Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Gamecock Sports Schedule ■ Baseball at Georgia, 6:30 p.m. Friday ■ Men’s and women’s golf at SEC Tournament, Friday-Sunday ■ Softball vs. Florida, 1 p.m. Saturday (doubleheader) ■ Track and field at Texas, Friday-Saturday IDic (Bamecock Friday, ap*™- 2°.2001 ‘Killer BV still a force at Carolina ■ Bouknight, Bell team up for USC win by Darrah Densmore The Gamecock After struggling in recent starts, including a loss to Clemson and an ill fated stint of less than one inning against LSU, revenge was all the motivation Gary Bell would need to get back on track. Mission accomplished. An overflow crowd of6,227 at Saige Frye Field was treated to a strong performance by the Gamecock left hander, and with the help of late-inning heroics from Kip Bouknight, the No. 16 Gamecocks drubbed No. 12 Clemson, 9 3. Bell (74), who allowed only three runs, two earned, on five hits in 6 2/3 innings, credited his turnaround 9 3 performance to the tutelage of pitching coach Jerry Meyers. “I was missing my spots with my fastball, my curveball wasn’t there and my changeup was flat, so I worked with coach Meyers for the last couple of weeks,” Bell said..“I wanted to be more aggressive tonight, and I had my pitches working for me.” Bell would get more than enough offensive support. The Gamecocks struck for 14 hits against four Clemson pitchers. Clemson starter Matt Henrie (4-2) took the loss for the Tigers. “We just threw the ball over the middle of the plate too many times,” Clemson head coach Jack Leggett said. “We’d go 0-2 on their hitters, but we wouldn’t be able to put them away.” The Tigers opened the scoring with Clemson seepages — Aaron Hark/The Gamecock Megan Donohoo and the No. 20 Gamecocks are looking to add another SEC East title banner to the outfield walls of Beckham Reid. Gamecocks face key weekend series with second-place Gators by Kyle Almond The Gamecock The USC softball team will play perhaps its most important three-game series of the season this weekend when it hosts the Florida Gators at Beckham Field. The Gamecocks (31-15-1) are 14-6 in the SEC and lead the Eastern division, but Florida (31-21, 11 -12) is in second place, and with a few wins this weekend, the Gators could threaten USC’s stranglehold on the top spot. “We can’t assume that we have anything,” USC head coach Joyce Compton said. “(This series] is real big. Obviously, they’re the closest ones to us, and we’ve got to come in and take the series.” • The Gamecocks are coming off a 1 - 0 blanking of Furman on Tuesday night that snapped a four-game losing streak. Compton says she is concerned about the team’s recent form and would like the offense do a better job of supporting pitchers Megan Matthews and Stacey Johnson. “We’ve got to play a heck of a lot better than we have the last four games,” Compton said. “Wfc just need to get in and gel quality at-bats. Wfc’rc not getting good at-bats,” she stud. “Eventually, with enough qutility at-bats, I think we’ll brettk out of |our slump]. Wfc just need to get a couple hits back-to-back to get the offense moving.” Third baseman Adri .uina Baggctta thinks the key to picking up more hits is it more patient approach at the plate. t-4 ■ LOCATION: Beckham Field ■ TIMES: 1 p.m. Saturday (doubleheader), 1 p.m. Sunday “We’re not patient enough,” the sophomore said. “We’re not swinging at good pitches. “But I think once we get something started, once we get that spark, we’ll turn it around.” With a series win this weekend, it would be tough not to see USC win its division and assure itself at least a No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament in May. After Carolina dropped its previous SEC scries this past weekend against Kentucky, the Gamecocks are focused on taking the Florida scries one g;une at a time. “This one’s big because we lost our last SEC set,” Johnson said. “We want this one bad.” Tlic sports desk aui he reached at gamecocksports@ho1mail.com ' Special to The Gamecock Otukile Lekote has seen his share of leads this season for the Gamecocks. He is ranked No. 1 in the world in the 800 meters. One of the world's most promising track and field stars, Otukile Lekote, is a freshman at USC Otukile Lekote isn’t a typical freshman. For starters, he’s 21 years old and from Botswana, a small country in Africa. And unlike many freshmen, he enjoys his classes, wants to take summer school and wishes he could have started taking college classes years ago. And one other thing: he’s one of the fastest athletes in the world. This past week, Lekote was ranked No. 1 in the world in the 800 meters after running a time of 1:44.76 at the Duke Invitational. At the same track meet, he ran the second leg of the 4x400-meter relay, and the team broke a school record for the second straight week. Even among world-class athletes, there’s something else that sets Lekote apart: he is incredibly humble. In the town of about 50,000 where Lekote grew up, athletics was never seen as important. His parents stressed getting an education over athletic pursuits. In Botswana, students