The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 21, 2000, Page 10, Image 10
Inside: Schedule
Two USC volleyball recruits receive nation- ■ Women’s 90lf at SEC Championships
(Rogers, Ark.) today - Sun.
al recognition, three athletes recognized at a Softbal| at Georgia (DH)i 5 p.m.
Awards Day ' ■ Baseball at Kentucky, 6 p.m.
■ Track & field at VT Invite, Sat.-Sun.
> Twice as nice
Dyson, Rws provide offensive sparks as Gamecocks rally to beat Tigers in 12th inning
Baseball
from page 1
right fielder Brennan Dees for the first
out, but walked catcher Brandon Pack.
That set the stage for Dyson, who clob
bered the second pitch he saw well over
the trees behind the fence in right-center.
“He threw a breaking ball on the first
pitch and I thought he was definitely go
ing to come back with it again.” Dyson
said. “I was lucky it was a fastball, and I
just turned on it. It got out of here pretty
good.”
Two innings later, in the top of the
11 th, Clemson shortstop Jeff Baker hit a
home run to left-center off eventual win
ning pitcher Scott Barber (6-1), giving the
Tigers an 8-7 lead.
In the bottom of the 11th, Dyson tied
up the game by doubling home Brennan
Dees, who reached on an error from Tiger
rightfielder Justin Singleton.
That set the stage for the bottom of
the 12th inning. After a single by second
baseman John McHenry, left fielder Nate
Janowicz sacrificed him to second base
for the first out.
Clemson head coach Jack Leggett de
cided to intentionally walk shortstop Drew
Meyer to create a potential force out at
second base, but a passed ball by catcher
Brian Ellis moved the runners to second
and third. Leggett then intentionally walked
Dees to lead up the bases.
And that brought to the plate back
up catcher Marcos Rios, who had been
inserted as a pinch runner the inning be
fore. Rios, who had only 22 at-bats and
eight hits going into the game, came
through with the biggest hit of his college
career, a game-winning single to left
that scored McHenry.
Rios, a senior who saw his playing
time cut drastically this year with the ad
dition of Pack, said it has been worth it to
keep playing, even with a diminished role.
'There’s times when I look in the mir
ror and I go, ‘Oh my God, we’re the num
ber one team in the country right now,”’
Rios said. “We’re the best baseball team
in the country right now and that’s just
unbelievable.”
USC took an early 1 -0 lead in the bot
tom of the first, when Jahowicz scored
on an error by Clemson first baseman
Michael Johnson. Clemson tied the score
in the third inning on a throwing error by
first baseman Tripp Kelly. USC would not
have the lead again until the game-win
ning hit.
Clemson scored again in the fourth,
pushing two runs across on three singles
against starter Peter Bauer. The Game
cocks tied the score again at three in the
bottom of the fifth with a two-run home
run by Meyer.
The Tigers came right back in the top
of the next inning, however, to score three
runs and take a 6-3 lead, forcing Bauer
from the game. In the top of the seventh,
Clemson scored again, giving the Tigers
their biggest lead of the game, 7-3.
The Gamecocks refused to die, though,
scoring one run in the bottom of the
seventh, one in the bottom of the eighth
on a home run by third baseman Chris
Plummer, and the two in the bottom of
the ninth that sent the game to extra in
nings.
“These guys just refuse to go
down,” head coach Ray Tanner said. “It
was just agreat effort by a lot of different
guys. It’s just a great feeling to be able to
come back in front of a packed house at
Sarge Frye. That’s a wonderful win for
us.”
USC now takes its No. 1 ranking to
Kentucky for a three-game series
against the Wildcats.
Sean Rayford Gamecock Sports
USC relief pitcher Ernie Bascuas (center) high-fives his teammates after their 9-8 12-inning win over
Clemson Wednesday. The party began with a shaving-cream bath.
Sean Rayford Gamecock Sports
Senior Nate Janowicz, covered in post-game shaving cream, collects
his thoughts for an interview with Greenville’s WYFF-TV.
Oemsoa (32-10)
ab r h bi
Stone If 5 111
Ellis c 6 0 2 0
Greene 3b 4 0 0 0
Johnson lb 3 1 10
Calitriph 3 0 0 0
Baker ss 5 111
Boyd cf 6 0 10
Stanieydh 5 3 3 1
Riley 2b 5 12 1
Singleton rf 6 1 3 2
Totals 49 8 14 6
Clemson 001 203 100 010-8
USC 100 020 112 011-9
South Carolina (384)
* r h W
ianowiczlf 5 110
Meyer ss 6 2 2 2
Deesrf 6 10 0
Packc 3 0 11
Thomas pr 0 1 0 0
Whittaker c 0 0 0 0
Riospr 10 11
Dysondh 6 13 3
Kelly lb *5010
McBethcf 6 0 10
McHenry 2b 5 2 2 0
Plummer 3b 6 1 2 1
Totals 49 9 14 8
Losing pitcher - Glaser
Winning pitcher - Barber
E: Johnson, Singleton, McHenry. LOB: Clemson 13, USC 15 2B: Stone (6), Stanley (2), Pack
(12), Dyson 2 (6), Plummer (7). HR: Baker (3), Meyer (8), Dyson (5), Plummer (4). SR Greene
(7), Stanley (11). Janowicz (17). SH: Stone. Janowicz WP: Lynn (2) Bauer (5) Poston (1) Bar
ber (7) PB: Ellis (5) HBP: Riley by Poston T: 4:02 A: 6,307
Coggins readies No. 17 women s golf
team for shot at SEC Championship
amecock Sports
The USC women’s golf team (L-R): First row: coach Kristi Coggins, assistant coach
Clarissa Childs, Stefanie Reynolds, Kristen Ruble, Dallas Ambrose. Second row: Abby
Women’s Golf
Roundup
Gamecock Sports
SEC Action
The No. 17 USC women’s
golf team heads to Rogers, Ark.,
this weekend to compete in the
20th edition of the SEC Women’s
Golf Championships at the Pin
nacle Country Club. The Lady
Gamecocks are looking to build
on a strong spring season and are
searching for the first women’s
golf league title in Carolina’s nine
year SEC history. Last year, Car
olina finished 10th in Opelika,
Ala.
