The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 06, 2002, Page 8, Image 8
g THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, March 6, 2002
GAME SCHEDULE
PANTAPT TTQ BASEBALL vs. William and Mary, 7 p.m. Wednesday
UUiN I1 Uu SOFTBALL vs. UNC-Greensboro, 3 p.m. Wednesday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Ole Miss in SEC Tournament,
E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com __ 9:45 P-m- Thursday
WOMEN S TENNIS vs. LSU, 2 p.m. Friday
BRIEFLY
CAPS Clinic raises
$4,000 for charity
The third annual CAPS Clinic,
run by the USC men’s soccer team
and the Columbia YMCA, raised
close to $4,000 for Children's
Chance this past weekend.
Children's Chance is an orga
nization whose mission is to pro
vide funding for programs and
services that address the emo
tional, social and educational
needs of children and families
dealing with cancef.
The child-parent soccer clinic,
the community service project of
the USC men's soccer players and
coaches, nearly doubled the
amount of money it had raised in
previous years. The event has dou
bled in size in each of the three
years in its history.
Dyson, Ward named
finalists for award
USC athletes Trey Dyson and
Jessica Ward have been chosen as
recipients of an SEC post-graduate
scholarship and are finalists for the
2001-2002 H. Boyd McWhorter SEC
Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award
as announced by SEC
Commissioner Roy Kramer. Both
Dyson and Ward are natives of
Columbia and graduates of Spring
Valley High School.
A senior on this season's na
tionally ranked baseball team,
Dyson has been named to the SEC
Academic Honor Roll twice, in
2000 and 2001, and he has also been
named to the Dean's List.
Ward was named to the SEC
Academic Honor Roll and the
Dean’s List. Ward is majoring in
business at USC.
Each finalist will receive a
$5,000 scholarship for post-gradu
ate studies.
SEC TOURNAMENT
Gamecocks get
one last shot at
March Madness
USC must beat
Ole Miss, others
for NCAA bid
BY JAMES STARNES
THE GAMECOCK
Seniors Aaron Lucas and
Jamel Bradley get one more shot
at redemption this weekend at the
SEC Men’s Basketball
Tournament in Atlanta. USC (16
13,6-10 SEC), the sixth seed from
the East, will face Ole Miss in the
first round on Thursday night at
9:45 p.m.
Ole Miss (20-9,9-7), the No. 3
seed from the West, is coming off
perhaps its finest performance of
the year - a 28-point pasting of No.
6 Alahama. The win over
Alabama completed a perfect con
ference home seaSbn (8-0) for the
Rebels.
The Gamecocks were thor
oughly handled, 71-53, in the only
meeting between the two schools
this year in front of a loud and
hostile crowd at the Tad Smith
Coliseum in Oxford.
The Rebels have not lost in
Oxford since Dec. 1, but they've
proven to be vulnerable away
from home. Ole Miss was 1-7 in
conference road games. However,
it should be noted that of those
seven losses, four of them came
against teams with an RPI rating
of 12 or better.
Carolina closed out the regu
lar season with three straight
tough losses, including a heart
breaking overtime loss at Georgia
and a disappointing defeat
against Mississippi State in the
final regular season game at
Frank McGuire Arena. During
that stretch, USC shot a combined
36 percent from the field.
Of the Gamecocks' 10 confer
ence losses this year, eight were
single-digit defeats, including two
one-point losses and one overtime
loss.
Carolina has proved all season
that they can play with anybody.
Defensively, the Gamecocks are
as good as any school in the con
ference, only giving up 61.4 points
per game. They can handle the
ball and are a decent rebounding
team.
USC's downfall all year has
been its shooting. Since confer
ence play began, USC has shot
less than 40 percent from the field
in eight games, which all result
ed in defeat. Two of those losses
were especially upsetting because
they came by only one point to
top 10 teams (Kentucky and
Alabama). Contrarily, Carolina
is 6-2 in the SEC when it shoots
over 40 percent.
During the SEC coaches' tele
conference, USC head coach Dave
Odom said: "I'm eager to get to
Atlanta and the SEC
Tournament. It's my first one, and
I’m excited about it. Our team is
also excited."
