Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

' Inside: Schedule USC spring football practice moves into full- m Swimmin9 at us- Nationals, Tue. - contact drills, women’s tennis’ undefeated ^Softball at Alabama (DH), Tue. SEC streak snapped by Florida ■ Women’s tennis at Georgia, Tue. ■ Baseball vs Coll, of Charleston, Tue. Gamecocks lose two in the bayou No. 15 Louisiana State humbles No. 2 Carolina with two victories in Baton Rouge Baseball Roundup Gamecock Sports The No. 2 Gamecock baseball squad learned a harsh lesson over the weekend - a 23-1 record coming into LSU’s Alex Box Stadium didn’t mean much to the No. 15 Tigers. LSU continued its recent winning streak by taking advantage of several USC mistakes and beating the Gamecocks two out of three games in Baton Rouge, La. The losses dropped USC to a 24-3 record on the season. USC 9, LSU 7 South Carolina erupted for seven runs in the seventh inning Sunday and John Wesley struck out five in three innings of one-hit relief to save the game as the Gamecocks defeated LSU 9-7 to sal vage the final game of the series. LSU had rallied in its final at-bat to win the first two games over the Game cocks. Sunday’s win boosted South Car olina’s record to 24-3,6-3 in the SEC while LSU dropped to 18-9,5-3. Jamie Poston, 3-0, earned the win in relief with Wesley picking up his first ca reer save. Bo Pettit, 2-2, took the loss. South Carolina trailed 5-2 after six innings. Trey Dyson, who had homered earlier to drive in South Carolina’s first two runs, doubled to lead off the seventh. Chris Plummer was hit by & pitch and John McHenry beat out an infield hit to load the bases. Marcus McBeth’s second of three hits in the game drove in one run and Nate Janowicz singled to drive in two. With one out, Brennan Dees singled to score McBeth and the Gamecocks worked a double steal with Janowicz steal ing home for the fifth run of the inning. Brandon Pack then hit his ninth home run of the season for the final two runs. Poston had come on to snuff out an LSU threat with a double play ball in the sixth inning but gave up a two-run homer to Jeremy Witten to narrow the South Carolina lead to two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Wesley, the loser in relief on Saturday, came in to shut out the Tigers for the final three innings. LSU 7, USC 6 A two-run double by Cresse in the bottom of the eighth inning-Saturday gave LSU a 7-6 win over the Gamecocks. Shane Youman (1-0), the fourth of five LSU pitchers, was the winner, with Ben Saxon earning his first save. Wes ley, 0-1, took the loss in relief of South Carolina starter Peter Bauer. Brad Cresse, who reached base on eight of nine at-bats in the first two games of the series, hit his 11 th home run of the season and walked three times before de livering his game-winning double. LSU also saw solo home runs from Ryan Joigensen, his second, and Blair Bar bier, his third. Pack hit his eighth homer and Mc Beth his fourth, both with the bases emp ty for South Carolina. Pack drove in two other Gamecock runs with an infield out and a base hit to account for half of USC’s scoring. Janowicz and Drew Meyer led off the first inning with hits and both moved up a base when LSU center fielder Witten hobbled Meyer’s hit. Pack’s ground out scored Janowicz to give the Gamecocks a short-lived 1 -0 lead. Cresse homered in the bottom of the first to tie and LSU took a 2-1 lead on Jorgensen’s third inning homer. Pack’s homer, a Tripp Kelly double and a base hit by Dyson scored two runs in the fourth to give South Carolina a 3 2 lead. LSU tied it in the bottom of the Baseball SEE RAGE B2 I -■» » . • • . >. », - ±^: i_i. - --.... . .-V . ».. . i - .