Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Inside: Schedule Women’s tennis wins and loses over m Track & field at s c-state Championships (Columbia), Wed. weekend, track & field competes at Duke In- . Men's tennis vs. Georgia. Wed. vitational u Baseball at Clemson, Wed. ■ Track & field at Sea Ray Relays, Thu. Page 10 %\\Z (BaiMCOClt Monday, Apr.l 10, 2000 Third time’s the charm for USC Late-innim rally lifts Gamecock baseball team to third one-run victory of weekend by Paul Mashack Staff Writer The South Carolina baseball team continued their winning streak by posting three wins over No. 15 Mississippi State this weekend, all by one run. The Gamecocks improved the streak to sev en games and notched their third SEC series sweep of the year. USC 7, Mississippi State 6 (11 inning) In the series finale between the two teams, South Carolina continued their late game dramat ics, only this time they needed extra innings in or der to dispatch the Bulldogs for the 7-6 victory and the series sweep. Like the previous day, the Gamecocks relied on an unlikely hero to pull out the victory. On Sun day it was pinch hitter Marcus Rios who provid ed the game-winning hit in the 11th inning of the game. “It was a total team effort,” head coach Ray Tanner said. “We have had guys coming off the bench to help us today.” Entering the bottom of the 11th inning, South Carolina was staring at a 6-5 deficit. With two outs in the inning, Brennan Dees got on base with a walk. Brandon Pack stepped up to the plate next and with two strikes, hit a line drive that hugged the first bast line. The double allowed Dees to score the tying run. MSU pitcher Adam Larson, who was perfect in save opportunities on the season before coming to Columbia, intentionally walked Tripp Kelly to face Rios. Once again down to his final strike, Rios hit a bloop single over second base, sending pinch runner Steve Thomas home to score the winning run. “I was just trying not to strike out,” Rios said. “I was looking to put the ball in play.” Carolina entered extra innings when Missis sippi State scored a run off reliever John Wesley. In the top of the eleventh with the bases loaded, Clint Collins threw a wild pitch allowing short * mr stop Matthew Maniscalco to score. This see-saw game began in the first inning. Kelly hit a single down the left field line, sending Dees home to score the first run of the inning. In the third inning with Carolina up 2-0, Mississippi State scored four runs, including a home run by Travis Chapman that was just barely fair. South Carolina countered in the next inning with a home run by Pack that cut the MSU ad vantage to 4-3. Two innings later, Trey Dyson put USC ahead with a two-run home run to left field. The homer was his third of the,season. USC 4, Mississippi State 3 On Saturday, the Gamecocks overcame Moth er Nature’s presents and a tough pitching perfor mance by Mississippi State to win 4-3 in dramat ic fashion. The game was slated to begin at 4 p.m., but due to a rainstorm, the game was pushed back two hours. Apparently the delay didn’t affect USC, as it rallied late in the game to notch its sixth straight win. South Carolina struggled offensively during most of the ballgame. Throughout the contest, it had stranded nine runners on base. Five of those runners were left in scoring position. As they have done in prior games, the USC bats produced when it was most needed. With two outs in the eighth inning and facing a 3-2 deficit. Bo Mobley entered the game as a pinch hitter for John McHenry. Facing Laison, one of the best closers in the SEC, Mobley cracked a 1-2 pitch into center field, scoring Chris Plummer from second base. “He threw two good curve balls and I took them and that fastball fell straight and I tried to go opposite with it,” said the freshman from Wh verly Hall, Ga. With the game tied at three, Nate Janowicz came to the plate and connected on a double to left field. The hit allowed Biyon Jeffcoat, who was pinch-running for Mobley, to score the winning run. “After Mobley got the big hit I was just looking for a pitch to drive,” said Janowicz, who was 4-5 on the game. “Fortunately, I got it.” Peter Bauer gave South Carolina another qual ity pitching performance. Bauer, who was named SEC Pitcher of the Week last week, worked eight innings and struck out seven batters and allowed three earned runs. The win improved his mark to 6-0 on the season. “He really competed for us,” Tanner said of Bauer. “He kept us alive in the late innings, and he gave us an opportunity for Mobley and Janowicz to get the big hits.” USC 1, Mississippi State 0 South Carolina improved their record to 30 4 on the season with a 1 -0 victoiy over No. 15 Mis sissippi State on Friday to begin the three-game se ries. The contest was a pitching duel between the Bulldogs’ Kevin Donovan and USC starter Kip Bouknight. Both went the distance and shut down their opponents, each allowing only five hits on the evening. “Their guy was outstanding and Kip was, well, vintage Kip Bouknight,” Tanner said. “It was a tremendous college baseball game.” The difference, however, came in the second inning. With one out and nobody on base, center fielder Marcus McBeth connected on a fastball, sending it over the left field wall for his sixth home run on the season. “He gave me the first fastball, it was kind of low, the next one was in the zone,” McBeth said. “I just tried to take advantage of it. It wasn’t a bad pitch, I just dropped the hit on it, that’s all.” McBeth’s home run proved to be all the of fensive support Bouknight needed. The junior col lected 12 strikeouts while walking only three bat ters for his second complete-game victory of the year. Bouknight had a very efficient performance. He needed only 106 pitches to defeat the Bulldogs, only 26 of which were balls. Baseball see mge n Sean Rayford Gamecock Sports . Junior Kip Bouknight reacts after his complete-game, 1-0 victory over Mississippi State Friday night The Gamecocks swept the Bulldogs in a three-game series. Boxing's savior is still Mike Tyson Kyle