University of South Carolina Libraries
Inside: Schedule USCmen’s and women’s tennis, men’s golf u Basebal1 vs- Clemson, 7.05 p.m. ■ Women’s tennis at SEC - prepare for SEC Tournament; Trammell wins Championships (Oxford. Miss.) Thu.-Sun. Sea Ray Athlete of the Meet award ■ Men’s tennis at SEC Championships (Starkville, Mfss.) Thu.-Sun. USC crushes Davidson, 15-0 No. 1 by Paul Mashack Staff Writer It would have been easy for the South Carolina baseball team to over look Davidson Tuesday night. USC was playing its first game since climb ing to a No. 1 ranking the day before and in a 24-hour span the team would play host to in-state rival Clemson. The Gamecocks used an out standing pitching performance and hot bats to disprove this theory and beat the Wildcats 15-0. Pitching in his first game in two months, Chris Spigner worked five in nings allowing only a pair of hits while striking out eightbatters to get his first win on the season. “It was an enjoyable outing for me,” said Spigner. “I haven’t been out here in a while and it felt good to put another ‘w’ in the column. “He gave us a quality start tonight,” said coach Ray Tanner. Spigner, with relievers Matt Wilson and Ernie Bascuas, combined to throw Carolina’s third shutout on the year. The offensive explosion broke out in the fourth inning of the game. With a scoreless game, Trey Dyson stepped to the plate and knocked a two-run homerun to centerfield. After Dyson hit his fourth of the season, Tripp Kelly connected on his team-leading 12th homer of the year to put them up 3-0. In the bottom of the seventh in ning, RBI doubles by Nate Janowicz and Dyson helped the Gamecocks score another three runs, increasing their lead to 7-0. In the next inning, Carolina again exploded offensively. RBI singles by Janowicz, Drew Meyer, Marcus Mc Beth, and John McHenry helped score eight runs. Also in the inning, extra base hits by Tim Whittaker, who came in as a pinch hitter, and Brennan Dees, put the Gamecocks up by the final tally. On the evening, Dyson was a single away from hitting for the cy cle. In addition to his home run in the fourth inning, he hit a triple in the sixth inning and in the next inning, produced an RBI double in the long seventh. “Dyson had a good night for us,’’said Tanner. “Alot of guys have been stepping up for us and tonight it was Trey.” Dyson’s triple established a new record for triples in a season for USC. Tonight, the top-ranked Game cocks will send ace Peter Bauer against No. 9 Clemson. Bauer and and the rest of the team will be looking for a sweep over their rivals to the north for the first time since 1985. Clemson’s starter had not been announced at press time, but will not play originally scheduled starting pitcher Ryan Mottl. USC will then play a three-game series at Lexington against the No. 23 Kentucky Wildcats. The Gamecocks will be looking for their fourth SEC series sweep in a row, and also to strengthen their SEC lead. S.C.’s Backyard Battle, by Rick Johnston Staff Writer What could be termed the “Ali Frazier II” of college baseball takes place tonight as the No. 6 Clemson Tigers take on the No. 1 South Car olina Gamecocks in front of a sellout crowd at Saige Frye Field. The Gamecocks (37-4), who de feated Davidson Tuesday, are looking to sweep the season series with the Tigers (32-9) for the first time since 1985, when the Gamecocks beat the Tigers 6-0 in the season on their way to the College World Series. The first win against the Tigers came last Wednesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson, with the Gamecocks taking a 6-3 victory, beating the Tigers for the first time since April 1997. The Gamecocks were led by fresh man shortstop Drew Meyer, who hit his seventh home run of the year, help ing him to a three RBI night, and ju nior catcher Brandon Pack, who hit his 11th home run-in the third inning af ter Meyer’s shot in the first inning. However, the story of the night for the Gamecocks was junior pitcher Kip Bouknight. The suspense built up regarding who Carolina head coach Ray Tanner would put up against the Tigers was strengthened when the game sudden ly gained a lot of attention as both teams were ranked in the top 10. The “ace” of the Gamecock base ball team staff asked Tanner to give him the start against the Tigers. The Columbia-area native pitched eight innings, giving up only three runs, earning an emotionally charged victo ry Now, with the rematch comes even higher stakes. The Carolina baseball team is ranked No. 1 for the first time in school history and is also the first team to be ranked in the No. 1 spot since the men’s soccer team in November 1994. “It’s exciting for everybody, not just our program but for the univer sity, the loyal Gamecock supporters. It’s an exciting time, and I’m just hap py to be a part of it,” Tanner said. The strength for the Gamecocks this year has been pitching. Carolina sports one of the finest staffs in the nation, led by the “Killer B’s” of Bouknight, junior Peter Bauer and junior Scott Barber, who have a combined record of 23-1. The starting pitcher, who was an nounced recently to be Bauer, will have to face a fine group of Clemson hitters, however. Freshman shortstop Jeff Baker leads the teams with a .350 batting aver age, with sophomore third baseman Khalil Greene close behind with a .333 average. Both men have notched two home runs for the Tigers. The Achilles heel of the USC pitch ing stan at tms moment would have to be the bullpen. Injuries have rocked the Carolina relievers and have claimed two more victims in Clint Collins and John Wes ley, who were both injured during the series with Mississippi State. “I think the big issue right now with our pitching staff is that we need to keep these guys healthy. Bauer,.Bar ber and Bouknight have done the brunt of the work, and now we need to make sure they get proper rest,” Tanner said. The much-injured got a