The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 07, 2000, Page 9, Image 9
Inside: Schedule
use football releases tentative depth chart a Track & ,ield at Duke lnvita,ional
_ (Durham, N.C.), today-Sat.
for upcoming season, DSC volleyball sees u women>s tennis at Mississippi State, 2
first action of spring p.m.
■ Men’s tennis vs. Mississippi, 2 p.m.
Ninth-inning rally sinks Citadel, 6-5
by Rick Johnston
Staff Writer
The fireworks over the right field
fence in the top of the fifth inning
paled in comparison to the on-the-field
fireworks in Wednesday’s game that saw
the No. 2 Gamecocks rally to beat the
Citadel, 6-5.
The fireworks, shot from the Capi
tal City Bombers’ stadium to com
memorate the beginning of the new sea
son, combined with junior rightfielder
Brennan Dees’ solo home run off Bull
dog reliever Jay Morgan to tie the
game at five in the ninth. The shot to
center highlighted the dramatic ninth in
ning rally.
“I was glad I was able to come up
to bat again. The at-bat before I just
missed a pitch with a man on third with
less than two outs that I could have eas
ily tied the game with,” Dees said. '
Junior catcher Brandon Pack reached
base on a throwing error and reached
third on a single by sophomore desig
nated hitter Trey Dyson. Junior Tripp
Kelly was next and hit into what looked
like a double-play ball. Another Citadel
error, this time by shortstop David Grif
fin, brought pinch runner Steve Thomas
home, and the Gamecocks walked away
victorious.
“What can you say, it was a game that
could have gone anyone’s way, and we
feel fortunate to be able to win one of
these,” Carolina head coach Ray Tan
ner said.
The game featured seven combined
errors, two hit batsmen and only one com
bined inning where no one reached base.
However, the late-inning heroics were
not the only show on the field. In the top
of the fourth inning, Tanner argued a call
over a controversial bunt play involving
Griffin and was ejected for only the sec
ond time in his coaching career.
“I certainly did not deserve to be
tossed, I did not use a swear word. I did
not say anything that my mother would
be upset about,” Tanner said.
The antics continued with the next
Citadel batter when Griffin reached third
after a stolen base and a sacrifice fly by
Matt Dean. Sophomore center fielder
Marcus McBeth, regarded as having
the “best arm in the SEC,” according to
Tanner, unloaded a cannonlike throw that
nearly caught Griffin at third base. The
call brought out Carolina assistant coach
Jim Toman.
After arguing with the umpires,
Toman was also thrown out.
“I don’t know why he got tossed,”
Tanner quipped. “Coach Toman and I
have together for a long time. I guess he
didn’t want me to be lonely.”
Carolina saw action from four pitch
ers in the game, compared with the Bull
dogs’ five pitchers. Sophomore left-han
der Brett Price started the game and
worked 2 2/3 innings, getting three strike
outs.
Sophomore Matt Wilson worked four
innings, getting four strikeouts of his own.
Clint Collins came in for Wilson and left
with one out in the ninth in favor of John
Wesley. Wesley was credited with his first
win of the season.
Besides Dees’ home run, another ma
jor offensive highlight came from senior
leftfielder Nate Janowicz, who had two
hits, one of which was a double that
notched two RBIs.
The Gamecocks play No. 15 Missis
sippi State in a three-game series this
weekend at Saige Frye Field. Tonight’s
game starts at 7 p.m., with Kip
Bouknight(8-0) taking the mound for
Carolina.
Saturday game moved. Saturday’s game
in the USC-Mississippi State baseball se
ries has been changed to 4 p.m. to ac
commodate television coverage. The
game, originally scheduled for 3 p.m.,
will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net South
(Channel 53 in the Columbia area) and
will begin about 4:15 p.m.
The game will be the Gamecocks’
first television appearance of 2000.
Ticket system changed for Qemson. Tick
ets for the USC-Clemson baseball
lame at Saige Frye Field on April 19 will
be issued differently from others this sea
son, according to Sports Information Di
rector Brian Binette.
Because USC is expecting a sellout
of the 5,000-capacity stadium, student,
faculty and staff tickets will have to be
picked up from the ticket office on Rose
wood Drive starting Monday.
Before, a student would be admitted
Lo a baseball game with their student ID.
The tickets will still be free, but a stu
dent ID at the gate will not be honored
for the April 19 matchup. Only students
with actual tickets will be allowed into
the stadium.
Tickets for the annual rivalry will be
available starting Monday at 8:30 a.m.
They will be distributed through Friday
or until they are sold out.
Talk with Tanner. USC baseball fans can
chat with Coach Tanner today starting at
10 a.m.
Interested fans should log onto USC’s
athetics web site, www.uscsports.com,
to talk with the Gamecocks’ baseball
coach. Fans can post questions via the
Internet for Tanner to answer.
Tanner’s three-year record at South
Carolina is 112-65, a winning percent
age of .633, raising his 12-year record as
a head coach to 507-238-3, a winning
percentage of .680. He averaged nearly
44 wins per season between 1988 and
1996, compiling a 395-173-3 record at
N.C. State. He is also USC’s third-win
ningest coach of all time.
Tanner, 41, was named the Game
cocks’ coach on June 14,19%, after nine
successful seasons at alma mater N.C.
State and a three-year affiliation with
Team USA.
Special to GamecociTIports
Rightfielder Brennan Dees led a ninth-inning rally Wednesday as the Gamecocks came back to beat
The Citadel, 6-6. Dees hit a one-out solo home run to tie the game.
No. 18 Lady Gamecocks prepare
for SEC East leader Kentucky
by Shannon Rooke
Sports Editor
The losses have been close and hard
The schedule has been one of the
most grueling in the nation.