Almond Staff Writer Last Friday night, after listening to some Wu-Tang Clan and watching Kip Bouknight “murder” opposing batters, I decided to go check out “Black and White,” a new movie released which documents urban race relations and hip-hop culture. The movie starred people from all ends of the human spectrum, from Knicks guard Allan Houston to super model Claudia Schiffer. It also includ ed Wu-Tang’s own Raekwon and Method Man, actor Robert Downey, Jr., and Brooke “Can you believe I was dumped for Steffi Graf’ Shields. But the actor who intrigued me the most, and the one who inspired me to write this column, was none other than “Iron” Mike Tyson. Tyson, boxing’s “bad boy,” played himself in the movie, but his role was n’t limited to a cameo (which one would think after listening to the heav ily-lisped heavyweight). In fact, Tyson had some poignant lines, giving advice to a friend about making mistakes and living with the consequences that follow. Well, if anyone knows about con sequences, it’s Tyson. The former undisputed heavy weight champion of the world and prob ably the most feared man on the plan et had his career shattered when he was convicted of rape in 1992. His con viction earned him three years in the slammer and took away maybe the last years of his boxing prime. When Tyson got out, he enjoyed success for a brief period by regaining two of the three belts he relinquished to Buster Douglas in that infamous first defeat. But it didn’t take too long for him to get back into trouble. He kicked a man on the side of a highway in Maryland after an accident, earning him three months of jail time, and then there was the whole.“Bite Night” incident with Evander Holy field. Tyson, fearing a second straight loss to Holyfield, freaked out in the mid dle of the third round and bit off part of Holyfieid’s ear, earning him a dis qualifying loss and a one-year suspen sion by the Nevada State Athletics Commission. Even worse, the mid-fight snack made Tyson an outcast to Amer ican society, who were appalled by such an act of cannibalism. Yes, Tyson certainly knows about consequences. Perhaps he was in the movie to show the people of America that he has FINALLY learned from his mis takes and is ready to get back in the ring and do what he does best: devas tate his opponents with unrelenting force. I vividly remember Tyson’s glory days, back in the good ol’ days when the big fights were on HBO rather than pay-per-view, and we were oblivious to the fact that Don King was THAT corrupt. Tyson was a wrecking ball, anni hilating opponents faster than it took you to pop popcorn to watch the fight with. He was so feared in the sport that most men had lost the fight before the pre-fight introductions even began. Tyson came to the ring with only a towel, fought in all-black attire with Almond see page n Lady Gamecocks split with UK ... < Softball Roundup Gamecock Sports The battle between SEC Eastern Di vision frontrunners South Carolina and leader Kentucky ended in a draw Friday in Lexington. UK took game one 1-0 in eight innings, and No. 18 USC came back to take game two 4-2. USC moved to 28-16, 9-8 in the SEC, while UK is 24-18,6-4 in league play. Game one was a pitching duel be tween USC’s Megan Matthews and UK’s Keary Camunas. The Wildcats threatened first in the uuuum Ui uic aeiuuu nming. Tiffany Kruse led off the in ning with a triple to center field. But, Matthews would settle down to retire the next three batters, including strik ing out Jamie Dardis to end the inning. In the bottom of the third inning, Carolina got out of an other jam. Jennifer Howland reached on a bloop hit to right center. Howland advanced to second on a passed ball and to third on a wild pitch. But, Matthews again escaped trou ble when the next three bat ters popped up to the infield to end the Wildcat threat. Carolina threatened for the first time in the sixth inning. Junior Joyce McMillin walked with one out. McMillin moved to second on a Jodi Fittro sin gle to right center. However, the next two USC batters popped up to UK second base man Lyndsey Angus to end the inning. After leaving seven run ners on base, Kentucky broke through in the bottom of the eighth. Nikki Jones was hit by a pitch and was sacrificed to second by Beth Fogle. After an Angus walk, Leslie Kwia towkski delivered the game winning hit with a single to right centerfield. The extra-inning loss dropped USC to 44 in extra-inning contests this sea son. Matthews dropped to 16-11 with the loss. The UK win increased its East ern Division lead to two games after game one. In game two, Carolina pulled out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Kendra McCutcheon reached on a bunt single. McMillin drove in Mc Cutcheon with a double to deep right field, with McMillin advancing to third on the throw. The second USC run crossed the plate on an illegal pitch by UK pitcher Moigan Marr. The Wildcats fought back in the bot tom of the second inning. Kruse reached on an infield single and Angie Dal Paz zo reached on a fielder’s choice. Both Kruse and Dal Pazzo scored on a single down the left-field line to tie the score at two. The Lady Gamecocks once again took a two-run lead in the top of the fifth. Both Megan Donohoo and McCutcheon got on base with bunt singles. Sondra Hall delivered her team-leading 10th dou ble oi the season. Halt is now tied tor the i team lead in RBIs with 23. Although USC would put runners on second and third with one out in the sixth, the score would remain 4-2 heading into the seventh. The Cats would load the bases before Matthews, who en tered the game in the third inning, finally got Angus to fly out to end the game. The two teams were scheduled to play Saturday, but were snowed out. The doubleheader was re-scheduled for Sun day, but results were not available at press time. Sean Rayford Gamecock SportsJ Second baseman Kendra McCutcheon throws out a Florida runner earlier this season. The Lady Gamecock softball team split a doubleheader with Kentucky on Friday, but the second matchup Saturday was snowed out