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Gamecock Sports Schedule ■ Softball vs. Pittsburgh, 3 p.m. Tuesday ■ Baseball vs. Furman, 7 p.m. Wednesday ■ Men’s basketball vs. Mississippi State at SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn., 3:15 p.m. Thursday 'Che (Bamecock Monday, March 5, 2001 USC splits two with Clemson on diamond Special to The Gamecock USC’s Tim Whittaker hit a grand slam Saturday at Clemson to lift USC to an early 4-0 lead. The Gamecocks went on to blow out the Tigers 21-8. However, Clemson took the second game of the weekend 7-4. by Jason Malick The Gamecock The USC baseball team split a two-game series with rival Clemson this weekend. The No. 7 Gamecocks won 21-8 on the road Saturday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson, and the No. 14 Tigers won 7-4 Sunday at Saige Frye Field. As expected, both games were sold out. USC set a school record Sunday with 6,727 fans in attendance. Sunday’s game was a depressing blow for the Gamecocks (13-1), as it broke their 13-game winning streak. The Tigers (7-4) were able to get off to an early lead in the top of the first inning when center fielder Chad Coder’s home run off USC’s Gary Bell (4-1) gave them a 3-0 lead. Carolina got on the scoreboard in the fourth inning when London Powell hit an RBI single, but Clemson answered in the fifth when Coder hit a single, bringing in Casey Stone. USC cut the lead to 4-3 with two tuns in the bottom of the fifth off hits by Marcus McBeth and Drew Meyer, two stolen bases and a ground out. Clemson’s Michael Johnson and Jeff Baker each hit a solo home run in the latter innings to pull away. Baker finished with five hits on the day. Reliever Nick Glaser (1-0) earned the win for the Tigers, and Josh Cram notched his second save on the year. “Yesterday was a little bit better than today,” Whittaker said after Sunday’s loss. “The wind (Saturday) wasn’t a crucial factor in our performance.” - It was Whittaker’s grand slam Saturday in the first inning that jump-started the Gamecocks’ 21 -8 slaughter. Tripp Kelly added a solo shot in the top of the first to give USC a 5-0 advantage. The Tigers managed to cut the lead to three in the bottom of the first, but the Gamecocks added seven more runs in the top of the second with three RBIs and yet another grand slam, this time by Bryon Jeffcoat. “I was fortunate enough to get a good pitch,” Jeffcoat said. “I credit a lot of my teammates for those RBIs.” Drew Meyer added a home run, and Jeffcoat added two more later in the game to build the Gamecock lead to 20-6. Jeffcoat finished the game with eight RBI off three home runs. Kip Bouknight (4-0) earned the easy win, pitching six innings, giving up eight hits and six runs while striking out five. Blake Taylor pitched the final three innings for USC to earn his first save. Jarrod Schmidt (1-2) took the loss for the Tigers. Clemson now holds a 150-100-2 advantage in the overall series. Despite losing their first game of the season, the Gamecocks remain confident and are looking forward to the SEC schedule, which starts at home this weekend against Arkansas. “I’m not happy that we lost such a great college baseball game, but I’m glad it didn’t happen until now,” USC head coach Ray Tanner said. “Clemson had it in them to play good, but that’s baseball — sometimes things don’t happen.” Clemson and Carolina will meet again in April. USC will face the Tigers on April 18 at Saige Frye Field. A week later, the Gamecocks travel to Clemson to conclude the season’s four-game series. The Gamecocks face Furman at home Wednesday and will be looking to get back in the win column. “Now we start playing three to four times a week,” Tanner said. “Hopefully, we can bounce back.” The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmaiLcom Spring football practice starts smoothly for Holtz, Gamecocks by Kyle Almond The Gamecock Only two months after a season where it went 7-4 and won the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day, the USC football team is back on the practice field, tiying . to build the foundation for another memorable season this fall. The Gamecocks began practice . this past Saturday and have held six . practices since, and head coach Lou Holtz ; is encouraged by what he has seen. “Everyone is on the same page,” Holtz said. “The players are loose and having fun. They understand what the coaches’ demands are, and they’re playing hard and playing with confidence. There’s a sense of togetherness, and the players are really focused on what they are doing.” Holtz said he believes the team has more overall talent than last year’s team. “I think we have some talented players,” he said. “I told the players the importance of durability. That will be critical this season.” After the team’s fust practice, Holtz said he was pleased with how his players kept many of their skills over the break. “There was a lot of retention from the end of last season,” Holtz said. “There was a great deal of cany-over from the bowl game, and that’s good.” A lot of that carry-over has been shown by the Gamecock offense, according to assistant coach and offensive coordinator Skip Holtz. “There’s been a lot of retention across the board on offense,” Skip Holtz said. “We’re doing the little things welL We’re able to show the players some of the little things that will help us run the play better, instead of having to show them from start to finish how to run the play. According to Skip Holtz, last year’s starting quarterback, Phil Petty, is still first on the Carolina depth chart. “Phil is by far the most polished and the most experienced (quarterback),” he said. “If we had agame today, Phil would definitely be our starter. Dondrial (Pinkins) has done some good things, but hasn’t thrown the ball as effectively as I’d like for him to. Rod (Wilson) has done some ‘I realize I have made some poor decisions off the field. I also know that I need football more than football needs me.... I also want to make sure the only time my name is in the news is when I score touchdowns and gain yards. ’ Derek Watson USC running back good things athletically, but hasn’t totally grasped the mental part of the game.” Lou Holtz said the team’s young offensive linemen are much improved. “I really believe the bowl preparation paid off for them,” he said. “They’ve come a long way. John Strickland, Chad Walker, Nick Johnson, Jon Boilard — they have a chance to become good players for us.” A big plus for USC’s offense is the return of last year’s leading rusher, Derek Whtson. Wfrtson, who was suspended for the Outback Bowl and has had some off the-field troubles lately, said he has learned his lesson and is glad to be back on the playing field. “It felt good to go through some live contact again,” Watson said. “I realize I have made some poor decisions off the field. I also know that I need football more than football needs me. I’m working on regaining the trust and respect of my teammates and coaches. Football seepages Men’s Basketball USC men drop regular season finale to Bulldogs ■ Gamecocks will meet Miss.-State in opening round of SEC Tournament by Chris Foy The Gamecock South Carolina’s fleeting hopes of getting an NCAA Tournament bid suffered another blow Saturday as the Mississippi State Bulldogs downed the Gamecocks 77-73. In the regular season finale for both teams, Antonio Jackson led the Bulldogs’ assault with 23 points, including six 3-pointers. Next up for the Gamecocks (14 13,6-10 SEC) is the SEC Tournament. USC will get another crack at the Bulldogs (16-11,7-9) in the first round Thursday. 73 77 “We had nothing to lose,” freshman forward Rolando Howell said of Saturday’s game. “We were just preparing for the (SEC) Tournament. We’re going to have to practice hard next week thinking we can win the Tournament. That’s our goal right now.” The Bulldogs struck fast to start off ! Saturday’s game, going up 7-0. The ! Gamecocks were quick to respond however, as they went on a 19-4 run to hold a 19-11 lead at the 12:15 mark. As the first half wound down, j Mississippi State and USC continually switched off the lead. At the one-minute mark, Howell scored a bucket to give ] Carolina the lead, 39-38. The Bulldogs responded with a 3-pointer by Timmy j Basketball seepages ! Women’s basketball team falls to Rebels in opening round of SEC Tournament ■ Georgia wins SEC title; No. 1 Tennessee upset by Vanderbilt in semis by Kyle Almond The Gamecock One of the USC women’s basketball team’s best seasons in school history came to a screeching halt Thursday night. The sixth-seeded Lady Gamecocks, who won a school record six conference games this season, fell short in the first round of the SEC Tournament at the Pyramid in Memphis, Tenn. to 1 lth-seeded Ole Miss 75-68. The Georgia Lady Bulldogs came out on top in the tournament, defeating Vanderbilt Sunday 62-60 on a last-second shot by guard Kelly Miller. Von Kirk and Tywanna Inmon each scored 17 points Thursday for the Lady Rebels (17-11), which had already defeated USC once this season in Oxford, Miss. Sherika Wight and Becky Myatt added 12 and 10 points, respectively, for Ole Miss. The Lady Gamecocks (11 -17) fell in a deep ^tole early and struggled to get back into contention. Ole Miss came out strong in the first half, hitting 54 percent of its shots. At the half, USC was down 38-24. Ole Miss head coach Ron Aldy called the first half one of the Lady Rebels’ best of the season, “especially from the 3-point line, and the mixture of [the Lady Rebels] drawing fouls, hitting free throws and the inside-outside balance.” USC head coach Susan Walvius agreed with Aldy’s assessment and said her team knew the Lady Rebels were a dangerous shooting team. “Wfe knew who their shooters were and what to expect,” she said. “There were no surprises.” In the second half, USC tried to fight its way back into the game. The Lady Gamecocks limited Ole Miss to seven field goals in the half and one in the final six minutes, but solid free-throw shooting by the Lady Rebels kept USC at a safe distance. Ole Miss sunk 12 of 15 shots from the line in the last six minutes. For the game, Ole Miss made 22 of 30 free throws. Cristina Ciocan led the Lady Gamecocks with 13 points, and Petra Ujhelyi came off the bench to add 12 points. Nihan Anaz scored 11, and USC’s leading scorer, Teresa Geter, scored 10 and had seven rebounds. USC ended its season on a three-game losing 75 68 streak. Carolina was upset by last-place Kentucky 61-59 on Feb. 18, and No. 14 LSU beat USC 83-72 last Sunday. Miller’s shot with 0.8 seconds left won the game for No. 6 Georgia and put away a Vanderbilt team that upset No. 1 Tennessee in the semifinals. It was the fourth SEC title for the Lady Bulldogs (26-5). “I’d say it’s safe to say it’s the ugliest shot in the house tonight,” Georgia coach Andy Landers said of Miller’s shot. “But when it left her hand and went in, it was the prettiest.” Vanderbilt, the best shooting team in the nation at an average of 55.2 percent from the floor, could not repeat their winning effort from the Tennessee upset, which they won 77-74. The Sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com Travis Lynn/The Gamecock Petra Ujhelyi and the Lady Gamecocks bowed out early in the SEC Tournament.