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- ,.r - ' ----rt~p-« v -•-.« -- 1-; ~ ~ -*pT" T'^pp^T -<i < a-■■•y-- -.f- -jT' -jT^I (fl ~ '7*Jft 7 i T^V^-""r-T-,V• " V*V?g^i>'?t.'*-1l""~; '-'f"‘ 'iVf Tr"’-‘"P"'' — ~ 'Ir'y Sf- , V *; I r-'' -1, A ji ""• ~~~" *■' ' ■ - - 10 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, March 4,2002 GAME SCHEDULE 'V f S\ ”| \ rPl C ''i BASEBALL vs. UNC-Asheville, 7 p.m. Tuesday _ „ ATrT, . I I I ml Will i BASEBALL vs. William & Mary, 7 p.m. Wednesday (X)j\ TACITUS I “ I I I—< I SOFTBALL vs. UNC-Greensboro, 3 p.m. Wednesday I V | ^ I I MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Ole Miss in SEC Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I \ # | ■ I k I Tournament, 9:45 p.m. Thursday E-mailusatgamecocksports@hotmail.com ,1, —■— / WOMEN’S TENNIS vs. LSU, 2 p.m. Friday GARNET, BLACK AND BLUE : PHOTOS BY AARON HARK USC pitcher Blake Taylor concentrates just prior to striking out the Tigers' Jarrod Schmidt on Saturday night. Clemson takes two USC twice falls short of rallying for a comeback BY STEVE SHULER THE GAMECOCK Saturday: Clemson 9, USC 7 The USC baseball team com mitted three errors and left two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth inning en route to its first loss of the regu lar season. Clemson started the game on fire. In the top of the second, third baseman Jeff Baker led off with an infield single and stole second base. With two outs in the inning, Baker stole third base and advanced home on Carolina catcher Landon Powell’s errant throw. In the fourth, Clemson opened the lead lu six i uxis, leu uy i\xicixii Greene’s two-run home run and L. J. DeMaino’s two-run single. Only two runs in the inning were earned, as the Gamecocks committed two costly errors in the top of the fourth. The Tigers threatened again in the top of the fifth, loading the bases with only one out. After a bases-loaded walk to score left fielder Kyle Frank, reliever Steven Bondurant settled in, striking out designated hitter Jeff Hourigan and popping up catcher Steve Pyzik to end the inning. From there, the Gamecocks woke up. Down seven in the bot tom of the fifth.Carolina scored on Jon Coutlangus’ RBI single down the middle. After Bondurant worked a hitless sixth inning, the Gamecocks exploded for a five-run inning, which fea Landon Powell consults with head coach Ray Tanner. tured three Clemson pitching changes. Carolina second base man Justin Harris started the in ning with a walk, and the Gamecocks put their next five batters on base. After Powell flied out to cen ter field, pinch hitter Demetric Smith grounded to third and was ruled safe at first on an error by Clemson first baseman Michael Johnson. However, the Gamecocks would strand two runners in scoring position that inning af ter scoring five. In the Clemson seventh, Johnson more than made up for his error with a two-run home run. Carolina’s Yaron Peters an swered in the bottom of the sev enth with a solo shot, but that would wrap up the scoring for the Gamecocks. In the bottom ofthe ninth, Peters led off with a single to left. Designated hitter Trey Dyson struck out swinging, and left fielder Garris Gonce flied out to left. Steve Thomas kept the in ning alive for Carolina with his school record-tying third double of the game. However, reliever Paul Harrelson forced Powell into a lazy pop fly in shallow left field to end the game. Starting pitcher Steve Reba (2 0) got the win for Clemson, and Harrelson recorded his third save of the year. Gamecock pitch er David Marchbanks (3-1) took the loss. Sunday: Clemson 11, USC10 (10 innings) Once more, errors proved cost ly for Carolina as the Gamecocks dropped its second game in a row to Clemson. With two outs and Frank on first in the bottom of the tenth, Greene hit a double to center field. Coutlangus was charged with an error on a faulty throw to the infield, and Frank came home to give the Tigers their sec ond win in two days over Carolina. Like Saturday, Clemson start ed out strong, scoring one run in the first on Greene’s RBI single. The Tigers struck again in the second. Powered by back-to-back dou bles by Frank and Greene, Clemson put four more runs on the board to stretch the early lead to five. The Gamecocks scored one run in the top of the third, as sec ond baseman Drew Meyer sin gled in third baseman Brian Buscher. Carolina put four of their own up in the top of the fifth, led by a three run homer by Peters, to tie the game at five runs a piece. However, Johnson answered with another two-run home run in the bottom of the in ning to give the Tigers a 7-5 ad vantage. i ne LramecocKs trimmea me lead to one as Meyer doubled in Powell in the top of the sixth. Carolina scored two more in the seventh on back-to-back solo home runs by Gonce and Justin Harris. However, they were an swered yet again by Johnson, who hit his second two-run home run in the game to give Clemson a 9-8 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, Clemson added another run on a wild pitch by Tony Adler. The Gamecocks tied the game in the top of the ninth on a two run dou ble by Powell. Clemson failed to score in the bottom of the ninth, sending the game to the tenth, where Greene’s double and Coutlangus’ error sealed the win for the Tigers. Clemson’s Jarrod Schmidt earned the win to go to 2-0 on the season. Carolina’s Matt Campbell (0-1) took the loss. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com Gamecocks once again lose control at the end Final game at Frank McGuire tallies one more loss for Carolina BY BRAD SENKIW THE GAMECOCK It was a day of remembrance Saturday at Frank McGuire Arena, where the USC men’s bas ketball team and its fans turned out the lights in the old coliseum to honor the great Gamecock play ers of the past, two special seniors, and the building itself. Unfortunately, it was a game that most would like to forget. Mississippi State pulled out a 34 57 victory over the Gamecocks in the final minutes to end both teams’ regular seasons and give USC a loss in its final game at the coliseum. On the special Saturday after noon, USC (16-13,6-10 SEC) had its worst 3-point shooting day in sev en years, missing all 19 of its shots from behind the arc. “We just didn’t make shots,” USC head coach Dave Odom said. “We played as well as we could considering we couldn’t make outside shots. They made theirs down the stretch, and we didn’t do that.” DAVE ODOM USC MEN'S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH Mississippi State (23-7, 10-6) trailed for most of the game before surging ahead late to grab the win. The Gamecocks could not manage a field goal in the final three and a half minutes of the contest, and the Bulldogs capitalized. USC was led by Rolando Howell with 24 points and eight rebounds, while Chuck Eidson chipped in 10 points and six assists. The Gamecocks shot only 35 percent from the field and never managed to find their shots. Jamel Bradley and Aaron Lucas, seniors playing their final home game, were only able to score four points and nine points. Mississippi State’s Mario Austin put up 19 points and nine rebounds to lead the Bulldogs. Carolina and Mississippi State went back and forth for most of the first half before the Gamecocks mounted a run. With 6:11 left, a Lucas slam dunk gave USC a 21-14 lead. The Bulldogs couldn’t get any closer, and they trailed 28-21 at the ♦ BASKETBALL, SEE PAGE 11 Senior co captain Jamel Bradley walks dejectedly off the court after Carolina's loss to Mississippi State on , Saturday. The I game was Bradley's last basketball game ever at Frank I McGuire Arena. Bradley scored only four points in !the game, and It was one of his worst performances of the season. Bradley will look for redemption in the SEC Tournament. PHOTOS BY ■J ROBERT GRUEN Softball team fares well at tournament Carolina goes 4-1 in Plant City Tournament BY MATT ROTHENBERG THE GAMECOCK This past weekend, the No. 25 USC softball team traveled to Plant City, Fla., to take part in the Plant City Strawberry Fest Tournament. The Lady Gamecocks (13-6) went 4-1 for second place, defeat ing Ohio, Missouri, and Michigan State while losing to No. 8 Michigan. With the victo ry against Missouri on Saturday afternoon, head coach Joyce Compton notched her 700th win at USC. Friday afternoon, the Michigan Wolverines shutout the Lady Gamecocks 5*0. Michigan’s Marissa Young (6 2) did everything to dominate USC. Young tossed a two-hitter, amassing 12 strikeouts, while hitting a grand slam in a five-run third inning. Carolina’s starter, Megan Matthews, had a solid day. She gave up three hits and one earned run, while striking out five batters in four innings of work. Debralee Troesh and Samantha Jennings each had a hit for the Lady Gamecocks. Carolina then took out their ag gression on the Ohio Bobcats, forc ing the mercy rule with a 9-1 vic tory in five innings. Down 1-0 in the second inning, the Lady Gamecocks began their onslaught against Bobcat starter Kristie Howe (2-1) with Kristin Hall and Melissa Sandel scoring on doubles by Sandel and Robyn Johnson. Amber Curtis’ three-run home run in a five-run third in ning knocked Howe out of the ♦ SOFTBALL, SEE PAGE 11 Susan Walvius was named SEC Coach of the Year. USC lasts one round Arkansas 79 USC 61 BY CHRIS FOY THE GAMECOCK The USC women’s basketball team entered the SEC Tournament this past weekend with a first round bye after it completed its best season since joining the con ference in 1992. The second-seeded Lady Gamecocks (22-6) looked to accom plish a feat no other USC women’s team has to make it to the semifi nals. Unfortunately, seventh-seed ed Arkansas continued its late-sea son success and denied the Lady Gamecocks 79-61 on Friday. After the game, USC head coach Susan Walvius thought her team struggled with the pressure of be ing highly ranked. “It comes down to being able to come out here and play in a tour nament, handle the pressure of this and being the higher seed when you’ve got a target on your back and step up to that chal lenge,” Walvius said. “We didn’t do that today.” The Lady Gamecocks certainly didn’t help their own cause, com mitting 24 turnovers (16 in the first half). The Lady Razorbacks (19-10) spent the afternoon capitalizing on USC’s errors, as 29 of their points came off Gamecock turnovers. Carolina jumped to its biggest lead of the game early in the first half, when a 3-pointer put the team ahead 16-12. The Lady Gamecocks’ lead was then helped by a six minute Arkansas scoring drought. But the Lady Razorbacks wouldn’t be quiet, and they rallied to a 30-20 lead before having then lead narrowed to 39-31 at the half. In the second half, the Lady Gamecocks managed to get within four points on three separate occa sions. The last time was when Teresa Geter hit a shot with 9:43 left in the game to make the score 57-53. Arkansas wouldn’t let them get any closer, though, and the Lady Razorbacks went on a 1(M) run to se cure the lead as well as the game. Shaunzinski Gortman led the Lady Gamecocks with 19 points. Jocelyn Penn, Carolina’s leading scorer coming into the game with a 17 points per game average, was held to only 14 points. Ten of her points came in the first half. Geter contributed 10 points. The Lady Razorbacks were led by India Lewis, who scored 23 points. Fifteen of her points came from behind the arc. Arkansas went on to play Vanderbilt on Saturday night in the semifinals and lost 81-78. Arkansas finished the second half of its season strong, winning nine of its last 12 games. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail. com