Odom and the Gamecocks will
look to put together a solid finish
to the season. With only 16 wins,
the SEC Tournament represents
the only chance USC has to make
it to the NCAA Tournament, and
the first step is Ole Miss.
"Ole Miss is tough - they real
ly handled us in Oxford," Odom
said. "We will be ready this time,
hopefully."
If Carolina can get past the
Rebels, its second-round oppo
nent would be Kentucky (20-8,10
6), the No. 2 seed from the East.
USC was 0-2 this year against the
Wildcats, losing 51-50 in
Columbia and 91-74 in Lexington.
Kentucky closed out its regular
season with a 70-67 win against
No. 8 Florida at home.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
PHOTO BY ROBERT GRUEN
Aaron Lucas finished his final regular season game with nine
points against Mississippi State. Lucas and the other
Gamecocks are gearing up for postseason play this weekend
at the SEC Tournament in Atlanta.
PHOTO BY ROBERT GRUEN
The USC baseball team Improved to 10-2 on Tuesday night with a 10-4 victory over UNC
Asheville. The Gamecocks will take on William and Mary tonight at Sarge Frye Field.
Baseball team bounces back
from Clemson losses with win I
|i| USC 10
1 UNCA 4
BY RYAN CLARY
THE GAMECOCK
The USC baseball team got back
to its winning ways Tuesday night
with a 10-4 victory over the UNC
Asheville Bulldogs at Sarge Frye
Field.
The Gamecocks improved to 10
2 on the year and return to the
field tonight against William and
Mary. USC senior Matt Wilson
earned his first victory of the sea
son, giving him a 1-0 record.
The Gamecocks wasted no time
Tuesday night, scoring six runs in
the first inning led by back-to-back
home runs by first baseman Yaron
Peters and left fielder Garris
Gonce.
The USC pitching staff took
over from there, allowing just five
Bulldog hits.
Junior Steven Bondurant was
the starter and threw four shutout
innings, giving up just two hits.
Wilson relieved him for two in
nings, followed by junior Rocky
Evans, freshman Cliff Donald, ju
nior John Wesley,and junior Rico
Bravo.
The Gamecocks added to their
run total in the fourth inning
with three more runs. Drew
Meyer led off with a single, fol
lowed by three consecutive hits
by Steve Thomas, Peters, and
Gonce.
The Gamecocks finished their
scoring in the fifth when
Thomas drove home Jason Ross
to give USC a 10-0 lead.
In the ninth inning, UNC
Asheville ended the Gamecocks’
hopes for a shutout. Wesley al
lowed four men to reach base,
however, Bravo came in to retire
the side.
The hot hitting continued for
USC, as shortstop Drew Meyer
went 3-for-5, making him seven
for his last 11. Thomas had three
hits and a walk, and Peters went
2-for-5 with a double and a home
run with four RBIs. Gonce also
had two hits with a solo home
run.
The Gamecocks had a total of
13 hits but committed three er
rors. Luckily for the Gamecocks,
it only one cost them one run.
Carolina also got some help
from UNC-Asheville, which
committed six errors and trans
lated into four USC runs.
After tomorrow’s game, USC
will prepare for a home weekend
series with Seton Hall.
The Gamecocks faced the
Pirates in the NCAA Regionals
two years ago. USC begins SEC
play in two weeks when it travels
to Mississippi State.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecock.sports@hotmail.com
UNC-Greensboro should
pose challenge to USC
j
UNC-Greensboro at
USC
3 p.m. Wednesday
Beckham Field
BY MATT ROTHENBERG
THE GAMECOCK
This afternoon, the UNC
Greensboro softball team invades
Columbia for a doubleheader
against No. 25 USC.
Carolina (13-6) is looking to
keep up its momentum after win
ning four games at the Plant City
Strawberry Fest Tournament this
past weekend. Head coach Joyce
Compton also would like to add to
her USC victory totals, having sur
passed her 700th in Florida.
The Spartans (13-3-1) want to
piece together another long win
ning streak, after their 10-game
run was stopped by St. John's on
Friday at the Dixie Classic in
Virginia Beach, Va. .