must pass entrance exams to be admitted into its version of middle and high schools. Lekote not only passed every exam, he excelled at them and was named one of the nation’s best science students. Even now, his favorite class is biology. “Right now, I’m undeclared, but I really like biology,” Lekote said. “I could go to dental school. That’s my interest. I’m not really sure I’ll go professional in my track career. I wouldn’t be able to do both professions.” Lekote’s decision on whether to turn pro will be a tough one. Back home in Botswana, it’s not an option most people, especially his parents, think about. “They just talk about school,” he said. “They don’t know much about track. They don’t know about sports at all. They don’t think of me going professional. They always put emphasis on getting a degree. It’s so hard for them to understand what sports really is here.” What track and field is in the United States isn’t what it is in Botswana. Lekote boasts about how serious the track program at Carolina is compared with what he was used to back home. “If I hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t have run 1:44.76. If I had stayed at home and not come here, I wouldn’t be in the world’s best,” Lekote said. The difference, he says, is in the amount of time and instruction he is able to receive here. “At home, people don’t understand the value of sports. They don’t give you enough time,” he said. “Your family might want you to do something at the same time as a practice, and you do it because it is your family. Here, you get time for practice, time for books.” Lekote’s busy schedule of practice, track meets and studying has made him a shining example of time management and the athletics department’s ability to look out for its athletes. Lekote’s faith in the athletics department and its coaches are part of what brought him to USC — that, and a good media guide. “I had a media guide, and I trusted what I saw in it,” he said. “I had never visited before I came here... There was no question about it; the people had good times, and the coaches were very oiganized. I’m very happy I’m here. I don’t have to worry about anything. “The people were so friendly,” he said. “They’re willing to help with anything I needed. LEKOTE SEE PAGE 9 Story by Brock Vergakis ❖ The Gamecock SECs to be uphill battle for USC golf teams by Preston Baines The Gamecock The Gamecock men’s and women’s golf teams enter this weekend trying to achieve what seems an impossible task: winning a championship in the toughest golf conference in the country, the Southeastern Conference. The 15th-ranked men’s team enters the tournament in Sea Island, Ga., with plenty of rest after a two-week break to prepare for the tournament. As usual, 14th-ranked senior Kyle Thompson will lead the men. Thompson, however, enters the tournament struggling, with finishes no better than 28th in his past four tournaments, compared with his top 12 finishes in his previous live tournaments ;md a victory at the Carpet Capital Collegiate. The slump doesn’t seem to have Thompson worried. “I have had some other livings that have happened to affect my g;unc lately, like my studies,” Thompson said. “[The team] has been getting down when we don’t do well. Our attitude needs to change, and we have talked about it.” Thompson isn’t the only Gamecock to struggle lately. Redshirt sophomore Johan Kok, after winning his first tournament (The Ridges Intercollegiate) and finishing third in the following one, has finished no higher than 28th in his past seven tournaments. Despite its recent struggles, USC as a team has finished in the top 10 in every tournament tliis season. The Gamecocks will need to do even better to win this weekend. “With Georgia being No. 1 in the country, we will definitely have to play our best tournament of the year to have a shot at the SEC title,” USC head coacli Puggy Blackmon said. Gcoigia enters the tournament with live players milked in the lop 20 in the country, led by sophomore Erik Coioplon (No. 2);uid senior Nick Cassini (No. 3). ‘With Georgia being No. 1 in the country, we will definitely have to play our best tournament of the year to have a shot at the SEC title.’ Puggy Blackmon USC men’s golf head coach Thompson is the only Gamecock ranked in the top 50. The Bulldogs have won two consecutive tournaments, the Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational in Statesboro, Ga., and the U.S. Collegiate . Championships in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Ollier likely contenders for the men’s crown include No. 10 Florida, No. 29 Auburn ;uid No. 32 Alabama. The five players Blackmon has chosen to compete tire Thompson, Kok, senior John Bloomfield, junior college transfer Ernie Rose and redshirt freshman Nash Elliot. Blackmon has confidence in his selections. “All five players have played well recently, and wc should be a legitimate contender,” lie said. The Sea Island course looks challenging, according to Thompson. “I’veheard [the course! makes you hit every golf shot,” the senior said. “It Golf see page 9