The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 01, 2002, Page 9, Image 9
GAME SCHEDULE
p/~v-|yrrn * rirn TTCi WOMEN'S BASKETBALL at SEC Tournament, Friday
vj U IN 1 J\\j 1 Uu SOFTBALL at Plant City Tournament, Friday-Saturday
a. o ^ ^ , , MEN’S TENNIS vs. Mississippi State, 2 p.m. Friday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? MEN'S BASKETBALL at Mississippi State, 2 p.m. Saturday
E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com BASEBALL vs. No. 4 Clemson, 4 p.m. Saturday
Baseball
hyped up
to face
Clemson
BY J. KEITH ALLEN
THE GAMECOCK
This weekend has been circled
on the calendars of Palmetto State
baseball fans ever since the 2002
college baseball schedules were
published in January. This week
end marks the first meeting this
season between USC and state ri
val Clemson, with Saturday’s
game at Sarge Frye Field and
Sunday’s matchup at Clemson’s
Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
The games should be fascinat
ing beyond the traditional bad
blood between the two schools.
Both programs are unbeaten and
ranked among the top five in the
country. USC head coach Ray
Tanner expects a great matchup
with the Tigers.
“Til. __• __1_11_^
* C iO 11U lllllig UCllUl UiMil
the Clemson-Carolina rivalry, and
I think it is the
best college base
ball rivalry in
the country,”
Tanner said.
The No. 4
Gamecocks (9-0)
are coming off a
three-game
sweep or the
Baseball at the
Beach tourna ClemSOfl
ment last week
end in Myrtle at USC
Beach. The team 4 p.m.
was powered by Saturday,
Yaron Peters, Sarge Frye
who went 5-for- Reid
12 at the plate Radio: WVOC
with one home 560 AM
run and five _
RBIs. The senior
first baseman USC at
was later named
SEC Player of CleitlSOII
the Week for his 2 p.m. Sunday
efforts. at Clemson
Victory didn’t
come easily for ===
Peters, a Sher
man Oaks, Calif, native. He suf
fered a broken nose in Saturday’s
win over Georgia Tech. His nose
is bandaged, but shouldn’t cause
him to miss any of this weekend’s
action.
Tanner is proud of his run-pro
ducing first baseman.
“He’s tough as nails,” Tanner
said. “I’m ecstatic; I feel good
about going to battle when you’ve
got soldiers like him.”
No. 3 Clemson (3-0) comes to
battle after a three-game sweep of
Auburn. The Tigers are led by
ACC Co-Player of the Week, Jeff
Baker. The Tiger third baseman
homered, knocked in eight runs
and went 5-for-10.
Stretching back to 1899, USC
and Clemson have battled it out on
the baseball diamond, with
Clemson leading the overall series
147-102. The Gamecocks defeated
the Tigers in three of four meet
ings last season, however, high
lighted by a 21-8 victory at
Clemson in the teams’ first clash
of the year.
Saturday’s game at Sarge Frye
Field is a complete sellout, but for
any USC fans interested in travel
ing “behind enemy lines” to Doug
Kingsmore Stadium for Sunday’s
game, there will be a limited num
ber of standing room tickets avail
able prior to the 2 p.m. contest.
Tanner exDects a playoff-type
atmosphere for both games and
knows his team can’t wait to take
the field on Saturday.
“It’s so much fun with the sell
outs,” Tanner said. “It is just great
for the game that you have sellouts
in college baseball,”
The Gamecocks send staff ace
David Marchbanks (3-0,2.41 ERA)
to the hill for Saturday’s home
game, with Gary Bell and Chris
Spigner available out of the
bullpen. Either Bell or Spigner
will get the starting nod Sunday.
Tanner understands the pas
sion and history behind the rival
ry and looks forward to the show
down.
“[Clemson] opened up unde
feated, and that is where we are
right now,” he said. “It should be a
heck of a weekend for college base
ball.”
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gfimecocksports@hotmail.com
BRIEFLY
Lady Gamecocks
collect SEC honors
USC’s Susan Walvius was
named SEC Women’s Basketball
Coach of the Year on Wednes
day, and Shaunzinski Gortman
and Jocelyn Penn were selected
to the All-SEC first team. All of
the awards were chosen by the
league’s 12 coaches.