Spartans coach Karen Matteson
brings an experienced team with
all-around talent. However, the
main strength of the Spartans lies
in their pitching staff.
Junior Amber Watson is the
undisputed ace. The southpaw is 6-0
in eight appearances with a minis
cule 0.33 ERA. Her 34 strikeouts
leads the team. Fellow juniors Amy
Poole (2-1,1.34 ERA) and Jennifer
Vanderploeg (3-1,2.22) can throw
heat, too. Vanderploeg is second on
the team with 25 strikeouts.
Maureen Flynn (2-1) also puts in
quality innings.
While the Spartans feature sol
id pitching, they exhibit a bal
anced hitting attack as well.
Infielder Penny Thompson cur
rently leads the team in hitting
with an average of .396. Most of
her hits have gone for extra bases,
resulting in a team-leading slug
ging percentage (.875) and on-base
percentage (.483). Thompson has
also hit six home runs. Not to be
outdone, upperclassmen Jennifer
Aguilar, Jennifer Moran and
Kristy Norton all have batting av
erages above .300. Regardless,
from top to bottom, the UNC
Greensboro batting order should
pose quite a formidable menace
for the Lady Gamecocks.
Another asset for the Spartans
is their speed. So far, UNC
Greensboro is 19-for-31 (62 percent)
in stolen base attempts this sea
son. Outfielders Kim Benningfield
and Megan Gough are tied for the
lead in stolen bases with four each,
while Norton has chipped in with
three.
The Lady Gamecocks might
have their work cut out for them,
but after winning four straight af
ter a loss to No. 8 Michigan this
weekend, they should be ready for
the challenge.
USC's pitchers are going to have
to silence the Spartans hitting game. *
Megan Matthews (7-2, 0.47) per
formed brilliantly in her three ap
pearances over this past weekend,
and Aleca Johnson (3-1,1.64) put in
quality work in relief. Matthews
continues to fool batters, with 75
strikeouts on the season. Along
with No. 2 starter Stacey Johnson
(3-2,1.72), if the USC pitchers are all
on their games and hitting their
spots, they should be able to control
a game.
On the other end, Carolina's bat
ters need to keep the hits coming and
put up big offensive support for their
pitchers. Amber Curtis has been
pounding the ball lately, and Melissa
Sandel and Kim Evans had big week
ends, too. Sandel leads the Lady
Gamecocks with a .333 average,
while Evans is tops in stolen bases.
Curtis has accumulated 14 RBI so
far, and Debralee Troesh and
Meghan Cornett are still hitting well.
The fifst game of today's double
header at Beckham Field begins at
3 p.m.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
MEN’S BASKETBALL CHALLENGE
THE CHALLENGE: Every week,
The Gamecock’s readers and
staff test their sports knowledge
with game predictions.
Villanova at Syracuse
No. 18 Stanford at No. 20 So, Cal
USC at Ole Miss
No. 22 Indiana at Mich. State
Virginia at N.C. State
St. John's at Seton Hall
Wake Forest at Georgia Tech
No. 25 Cal at UCLA
Arkansas at Tennessee
■*-——
Chris j. Keith
Foy Allen
Sports Asst. Sports
Editor Editor
(25-17) (30-12)
Syracuse Syracuse
So. Cal Stanford
use use
Indiana Mich. State
Virginia Virginia
St. John’s_St. John’s
Wake Wake
UCLA Cal
Arkansas Arkansas
Kyle Steve
Almond Shuler
Defending Sports
champion staff
(28-14) (25-17)
Syracuse Syracuse
Stanford Stanford
Ole Miss Ole Miss
Indiana Mich. State
Virginia Virginia
St. John’s St. John’s
Wake_ Wake_
UCLA UCLA
Arkansas Tennessee
Kevin Matt
Fellner Raven
Asst. News Reader of
Editor the Week
(27-15) (26-16)
Villanova Villanova
Stanford So. Cal
use use
Indiana Indiana
Virginia Virginia
St. John’s StJohn’s
Wake GeotgaTech
CalCal
Arkansas Arkansas
WANT TO BE READER OF THE WEEK? E-mail selections for next week’s games to gamecocksports@hotmail.com