253 102 93 3 55000 25 Chris Spigner ■* 2.84 6.1 6 2 2 5 5 0 0 0 34 Steven Whetstone 3.12 82 8 4 3 3 4000 6 Jamie Poston 3.86 1443 18 9 6 2 16 2 0 0 32 Ernie Bascnas AH 15.1 10 8 7 13 18 2 0 2 16 CUnt Collins 587 7.2 7 5 5 5 10 1 1 0 22 Jemnv Plexko 9.00 1.0 t 1 10 10 0 0 26 John Wesley 1157 2.1 3 3 3 05000 13 Steven Bondurant 1350 1.1 3 2 2 2 1 0 0 0 McGee extends Fogler's contract Men’s Basketball Roundup Gamecock Sports Despite the USC men’s basketball Jam’s recent losing season, head coach ddie Fogler has received a one-year ontract extension from USC Athlet :s Director Mike McGee. Along with the new contract Tun ing an extra year, salary was also dis ussed. A four percent raise will be ided to Fogler’s base earnings of $ 155, 00. This will bring his total paycheck to $672,000 a year. Fogler just completed his seventh season at South Carolina and has com piled a total record of 108-102 dur ing his tenure. His past two teams at South Car olina have earned a 23-28 overall record and an 8-24 record in the Southeast ern Conference. The 1999-2000 Gamecocks fin ished on a positive note, winning six of their last nine games and advancing to the semifinals of the SEC Tourna ment for the third time in the past four years. USC will return four starters and lose just one senior off this season’s team. The Gamecocks are bringing in a recruit ing class that has been nationally ranked. “The improvement showed by this year’s team was encourag ing, and the prospects for future success un der Coach Fogler’s leadership are promising,” McGee said. Although McGee had decided not to extend Fogler’s con tract before postsea son play, the two met a week ago to discuss the next few years. In past years, McGee has relied on wins and losses as his information for deciding the future of coaches at USC. A winning record is usually a pret ty good gauge, McGee said. But some times you must look at other factors that may present themselves during a season. “With rare exception, this year’s team, despite having only one senior, was highly competitive in the SEC,” McGee said. “The hope and enthusi asm of Gamecocks fans was sparked by the performance of the team at the SEC Tournament and reinforced our beliefs that successful seasons lie ahead. Additionally, we are encouraged by the academic progress that the team made this past academic year. “It is in the best interests of our basketball program and for future re cruiting to extend Coach Fogler’s con tract at this time,” McGee contin ued. “Our standards and expectations will continue to be high, as we focus on competing successfully in the South eastern Conference on a consistent ba sis and participating in the NCAA Tour nament.” High standards are an understate ment, but not out of reach. McGee and the university set four different areas where the young South Carolina team must continue to im prove for the upcoming seasons with Fogler at the helm. The Gamecocks will be expected to finish in the top half of the SEC, beat the Clemson Tigers, make it to the NCAA Tournament and continue the progress in the classroom. In his years with the Gamecocks, Fogler has led South Carolina to two NCAA Tournament appearances but has only beaten the rival Tigers once in seven attempts. The win came in his first year at USC. The 1999-2000 Gamecocks fin ished 5-11 in the SEC and 15 -17 over all, up from a 3-13 SECjnark and a 8-21 overall record two years ago. Seeded fifth in the SEC Eastern Di vision at this year’s conference tour nament, the Gamecocks knocked off Alabama in the first round before up setting No. 8 Tennessee in the second round. USC’s season came to an end with a 77-72 overtime loss to Auburn in the tournament semifinals. “I’m appreciative of the support and confidence the administration has shown in our basketball program,” Fogler said. “I really believe this year’s team showed significant improvement and was competitive against a strength of schedule that ranked 20th in the RPI ratings.” The nationally ranked incoming class will be added to an already strong group of young returning players, four of whom held starting positions. Included in the 2000-2001 season newcomers is signee Rolando Howell, who was naiped a McDonald’s All American high school pjayer. Fogler also will hold high expec tations for his next season with the Gamecocks. “With the nucleus of our team returning, along with what we believe is a strong incoming recruiting class, we look forward to having future suc cess at both the SEC and national levels with our men’s basketball pro gram,” Fogler said. Special to Gamecock Sports tead coach Eddie Fogl^r can look one year further [ )wn the road and expect a winning season. Spring football sees changes ■ Football Roundup Gamecock Sports South Carolina began spring football drills Saturday with a three hour workout in shorts at the USC prac tice facility off Bluff Road. There are several position moves to report, including: Antione Nesmith and Nate Gary from running back to defensive back; Ryan Brewer from tail back to slot receiver; Kevin Sides from quarterback to slot receiver; Langston Moore from offensive line to defen sive line and C.J. Frye from defensive line to offensive line. The Gamecocks are going (o a 3 3-5 look on defense, which means they have three down linemen, three line backers and five defensive backs. Coordinator Charlie Strong said USC faces teams that run mostly a one back offense, with a few exceptions. Running with the first team Satur day were tackles Cleveland Pinkney, Cecil Caldwell and John Stamper; lqje backers Kaliinba Edwards, Marco Hutchinson and Shannon Wadley and ■ defensive backs Willie Offord and fresh man All-American Rashad Faison. Offord and Faison proved to be two of USC’s best tacklers and hardest hit ters. In the 1998 season, Offord started as a linebacker. Running back Andrew Pinnock has shifted his weight during the offsea son. Pinnock, who weighed 261 pounds following the semester Ijreak, is down to 240 pounds. Outside linebacker Kalimba Ed wards has added 18 pounds of muscle since last season and is up to 258 pounds. * “We got some things accomplished today,” head coach Lou Holtz said after the workout. “We were very anx ious to get started. We had a lot of pos itive carry over from our winter work outs. Spring practice is essential for us to establish some playmakers.” Holtz is also counting on Gary.and sophomore Jonathan Martin for some more big plays. Martin has made the move from running back to strong safety for the Gamecocks. With the 1999 defense built main ly around one of its star senior play ers, NFL hopefuls John Abraham and Corey Atkins, the old 5-2 defense line up was expected by many to be re arranged. In the fall 2000 season, the Gamecocks will hope to be more de fensively balanced. “We lost five starters on defense and four of them flight get drafted by the NFL,” Holtz said. “Shannon Wadley is coming on at linebacker. Of fensively, Jermale Kelly, James Ad kisson and Brian Scott caught my eye at receiver.” Spring practice continues Thurs day with a 3:40 p.m. workout sched uled.