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J_0 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, April 3, 2002 GAME SCHEDULE ft 'V / \ ■ 'V w m 'm / NJ WOMEN’S TENNIS vs. Georgia, 2 p.m. Friday I 1/ VI )[ I 1L 1 MEN’S TENNIS vs. Georgia, 5 p.m. Friday CONTACT US I WI I I J I WOMEN’S GOLF at the Cleveland Classic in Baton Rouge, La., I I I I ^ I i Friday-Sunday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I I III 111 MEN’S GOLF at the ASU Invitational in Augusta, Ga., E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.cony I I I r^/ Saturday-Sunday THE MAN IN CHARGE I Brassages \ __i PHOTO BY ROBERT GRUEN/THE GAMECOCK Dave Odom, In his first season as head coach of USC’s men’s basketball team, has taken the Gamecocks further Into the postseason than any other coach In school history. Odom happy with progress Coach proud of team’s effort, determination BY J. KEITH ALLEN THE GAMECOCK USC men’s basketball head coach Dave Odom arrived to a news conference Tuesday in a polo shirt and sneakers and remarked at the oddity of the situation. “It’s time for basketball with drawal,” he said. “It’s strange to be in this building and not head ing to basketball practice or preparing for another game, but such is the case.” Just five days removed from USC’s 72-62 loss to Memphis in the NIT title game, Odom was able to put in perspective the longest basketball season in school history. “I’m not going to grade the season, but I feel blessed and for tunate to have the opportunity to work with these particular in dividuals,” Odom said. “We made measurable progress to wards becoming the type of pro gram this university and these fans deserve.” Odom was particularly proud of the contributions from de parting senior point guard Aaron Lucas. Odom said he re membered when he first saw Lucas’ leadership in action, at the preseason Maui Invitational. USC trailed UCLA 48-30 at half time, and Lucas commanded the locker room and tore into his team mates for their play in the first half. “I remember Aaron Lucas lashing out at the rest of the team in a tone almost filled with anger. ... I was stunned; this wasn’t even the regular season,” Odom said. Odom cites the fiery exchange as the moment he realized Lucas was a special player with “dogged determination and leadership.” He said he could not be prouder of Lucas’ efforts in his final season. “Aaron refused to go out as anything but a winner, and I think that he did,” Odom said. “He always held the course and stood strong.” Whether speaking about the team’s eye-opening run through the SEC Tournament or about the heart-breaking overtime loss to Georgia, Odom kept using the same theme to describe his team: resiliency. “The ability to come back against all odds — that sets them apart,” Odom said. “They re sponded to every challenge I threw at them. I don’t think that there are 10 other teams in the country that could do that.” Odom addressed the entire team Tuesday afternoon, and he plans to sit down with each player indi vidually in the near future. He will assess each player’s role for next season and discuss his projections for the upcoming campaign. But, for now, Odom will have his players focus on academics. Odom said he reminded guard Michael Boynton that the late end to the season-only affords the players a month to prepare for their exams, as opposed to the six or seven weeks they had in previous campaigns. “He had better get used to it,” Odom said, confident that the Gamecocks would be playing well into the postseason for years to come. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com Carolina finishes weekend strong PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK The No. 4 Gamecocks were constantly under the threat of rain this weekend, but they still pulled out two wins over SEC foe Alabama. Carolina clinched the series with a 4-3 victory Sunday at Sarge Frye Field. Game Stats Game 1 ♦ Game lasted 13 innings. ♦ USC outhit Alabama 17-15. ♦ Jeremy Brown hit a grand slam in the 13th inning for the Tide. Game 2 ♦ Brian Buscher hit a grand slam in the seventh inning. ♦ Trey Dyson and Yaron Peters each hit home runs. Game 3 ♦ Jon Coutlangus was 2-3, with two runs scored. ♦ Steven Bondurant pitched the entire game to improve to 4-0. Gamecocks win two of three for third straight weekend BY RYAN CLARY THE GAMECOCK Friday: Bama 10, USC 6 The llth-ranked Alabama base ball team staged a late comeback Friday night, with five runs in the 13th inning, to defeat No. 4 USC 10 6 at Sarge Frye Field. The Gamecocks had their chances to win their opener of the three-game home series, but they couldn’t capitalize. Alabama catch er Jeremy Brown hit a grand slam to seal the victory. rresjuuaii /\aiun i\ciwi vu-iy pitched well in the final three in nings for USC but suffered his first loss of the season. With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th, the