And for the No. 18 Lady Game
cocks softball team, the tough 2000
season is far from over.
This weekend, they will travel to
meet the Lady Wildcats of Kentucky
in what is being called the first of the
Southeastern Conference showdowns.
The Lady Wildcats are leading the East
ern Division of the conference and hold
an impressive 23-17 record.
Carolina (27-15) is just one rank
ing behind Kentucky in the SEC East
but is ahead in the overall series 10
2. The Lady Gamecocks dropped sin
^le/'-'tnes to UK in the 1998 and 1999
seasons but went on to take three of
the four scheduled games in 1999.
The Lady Gamecocks are pitching
strongly and their 1.59 overall ERA has
placed them behind Louisiana State in
second place in the SEC.
With South Carolina star Megan
Matthews recently earning SEC
player of the week for the second time,
UK batters will have to be on its guard.
The sophomore starter ended her 1999
season with honors such as All-South
east Region, All-SEC Second Team and
was a 1999 All-American.
So far this season, Matthews has record
ed an ERA of 190.1 and is second in
the conference in strikeouts with 168.
Carolina also has Joyce McMillin,
j'Nith-a 1.66 ERA and 71 strikeouts on
the season.
When faced up against the expert
hitting skills of some of the Wildcat
players, Matthews will have to give
this series everything she can.
UK’s Leslie Kwiatkowski is hav
ing a tremendous third season with the
Wildcats and is leading her team in ar
eas such as batting average (.413), slug
ging percentage, on-base percentage,
runs scored, hits (48), RBIs (33), home
runs (3), total bases (72) and has earned
a perfect record with 22 stolen bases
in 22 attempts.
Right behind her in batting aver
age are teammates Jen Howland (.363),
Beth Fogle (.344) and Lyndsey Angus
(.341).
When it comes to pitching, the
Wildcats can also hold their own. Se
nior Keary Camunas is 12-9 from the
mound and leads her team with 92
strikeouts in her 23 total starts this sea
son.
USC’s offense is led by Jodi Fittro
with a .326 batting average. McMillin
represents a double threat by collect
ing five home runs, 20 RBIs and six
stolen bases this season along with her
.320 average. Adrienne Genovese backs
up the duo with a .306 average and nine
RBIs.
Kentucky is fourth in the confer
ence with a 5-3 record and will look
to stop Carolina from leaving its 8-7
fifth spot. The Wildcats have 18 SEC
games left in the regular season, while
USC only can look forward to 10.
Immediately after the Kentucky
series, however, the Lady Gamecocks
will return home for a six-game home
stand. While in Columbia, USC will
continue its tough schedule and take
on No. 8 and conference leader LSU,
Arkansas and Coastal Carolina.
The series will begin at 5 p.m.
tonight with a double header. The two
teams will face off again Saturday for
another double header beginning at 1
p.m.
Sean Rayford Gamecock Sports
Lady Gamecock second baseman Kim Schultze tags out a Lady Bulldog during the series on March 24.
The softball team travels to Lexington to take on SEC Eastern Division leader Kentucky today at 5 pm.
USC men's tennis
wins fifth straight
over rival Clemson
Men’s Tennis
R ouN DU P
Gamecock Sports
The USC men’s tennis team out
lasted the No. 37 Clemson Tigers 4-3
Tuesday to make it-five consecutive
years in where Carolina has been
vietbrious over its biggest rival.
Carolina holds the edge 36-30 in
the storied competition between the
state’s two largest universities.
The Carolina netters fought through
the wind gusts that reached up to 40
mph and came back from being down
3-1 to get the win and keep their
current streak of three wins alive.
In the doubles match, South Car
uima ium uic puiiu
after their No.l and
2 teams were de
feated by Clem
son’s No.l and 2.
Carolina’s tandem
of Juan Gamboa
and David Nelson
were victorious
over the Clemson
_* d «l. c
JV b VI VU1 V1 1/ Villi V/ V.
The Gamecocks dropped their
matches at No. 2 and 3 but picked up
the win from Olof Akesson 6-2,6-2 at
inu. t> iu maK.e uie
score 3-1. Carolina
received strong per
formances from
Seth Rose and Gam
boa to even the
match at 3-3.
In the final
match of the day,
South Carolina’s
Rob Steckley took the match from No.
37 Josh Goffi to give the Gamecocks
the final point they needed to win the
match.
USC will be back in action today
when they play host to the Mississip
pi Rebels at 2 p.m. The matches will
take place at the Sam Daniel Tennis
Center.
The Gamecocks only have five reg
ular season matches left before
completing in the SEC and NCAA
Championships. Three of the five are
at home.
USC 4, Clemson 3 (at Clemson)
Match-Winner-Score
Singles
1. No. 100 Robert Steckley vs. No. 37
Josh Goffi USC 6-1, 3-6, 7-5
2. Jerome Jourdon vs. No. 48 Tomasz
Boniecki CU 6-3, 7-5
3. No. 64 Guillaume Legat vs. Luis
Garcia CU 6-3, 6-2
4. Seth Rose vs. Brad Emendorfer USC
6-3,7-5
5. Juan Gamboa vs. Sandon Barth
USC 1-6, 6-3, 6-3
6. Olof Akesson vs. Micah Thompson
USC 6-2,6-2
Doubles
1. Jourdon/Steckley vs. Goffi/Darren
Knight CU 8-2
2. Akesson/Legat vs. Boniecki/Garcia
CU 8-5
3. Gamboa/Nelson vs. Barth/Cohn
USC 8-6
Gamboa
a
Steckley