The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 18, 2002, Page 8, Image 8
8 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, March 18, 2002
T^l T^l m GAME SCHEDULE
CONTACT US ■ B I B J I WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m. Monday
| ■ 111 | I MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. UNLV, 9 p.m. Tuesday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? B XXB* | k J MEN’S TENNIS vs. Georgia Tech, 1 p.m. Wednesday
E-mail us at gamecochsports@hotmail.com B B... . B, rV^/ BASEBALL vs. Wofford, 7 p.m. Wednesday
■
SEC TOURNAMENT
PHOTO BY ROBERT GRUEN
After a controversial call and a missed 3-point opportunity,
senior Aaron Lucas tells Carlos Powell, “This game is not over
yet!" The Gamecocks were within seconds of upsetting Alabama
in the semi-finals of the SEC Tournament.
Alabama
ends run
USC falls short
in SEC tourney
BY CHRIS FOY
THEUAMECOCK
First round: USC 69, Ole
Miss 67
The USC men’s basketball team
upended the Ole Miss Rebels on
March 7 by doing something it
struggled with-the entire season -
holding onto a lead at the end. The
Gamecocks overcame a late rally
by Ole Miss to hold onto the 69-67
win and advance to the second
round of the SEC Tournament.
“I’m very, very proud of our
team,” USC head coach Dave
Odom said after the game. “It was
a great win because it gets us in
the tournament.”
Perhaps the surprise of the
game was the strong play of
Gamecocks center Tony
Kitchings. Kitchings, who has
struggled this season under
Odom’s new conditioning re
quirements, came up big with 16
points and eight rebounds. Carlos
Powell was impressive as well,
with 14 points.
With USC leading 67-61, the
Rebels hit two 3-pointers, the sec
ond tying the game with 37 sec
onds remaining. Rolando Howell
was quick to respond, however,
and his basket put the Gamecocks
up for good. Aaron Harper took
one last shot for Ole Miss, but the
ball rimmed out.
The win ended the Gamecocks’
longest losing streak of the season
(three games). The win also
avenged their worst loss of the
season, when Ole Miss won 71-53
in Oxford.
Second round: USC 70,
Kentucky 57
Carolina knew after its win
over Ole Miss that it had very little
time to prep for Kentucky, one of
the SEC’s powerhouses, in round
two of the SEC Tournament. But
♦ SEC GAMES, SEE PAGE 9
USC tops Virginia
Carolina moves
to second round
of NIT with win
BY CHRIS FOY
THE GAMECOCK
The USC men’s basketball
team (19-14) may not have made
the NCAA Tournament, hut it
took no time continuing its
strong postseason play. In the
first round of the National
Invitation Tournament last
Wednesday, the Gamecocks took
out a Virginia team that at one
point this season was ranked as
high as No. 8 in the country, by a
score of 74-67.
USC was led by Rolando
Howell, who tied a career-high in
scoring with 24 points. The sopho
more forward also pulled in eight
rebounds. Center Tony Kitchings
finished with his third double
double in four games, as he
scored 10 points and had 13 re
bounds.
The Gamecocks played a tight
game for most of the first half, but
the Cavaliers padded their lead
right before halftime, where they
led 33-27.
iviiuway mruugn me secunu
half, the Gamecocks tied the
match at 52 before going on a 8-0
run to take the lead for the re
mainder of the game. Aaron
Lucas made a basket and then
made three free throws on the
next possession. Jamel Bradley
cushioned the lead some more
with one of his four 3-pointers
of the game to put USC ahead 60
52.
Lucas ended the game with 16
points, while Bradley had 14.
Travis Watson led the
Cavaliers with 26 points and 13
rebounds. Carolina’s potent de
fense was able to contain UVA’s
Roger Mason Jr., who was held
scoreless in the first half and fin
ished with only eight points. The
game marked the first time this
season that Mason was held to un
der 10 points.
Both teams shot over 50 per
cent from the field. The
Gamecocks, however, shot 61 per
cent in the second half.
In the next round, Carolina
will play host to UNLV, which de
feated Arizona State 96-91.
USC head coach Dave Odom,
who has won the NIT before with
Wake Forest, was excited about
having a home game and a
chance to have USC fans come out
and support the Gamecocks.
“The enthusiasm of the
Gamecock fans is terrific to see,”
Odom said. “I know our team is
excited about still having the op
portunity to bounce basketballs
this time of the year.
PHOTO BY ROBERT GRUEN
Tony Kltchings had three double-doubles during the SEC Tournament.
“We need our fans this
Tuesday night against UNLV. It
should be a great environment at
the Carolina Coliseum.”
Tickets for the game will be on
sale today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in
the Russell House. Tickets will be
$6 each.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail. com
If you’re going...
♦ Student tickets to Tuesday’s men’s basketball game against UNLV l
are on sale today from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. in the Russell House.
♦ Tickets are $6 each. Tipoff is at 9 p.m. at the Carolina Coliseum.
♦ Tickets for tonight’s women’s basketball game can be picked up at
the gates at 6 p.m on a first-come, first-serve basis (500 tickets).
Baseball wins series
at Mississippi State
BY J. KEITH ALLEN
THE GAMECOCK
There was not a spring break
for the USC baseball team, and
while most students ventured to
exotic places this past week, the
Gamecocks headed to Starkville
to open the SEC season with a
three-game series against the
Mississippi State Bulldogs.
The No. 4 Gamecocks (18-3, 2-1
SEC) lost the first game of the se
ries Friday night, but they rallied
over the weekend for a pair of wins
over the Bulldogs, who dropped to
10-6-1,1-2 in the conference.
Carolina’s pre-conference tune
up came against Purdue and
Davidson in midweek contests.