Gamecocks had their best chance of winning when junior second baseman Justin Harris came to the plate. He popped out to right field, however, to end the threat. Sophomore catcher Landon Powell kept the Gamecocks alive in the 10th, with an RBI single to tie the game at 5. Senior Gary Bell pitched 81/3 innings for Carolina and left with a 4-3 lead, and senior Blake Taylor came in to try and seal the win. Alabama got two hits off Taylor, however, to tie the game, and the Gamecocks were unable to get a run in the ninth. The Gamecocks had 17 hits Friday night, but only two were for extra bases; Harris and junior Drew Meyer each had a double. Seniors Trey Dyson and Yaron Peters each had three hits on the night. Saturday. USC 9, Bama 6 In Saturday’s game, USC hit three home runs, including a grand slam by junior Brian Buscher in the seventh inning, en route to a 9-6 victory. Buscher also contributed excel lent defensive play, which includ ed three diving grabs at third base. “I love getting dirty and diving,” Buscher said. “I’d rather make a defensive play than anything else.” Sophomore David Marchbanks improved to 6-2 on the season with the win, and Taylor, who had blown a save the night before, re deemed himself by picking up his seventh save of the year. Dyson had his second straight three-hit game and hit a two-run home run in the third inning to give the Gamecocks a 5-2 lead. “I told Trey, ‘Any success we enjoy, you’ll be in the middle of it,’ “ USC head coach Ray Tanner said. “We put him up in the line up, and he’s done well.” Peters had a home run in the first inning and followed it up with a third-inning double for his sec ond straight multi-hit game. “Scoring early was very impor tant,” Peters said. “We approached the game very aggressive, so it’s al ways important to get on top early.” Sunday: USC 4, Bama 3 Junior Steven Bondurant pitched a complete game Sunday, which included a 40-minute rain delay, to give USC a 4-3 victory over Alabama and the series win. Bondurant improved his record to 4-0 as Carolina moved to 23-6 overall and 6-3 in the SEC. With Alabama leading 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Powell led off with a double down the left-field line. Center fielder Jon Coutlangus fol lowed up with a double to right field to tie the game. After a sacrifice bunt Dy Meyer, sieve 1 nomas nn a sac rifice fly to right field to score Coutlangus and give USC a 4-3 lead. The game was stopped in the seventh due to lighting and heavy rain. After the delay, the game was resumed under bright sunshine. Coutlangus was the only Gamecock with two hits in the game, and USC was held to only seven as a team. However, the team’s defense made great plays, including the fi nal play of the game, when Meyer fired the ball to Peters just in time to get Brown out for the win. The Gamecocks will next play host to Wofford on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com Lady Gamecocks take two against Lady Vols Matthews, Johnson each pick up wins BY MATT ROTHENBERG THE GAMECOCK Tuesday evening, the USC soft ball team traveled to Knoxville for a big SEC showdown with the Tennessee Lady Vols. Carolina looked to better its conference record in the doubleheader. The Lady Vols posed a chal lenge, being among SEC leaders in numerous statistical categories. Game 1: USC 5, Tennessee 4 In the first game, USC received a record-setting pitching perfor mance from Megan Matthews en route to a 5-4 victory. The senior from Greer record ed her 1,000th career strikeout in the fourth inning and became the 13th player to reach that mark in NCAA Division I-A history. On the day, she allowed two earned runs on three hits while striking out nine. Her record improved to 14-4. Carolina got on the board ear ly, with Debralee Troesh crossing the plate on Melissa Sandel's sec ond inning double. The Gamecocks added four more runs in the fourth inning, be ginning with Adrianna Baggetta scoring on Jodi Fittro's single. Tia Rogers later brought home Samantha Jennings and Danielle Quinones with a single, while Fittro came home on Troesh's base hit. Fittro, the leadoff hitter, swung well in the first game, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. The Lady Vols rallied to put up four runs late in the game. Amber Rhinehart hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, while three more runs came home in the sixth. Matthews retired the side, though, in the bottom of the sev enth to seal the win. Stephanie Humphrey (21-10) took the loss for Tennessee. Game 2: USC 8, Tennessee 2 Humphrey came back to start the nightcap for the Lady Vols, facing off with USC's Stacey Johnson. In the end, Carolina was ♦ SOFTBALL, SEE PAGE 11 Amber Curtis went 4-for-5 In the second game yesterday against Tennessee. USC looks to sweep the series later today. PHOTO BY AARON HARK/THE GAMECOCK