The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 05, 2001, Page 8, Image 8
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.