USC won both games easily, scor
ing 15 runs in each, and was high
lighted by left fielder Garris
Gonce’s two home runs against
Purdue and a seven-run first in
ning against Davidson.
The Gamecocks started spring
break with a three-game sweep of
perennial baseball powerhouse
Seton HalL Sunday’s 10-5 victory fea
tured the first career home run for
Carolina right fielder Steve Thomas.
Carolina is back at home
Wednesday night at 7 p.m. to play
state rival Wofford.
Friday: MSU 12, USC4
The Gamecocks got off to a good
start, with Yaron Peters and Trey
Dyson belting solo home runs for
an early 2-0 lead in the second in
ning. But starting pitcher Gary
Bell gave up three runs in the
third inning, and MSU designat
ed hitter Jon Mungle followed
with a home run in the fourth.
The Bulldogs continued to pile
on runs, winning the game 12-4.
Bell (4-1) took the loss for USC and
Paul Maholm notched his third vic
tory of the season for Mississippi
State. Carolina pitchers Bell and
Chris Hernandez combined to
yield eight walks in the defeat.
single and a Gonce RBI double.
Third baseman Brian Boucher hit
a triple to right field, scoring two
runs, as USC took a 4-1 lead.
Taylor added a touch of late-in
ning drama by walking the first
two batters in the ninth inning
and bringing the winning run to
the plate. Left fielder Michael
Brown grounded into a double
play, however, and Mungle struck
out swinging to end the game and
secure the USC victory.
Marchbanks earned the win to
increase his record to 5-1. Taylor
picked up his third save of the
year, and Tanner Brock (3-1) took
the loss for MSU.
A ■ ■ IAA A B*AI ■ A
Saturday: USC 5, MSU 3
David Marchbanks started game
two against the Bulldogs, in hopes
of evening the series at one game
apiece. He, along with reliever
Blake Taylor did just that, limiting
MSU to three runs on five hits, and
USC won 5-3 on Saturday afternoon.
Mungle homered for the fourth
consecutive game, giving the
Bulldogs a 1-0 lead before the
Gamecocks’ bats came to life in
the fourth inning. Peters led off
with a single, followed by a Dyson
OUllUdy. UOls IVIOU o
Carolina’s bullpen picked up
where starter Chris Spigner left
off and helped the Gamecocks win
the deciding game of the series
Sunday afternoon.
Spigner gave up three runs in
the first inning and gave way to
Steven Bondurant, who went 4 2/3
innings to earn his second win of
the year. Meyer and Peters home
red for USC, and Blake Taylor col
lected his fourth save.
Comments on this story?E-mail
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Softball team still ranked
after busy spring break
USC goes 2-1
against MSU
BY MATT ROTHENBERG
THE GAMECOCK
The No. 24-ranked USC softball
team had a busy spring break, with
a total of eight games against
Arkansas, Furman and
Mississippi State.
In the first game against
Arkansas, Megan Matthews kept
the Lady Razorbacks guessing, as
she tossed a complete game four
hit shutout for a 4-0 Carolina vic
tory.
USC got a big day at the plate
from Adrianna Baggetta, as the
senior outfielder went 3-3 with a
double and triple. Melissa Sandel
went 2-3 with a solo home run.
The Lady Gamecocks lost the
second game of the series 5-2.
Heather Schlichtman allowed
three hits and struck out four for
Arkansas. Carolina fell behind
by two runs early, but the Lady
Gamecocks tied it up with two
runs, on a single by Amber
Curtis and a pair of Razorback
errors.
A single by Arkansas’ Danica
White brought in what proved to
be the winning run as the Lady
Razorbacks added two insurance
runs later on.
Matthews took the mound in
the deciding game of the series
and didn’t disappoint, as the Lady
Gamecocks won 4-1. Curtis and
Meghan Cornett each went 1-3
with a double and two RBIs.
Carolina’s next victim was
Furman, and USC swept the
Paladins by scores of 8-0 and 7-0.
Matthews turned in a one-hitter
with nine strikeouts to earn the
win in the opener. Baggetta had
another big performance, going
3-4 with two RBIs, while Kim
Evans went 2-4 with three runs
--
Samantha Jennings also hit a
two-run home run in the victo
ry. Pitchers Stacey Johnson and
Aleca Johnson combined for 10
strikeouts in the second game to
shut out Furman. First inning
singles by Baggetta, Sandel, and
Cornett brought in three runs
for the Lady Gamecocks. Sandel
also had a three-run double in
the sixth inning, while Cornett
singled in the final run for
Carolina.
The Lady Gamecocks then
traveled to Mississippi State.
Despite surrendering 10 hits in
the first game, Carolina scored
all its runs in the first imiing and
held on for a 4-2 win. Troesh hit
in Evans to open the scoring with
two outs in the first inning and
then scored on Sandel’s single.
Following a walk to Cornett by
Bulldog starter Kasey
Whitehead, Baggetta drilled a
two-run triple. Matthews (12-2)
earned the win while staving off
several Bulldog rallies.
In the second game, the
Johnsons stifled a late comeback
attempt to lead USC to a 5-2 win.
Danielle Quinones drove in the
first run in the second inning, while
Cornett and Baggetta each brought
in runners in the third inning.
Amber Curtis went 2-3 with a two
run home run in the fifth inning.
Stacey Johnson (6-3) encoun- {
tered trouble in the seventh in
ning but grabbed the win, while
Aleca Johnson closed out the
game for her second save.
The Lady Gamecocks (21-8,4
2 SEC) also had a game Sunday
afternoon, which they lost 11-10.
On an intentional walk attempt,
Stacey Johnson threw a wild pitch
which resulted in bringing Kate
Jaspers across the plate for the
winning run. The two teams com
bined for 24 hits and 21 runs off of
330 pitches in the game.
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