SEC History
This is the Lady Gamecocks’
ninth appearance in the SEC
Championships.
Carolina is coming off a 10th
place finish last year after an
eighth-place finish in Birming
ham, Ala., in 1998. Before then,
USC had finished in the top five
of each of its first six tourneys,
jncludin^^econd-placenwkhi_
the 1995 classic in Franklin, Tenn.
National Rankings
Carolina enters the 2000 SEC
Championships ranked 17th in
the latest MasterCard College
Golf Foundation and
Golfweek/Sagahn computer na
tional polls. The Lady Game
cocks have been in the top 20
of both polls all season and have
reached as high as 11th in both
listings.
Kristi Coggins
In her sixth year as the head
coach of USC, Kristi Coggins has
taken the squad to new heights.
In her first year, 1995, the Lady
Gamecocks achieved their
highest national ranking ever and
finished in fifth place or better in
eight tournaments, while posting
a school-best ninth-place finish
at the NCAA Championships.
Coggins led the Lady
Gamecocks to the NCAA Cham
pionships in her second season as
well, the first time in school his
tory the squad participated in
back-to-back NCAA Champi
onships.
In 1998, Coggins took over a
rebuilding process, as the Lady
Gamecocks entered the season
with a young and inexperienced
squad. With only one senior and
no juniors, Coggins scheduled a
challenging slate of tournaments
for the young squad. Coggins said
she believes that in order to be
the best, you have to play against
the best competition.
This experience proved valu
able as USC improved signifi
cantly late in 1998. Last year,
USC made its move back into the
upper echelon of women’s golf,
spurring
Coggins to 1999 SEC Coach of
the Year honors.
Coggins has experience in the
postseason, having led Texas
Christian to five NCAA Tourna
ment appearances and three show
ings in the NCAA Championships
in nine seasons with the Horned
Golf see page ti
Created... '
two heroes
by David Cloninger
Sports Editor
As USC finished its incredible 9
8 comeback over Clemson Wednes
day night, a deliriously happy bunch
of Gamecocks piled on one another at
home plate. A can of shaving cream,
handed to a player by a fan, was thrown
into the mix for one of the wildest cel
ebrations since Y2K.
However, as the applause and the
“We’re Number One!” chants rang out,
two heroes quietly sat and drank in the
moment before being swept up by their
teammates and drawn into the cele
bration.
Trey Dyson and Marcos Rios, both
used primarily as “the 10th man,”
received their chances to shine Wfednes
day, and did so admirably with three
clutch hits to turn back the pesky
Tigers.
uybuu, a Mailing uesignaieu niuer
on Wednesday who normally splits
time in the batting order, delivered
those hits to tie the game - twice. Rios,
a starting catcher in 1999 but a pri
mary pinch-hitter in 2000, lined the
game-winning single to left field, scor
ing John McHenry for the winning
run. *
Dyson faced down Clentson pitch
er Nick Glaser, the ACC Player of the
Week, in the ninth as USC looked at
a 7-5 deficit. Down to their last two
outs and with one man on base, the
Gamecocks needed a miracle.
Four times this season, South Car
olina had faced a deficit in late innings.
Four times this season, USC had pre
vailed.
Why not make it five?
Dyson echoed these sentiments as
he took a strike, squared his shoulders
and drove Glaser’s next offering over
the right field fence for a deficit-eras
ing homer. ,
“That’s the pitch I like, down and '
in,” Dyson said. “I don’t think he want-,;
ed to put it there, but he did.”
Carolina’s sophomore DH deliv
Heroes SEE PAGE tl
USC team
deserves
top ranking
IJ
Mark
P i r a s
Staff Writer
There’s an adage in baseball, that
any team can beat any other team on
any given day. There are reasons for
this, too.
You never know when an oppos
ing pitcher is going to hit a groove ahd
just shut you down, or an opposing bat
ter is going to start hitting every
thing you throw at him, or a ball will
bounce an inch fair instead of an inch
foul.
The Gamecocks don’t seem ttj*
worried about an adage, though, as they
continue to post win after win. After
the win Wednesday against Clemson,
USC has won 13 in a row. And this is
after it started the season by winning
22 in a row, setting an SEC record.
So what is causing this team to
be good enough to defy conventional
Gamecocks see page n