- .._ v..;- 1, -.tv,. Sk»«.a.!mm3 Jacquelyn Poston Gamecock Sports Second baseman John McHenry (27) swings and misses earlier this season. The Gamecocks faced No. 15 LSU this weekend, losing two games and dropping the team to 23-3, 5-3 SEC. Lady Gamecocks split pair of doubleheaders over weekend by Bryan Della Volpe ^ and Paul Mashack Staff Writers The No. 17 Lady Gamecocks played host to a pair of doubleheaders this weekend against SEC West rivals Mississippi State and Ole Miss, and once again had to settle for splits against their opponents. This marks the fifth time in as many opportunities Caroli na has split against an SEC team. Friday, USC stopped the No. 21 Bulldogs 2-1 in the opening game, then fell 6-2 in the second game. USC need ed extra innings, however, to tally their 23rd victory of the season. Sophomore Adrianna Baggetta, who was 3-for-3 in the game, got USC on ' the board in the home half of the third when she slapped an RBI single to right field. The RBI gave Baggetta 17 on the season, ranking her second on the team. Junior Joyce McMillin scored from third to give the Lady Gamecocks a 1-0 lead. It was the lone run in an inning that saw four USC base hits. The lead stood until the top of the seventh when MSU scored on a run down situation. Keri McCallum sent a Megan Matthews pitch into the right centerfield gap, good enough for a dou ble. McCallum then got in a rundown, enabling Kasey Whitehead to score and even the game at one run apiece. USC failed to score in their half of _ tho-seventh, and the game went into exii a innings. The game remained in a deadlock until the bottom of the ninth inning. Sondra Hall came to the plate with a runner on first. The senior continued her clutch hitting with a double to right center field, allowing Adrienne Gen ovese to plate the winning run. The RBI was Hall’s 16th, 10 of which have come with two outs on the board. Megan Mathews allowed only five hits on her way to season victory no. 13. The sophomore struck out six and walked only two, going the dis tance to collect her 19th complete game in 20 starts. The nine innings pitched was the most by a USC pitcher since Matthews pitched 10 in nings against Michigan a little more %!th'”* a month ago. In game two, Mississippi State scored early and took a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning. The Bulldogs scored one in the second inning and four in the fourth qfjf McMillin. South Carolina got two in fi°Uom °f fifth McMillin (9-4) took the loss for game two, allowing five runs, four earned in four innings. Matthews pitched the last three innings and al lowed only one run. Mississippi State first scored when Genovese’s throw on a double steal sailed past Hall at third base and into left field, allowing Michelle Gates to cross the plate for a 1-0 lead. McCal lum and Whitehead each added two run home runs in the big MSU third. South Carolina got two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Baggetta got her second RBI of the game with aground out to second base. Catcher Genovese cut the lead to 5-2 with a single to cen ter field, scoring McMillin. Baggetta got her second RBI of the game with a groundout to second base. Genovese cut the lead to 5-2 with a single to center, scoring McMillin. The Mississippi Rebels visited Car olina Saturday for another doubleheader. In the opening game, Matthews again went nine innings, but unlike the r-w,-—-*sr previous afternoon, she was unable to notch a victory. The pitchers’ duel between Matthews and Ole Miss freshman Hol ly Burris was intriguing. USC didn’t get its first hit until the bottom of the fifth when Baggetta broke through with a blooper to short right field. Genovese sacrifice bunted to move Baggetta to second, but Baggetta was thrown out at third trying to advance an extra base. With a scoreless tie in the top of the ninth inning, a fielding error re sulted in Ole Miss scoring the winning run. Allison Willrath reached on an er ror by third baseman Hall to open the ninth. Willrath advanced to third on a single by Mandy Shklar and ran home when Kim Schultze hobbled a throw to first. The one run would be enough, as Ole Miss got its first ever win over USC. In the final contest of the week end, the Lady Gamecocks’ bats woke up with a 10-2 rout of the Rebels. The scoring began in the bottom -w, — ~ of the first inning when Hail hit a sin gle driving McMillin home. After Mis sissippi tied the game in the next in ning, first baseman Danielle Quinones broke the game open for Carolina in the third inning with a two-out grand slam. The blast to left field was her first career home run. “I’ve been in a slump lately and it was about time to get out of it,” the freshman from La Puente, Calif, said. “With or without the grand slam, I knew we were going to win.” In the fourth inning, USC wasn’t finished. McMillin, Baggetta, Gen ovese, Hall and Debralee Troesh com bined to hit five consecutive doubles that enabled the Lady Gamecocks to score five