much-need ed reprieve with Cltris Spigner returning from injury last night against David son. Spigner got the start, pitched five innings, and helped the Gamecocks to a 15-0 victory over Davidson Tuesday. Clemson also had a game last night, as the Tigers faced off against Elon Col lege, the last team to hand the Game cocks a defeat. The Tigers defeated the Fightin’ Christians Tuesday. Tanner said that he doesn’t feel any added pressure from the No. 1 rank ing. “For the last six to eight weeks, we’ve had the bull’s-eye on our chest anyway. And now it just has neon lights,” Tanner said. As far as what the No. 1 ranking will do for the game tonight, Tanner said, “I guess it will add to (the game) Battle see page B2 at last Baseball Roundup Gamecock Sports South Carolina baseball was ranked at the No. 1 spot for the first time in school history Monday. The team is ranked No. 1 in all three major polls, and claimed the top spot after previous No. 1 Florida State lost two of three games to Miami last weekend. USC beat then No. 7 Clem son and swept Vanderbilt last week end to claim the top spot. The only previous first-place rank ing by a USC team was in November 1994, when the men’s soccer team claimed the honor. Previous No. 1 rankings for the Gamecocks have both been for the men’s basketball team, in the presea son polls of 1969 and 1970. USC will defend its new perch tonight against Clemson and In a week end series at Kentucky. caseoall America l oo 10 1. South Carolina 364 2. Florida State 37-7 3. Arizona State 33-9 4. Stanford 29-9 5. Texas 33-9 6. Louisiana Stale 29-11 7. Baylor 31-11 8. Geotgia Tech 31-8 9. Clemson 31-9 10. Auburn 34-10 Fffffrrtl Tqp Iff 1. Sooth Carolina (364) 2. Florida St. (37-7) 3. Arizona St. (33-9) 4. Stanford (29-9) 5. Texas (33-9) 6. Geoigia Tech (31-8) 7. Clemson (31-9) 8. Louisiana St. (29-11) 9. Baylor (31-11) .< 10. Wake Forest (32-11-1) 1. South Carolina 36-4 2. Honda Slate 37-7 3. Arizona State 33-9 4. Stanford 29-9 5. Texas 33-9 6. Clerason 31-9 7. Louisiana Stale 29-11 8. Auburn 34-10 9. Baylor 31-11 10. North Carolina 33-9 Special to Gamecock Sports Catcher Brandon Pack scored four runs for the Gamecocks in their 15-0 victory over Davidson Tuesday. Holtzes, Gamecock football team participate in community service X X Football Roundup Gamecock Sports USC head football coach Lou Holtz and his wife, Beth, received the first an nual Gabriel Award from the Ronald Mc | Donald House Charities of Columbia on Monday. The award is presented to the Holtzes for their outstanding contribu tions in the areas of philanthropy and com munity service. The Ronald McDonald House estab lished the Gabriel Awards to acknowlec|ge significant contributions made toward en riching the lives of all South Carolinians by both corporations and individuals. Re cipients must have demonstrated visible community service and have been active in supporting charitable programs, which assertively address the needs of children and families. Members of the USC football team are participating in a pair of community service projects this week as part of the athletic department’s “Team Gamecocks” program. ► ^More than 25 players visited the Pal metto Richland Children’s Hospital. To day, nearly 70 of the squad members will participate in a day-long program at the A.C. Moore Elementary School on Rose wood Drive. The program begins at 7:50 a.m. and runs until the afternoon. Sean Rayford Gamecock Sports Coach Lou Holtz encourages his players to participate in community service projects. Holtz and his wife received a humanitarian award, while the football team took part in two projects this week. v I 4 Draft changes over years Bryan Della Volpe Staff Writer Yet another NFL draft came and went this past weekend. Is it just me, or do these get a lit tle more anticlimactic year after year? . Along with the NBA draft and its fancy lottery, the NFL was always the most exciting. Before, it was always kind of up in the air who was going to get drafted where. Where would the no-name pick be? Who would drop deep into the draft and start sweating? It was exciting. Now, the draft is pretty much writ ten out weeks in advance and all any one has to do is log on to www.es pn.com and read one of the so-called ‘Draft Doctor’s” predictions. Now, even the simplest of things has turned into a highly calculated or ieal. The biggest surprise of the first round was that the Oakland Raiders se lected Sebastian Janikowski with the 17th pick. He is, however, a kicker, so he doesn’t really matter. That is, jnless he gets deported for that little Fan. 24 bribery run-in with the Talla lassee police. Besides that, everybody pretty much knew what was going to happen in the early rounds. Another thing that gets under my skin is the actual broadcast of the draft. Watching the draft is like trying to watch a baseball game on FOX, only worse. The graphics now cover most of the screen. I mean, at least basebaii has some action behind those big graphics. First, it was a simple scrolling list of who had been drafted at the bottom of the screen. That, I, and I’m sure pretty much everybody else, could deal with. Now, ESPN has implemented this new online fan survey deal that takes up almost half of the screen. Fans can go online and try to be Mel Kiper Jr. It’s bad enough that we have to hear him talk. My question is, why does everybody else have to try to do it. too? Why anybody would want to do that is beyond me. The one good thing about the draft being over is that Kiper can go back into hibernation until col lege football season starts back up again. If it were up to me, I’d strap him along with Dickie V. onto the Madden Cruis er and drive it off a cliff Thelma-and Louise style. Another suggestion I have to ES PN is to be careful who the announc ers interview live on TV. Some of these kids couldn’t put a sentence together to save their throwing arm. At least