Gortman, a senior, was
named to the conference sec
ond team last season, but this
was the first conference award
for junior Jocelyn Penn. This
was the first SEC Coach of the
Year award for Walvius.
Penn and Gortman are the
first Lady Gamecocks to make
the All-SEC first team since
Shannon Johnson in the 1995
96 season. Carolina has never
had two players named to the
team, and it hasn’t earned a
Coach of the Year award since
Nancy Wilson did it (Metro
Conference in 1984-85; 1990-91).
“I’m excited about this hon
or, but more grateful to work
for a university that offers me
the opportunity to hire the best
assistant coaches and recruit
great players,” Walvius said. ”
Women’s tennis
opens SEC play
The 25th-ranked USC
women’s tennis team opens
SEC play Friday at 2:30 p.m.
when it travels to face the
Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-5).
Carolina (6-1) looks to claim
a win in its SEC road opener
for the sixth time in 11 years.
The Lady Gamecocks are an
impressive 4-1 in overall league
openers the past five years.
USC beat the Bulldogs 6-1
last season in Columbia. In the
all-time series, Carolina enjoys
an 11-2 advantage.
USC finishes a two-match
SEC road trip Sunday when it
faces Ole Miss.
SEC, USC track
teams rise in polls
The SEC leads the national
indoor track and field rankings
like no other conference.
On the men’s side, the SEC
has five of the top six spots, and
on the women’s side, the SEC
is listed at four of the top sev
en spots.
On the men’s side this week,
USC moved up to season-high
No. 6 ranking. The Gamecock
women, who for three weeks
were ranked No. 1 this season,
moved back up to No. 3.
USC is ranked No. 1 in the
NCAA in three individual
events: the women’s 400 meters
(Demetria Washington), the
men’s 800 meters (Otukile
Lekote) and the women’s
4x400m relay.
Living on a prayer
0 USC 75
Georgia 82
Loss to Georgia
puts USC on
bubble’s edge
BY STEVE SHULER
THE GAMECOCK
Traveling into Athens, Ga., on
Wednesday, the USC men’s bas
ketball team needed an upset over
16th-ranked Georgia to help get
off the NCAA Tournament bub
ble. Instead, the bubble popped in
a most disheartening way.
Bulldogs forward Steve Thomas
scored six of Georgia’s first eight
points in overtime and hit two free
throws with 28 seconds remaining
in the extra period to give Georgia
(21-7,10-5 SEC) an 82-75 victory.
With 11 seconds to go, the
Gamecocks held a 70-67 lead.
Carolina point guard Aaron Lucas
had two foul shots to ice the game,
but both shots rimmed out.
Lreorgia reDounaea ana movea
the ball up the floor to point guard
Rashad Wright, who found an
open spot outside the arc and
drained a 3-pointer to send the
game into overtime.
A victory for the Gamecocks
(16-12,6-9) would have dramati
cally boosted their hopes of play
ing in the NCAA field of 64. On
their Web sites, both ESPN and
CBS cited Carolina as a team on
the bubble, given their strength
of schedule (sixth in the nation)
and their impressive perfor
mances in what some call this sea
son’s toughest conference. With
Wednesday’s loss, however, that
might not be the case any longer.
The game started well for USC,
with each team trading baskets
until midway through the first
half, when Carolina pulled ahead
29-19. However, the Bulldogs start
ed to find their stroke, going on a
25-4 run. Georgia, propelled by the
hot shooting of Ezra Williams and
Jonas Hayes, hit 11 shots in a row
and shot 13 of 14 from the field in
its run to end the first half.
Down 44-33 at the break,
Carolina came out alive in the
second half and scored the first 11
points, including five by Jamel
Bradley, to tie the score. From
that point on, neither team could
pull away.
With the score tied at 67,
Chuck Eidson hit his first free
throw to give the Gamecocks a
one-point lead. Eidson missed the
second but came up with his own
rebound and passed the ball to
Bradley, who was fouled. Bradley
hit both of his free throws to give
Carolina a 70-67 lead with 22 sec
onds remaining.