runs. McMillin pitched five innings with four strikeouts and yielded five hits with a pair of earned runs. The Lady Gamecocks return to ac tion with a doubleheader Tuesday at Alabama. Their next home game is against LSU on April 14. -m-wt—-—i—1 m SEAN KAYFORD uAMECOCK SPORTS Freshman Debralee Troesh slides into home against a Mississippi State catcher this weekend at Beckham Field. USC split doubleheaders with MSU and the Ole Miss Lady Rebels. Trammell wins three as USC track takes first in SEC Fourway by Kyle Almond Staff Writer South Carolina sprinted past the competition Saturday in the SEC Four way, dominating Arkansas, Mississippi and Vanderbilt. Terrence Trammell’s three wins at the Weems Baskin Track led the men’s team to a total score of 137, enough to put away Arkansas and Ole Miss, who had 99 and 75 points re spectively. USC All-Americans Me’Lisa Bar ber, Demetria Washington and Ellek isha Williamson excelled for the Game cock women, whose 248 total points almost doubled the second place Arkansas women, who finished with 126.5 points. Mississippi’s women had 105.5 points and Vanderbilt, who does n’t field a men’s team, finished fourth with 105 points. Trammell’s anticipated attempt to break the world record in the 100-yard dash came up short, to the dismay of nearly a thousand spectators. But his time of 9.61 seconds was still good enough to win the race and please the home crowd. Last week at the Weems Baskin Relays, Trammell’s time of 9.22 sec onds was one one-hundredth of a sec ond off the world record for the event, which is 9.21 and set in 1968 by leg endary sprinter Charlie Greene. But a -3.93 headwind, a strong wind by track and field standards, proved to be a significant hindrance to Trammell’s time Saturday. After the race, however, Trammell, the 2000 National Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year, wasn’t upset. “This is the best turnout [of fans] for a track meet since I’ve been here,” Trammell said. “I’m just thankful for the opportunity.” As for the wind, Trammell said, “Those things happen in track and field. You can’t control the wind.” Trammell already had been a part of Carolina’s 4 X 100 relay team, who won their race with an automatic NCAA time of 39.14 seconds. He then went on to win the 200 meter race, pulling out a close one against the Ra zorbacks’ Melvin Lister, an NCAA champion. In the women’s 100-yard dash, Bar ber’s time of 10.61 seconds earned her first place honors. Washington was triumphant in the 400 meters with a time of 53.13, and Williamson edged out fellow Game cock Jackie Madison to win the 100 meter high hurdles. Other winners for the South Car olina women included Candy Mitchell in the javelin, Loren Thouvenot in the hammer throw, Kylene Dixon in the pole vault, Andrea Hallmon in the 800 meters, Lynette Keppeler in shot put and Alana Robinson in the discus. Men’s winners included Game cocks Gerry Martin (javelin), Corey Taylor (110 meter high hurdles), Jim mie Hackley (400 meters) and Michael Lameier (pole vault). Both USC men’s and women’s 4 X 400 relay teams also were victori ous. “I’m just proud of our kids,” said USC head coach Curtis Frye. “We’re proud of the way they present them selves. They are a class act.” Frye also was optimistic about his team’s chances this outdoor season. “I think our Women will be a top contender for a top two or three in the NCAAs, and I think our men still have a shot at being in the top ten.” The Gamecocks will travel to Raleigh, N.C., next week to take part in the Raleigh Relays. It will be the third outdoor meet this season for USC, whose men and women both finished in the top ten nationally last year. USC Women Winning Events Javelin Candy Mitchell 159m 4 4x100m relay Barber. Barber, Lewis, Washing Ion 44.09 4x400m relay Washington, Bass, Williamson, Barber 3:41.09 Pole Vault Kylene Nixon 12m 0 Hammer Loren Thouvenol 162m 2 Shot Put Lynette Keepeler 47m 3 200m Miki Barber 23.09 400m Demetria Washington 53.13 800m Andrea Hallmon 2:10.23 100m hurdles Ellakisha Williamson 13.22 Discus Alana Robinson 160m 11 USC Men Winning Events Javelin Garry Martin 158m 9 100 yards Terrence Trammell 9.61 110m hurdles Corey Taylor 13.90 ,4x100m relay USC A 39.14 Pole Vault Michael Lameier 16’6 200m Terrence Trammell 20.% 400m Jimmie Hackley 45.90 4x400m relay USC A 3:11.81 i •)