— I
_ JtKKP_I
PHOTO BY ROBERT GRUEN
Chris Warren targets the basket during Carolina’s loss to Alabama on Feb. 13. The men will
play their regular season-ending game Saturday at Frank McGuire Arena against Mississippi
State.
Hayes missed a jump shot with
14 seconds left and was forced to
foul Lucas, who grabbed the re
bound. Lucas then missed both
free throws and Wright netted the
3-pointer to force overtime.
In overtime, the Bulldogs
scored first on a jumper by
Thomas and never trailed again,
coasting to the 82-75 victory.
After the game, USC head coach
Dave Odom defended Lucas.
“Aaron Lucas has been the
heart, body and soul of this uni
versity for four years,” Odom said.
The coach would not allow the
media to interview Lucas after the
game. “I didn’t think he was ca
pable of doing it; he was dis
traught,” Odom explained. “He
was not himself. I thought it was
better going in another direction.”
South Carolina’s Rolando
Howell led all scorers with 19
points. Georgia was led by 16
points from Thomas and 13 points
each from Hayes and Wright.
For Georgia, the victory came
just four days after Wright hit a
last-minute jump shot to send the
Bulldogs to a 55-54 victory over
LSU. Wright, who averages only
8.4 points per game, has been
confident in pressure situations.
“Rashad Wright continues to
be our savior, he’s absolutely fear
less in those situations,” said
Georgia head coach Jim Harrick,
who notched his 450th career win.
The Gamecocks ’ final hope for
the NCAA Tournament is proba
bly to defeat Mississippi State on
Saturday and make a strong
showing in the SEC Tournament,
which begins Thursday, March 7,
in Atlanta. If USC wins the SEC
Tournament, it will earn an au
tomatic berth to the NCAAs.
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gamecocksports@hotmail.com
I
Softball set to play
in Florida tourney
BY MATT ROTHENBERG
THE GAMECOCK
This weekend, the 25th
ranked USC softball team trav
els to Plant City, Fla., to take part
in the Plant City Strawberry Fest
Tournament.
USC (9-5) is looking to rebound
from a pair of losses at North
Carolina this past Saturday, and
it will face off against five
Midwest squads. Today, USC
plays Michigan and Ohio.
Saturday, the Lady Gamecocks
will face Missouri and Michigan
State before finishing the week
end with a game against Central
Michigan on Sunday.
No. 8 Michigan (10-3) has got
ten off to a solid start this season,
with wins over several ranked
opponents. The Wolverines have
a pitching duo capable of big out
ings. Junior Marissa Young (6-2)
and freshman Nicole Motycka (4
1) have carried the load of work
on the mound.
The Ohio Bobcats (3-2) will be
well-rested, as they will play for
the first time in two weeks. Most
recently, they placed second in
the silver bracket at the Triangle
Classic in Raleigh, N.C. Senior
Heather Hagen (1-2,2.80 ERA)
and sophomore Kristie Howe (2
0,1.20) are Ohio’s top hurlers and
should likely see action against
USC. Hagen is also a threat at the
plate with a .333 average.
USC head coach Joyce Compton
will face her former team, the
Missouri Tigers (6-8), on Saturday.
Compton coached the Tigers from
1983-86. Freshman Erin Kalka (3
3,1.25) is the Tigers’ ace and has 31
strikeouts this season. Sophomore
infielder Rachel McGinnis leads
the team in hitting (.429) and most
other offensive categories.
Michigan State (2-6) is coming
to Florida hoping to even its
record. The Spartans have strug
gled, with their only wins coming
against Elon College this past
weekend. Most of MSU’s losses
have been blowouts, but they are
a scrappy bunch. Sophomore
Jessica Beech (1-2, 3.71) and se
nior Becky Gray (1-3,3.96) both
are strong on the mound with 22
and 25 strikeouts. First baseman
Natalie Furrow has a.429 average.
The Lady Gamecocks will face
off against a rested Central
Michigan (2-3) team on Sunday.
The Chippewas, despite their
record, have several dangerous hit
ters. Senior Becky Manson leads
the team with a .538 average.
Amber Puchalski (2-0, 4.47) is
CMUs ace, with 27 strikeouts.
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