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I | m, § || - GAME SCHEDULE CONTACT IJS WOMEN'S TENNIS vs. Georgia, 2 p.m. Friday MEN’S TENNIS vs. Georgia, 5 p.m. Friday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? WOM EN’S GOLF at the Cleveland Classic in E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com Baton Rouge, La., Friday-Sunday Carolina cruises Gamecocks roll to easy 11-0 win over Wofford BY BRAD SENKIW THE GAMECOCK The USC baseball team took a break from SEC play Wednesday night and gained some confidence against the Wofford Terriers. The Gamecocks struck early and never looked back as they cruised to an 11-0 victory. USC (24-6) got home runs from Drew Meyer and Trey Dyson along with stingy pitching from Chris Spigner and the bullpen to justify its No. 4 national ranking to the Terriers (19-13). Yaron Peters went 4-for-5 and scored three runs to help lead the way. Wofford pitcher Nick Hewitt got banged up in his first career start. Meyer led off the game with a bunt single, and Peters drove him home two batters later. Garris Gonce then picked up two RBIs on a triple, and Justin Harris’ sacrifice fly gave the Gamecocks a 4-0 lead to end the first inning. Harris drove hi another run in the third when his single brought home Peters, who had just hit a double. Meyer’s solo homer in the fourth, his third of the season, made it 6-0. A two-run blast by Dyson in the fifth put USC up 8-0, and in the sixth, Meyer stole two bases before scoring the ninth run. USC scored a run each in the seventh and eighth innings. USC’s strong pitching perfor mance was led by Spigner’s 5 1/3 scoreless innings, in which he struck out five and gave up only three hits. “I’m extremely happy about Chris’ performance,” USC head Game Notes ♦ Drew Meyer and Trey Dyson each hit a home run. ♦ Garris Gonce had two hits, including a triple. ♦ Chris Spigner improved to 2-0 with the win. coach Ray Tanner said. “He’s had some rough outings, but we have a lot of confidence in him.” The bullpen finished what Spigner started. Cliff Donald, Chris Hernandez, Rico Bravo and Steven Whetstone only gave up four more hits in the game. Wofford was never able to real ly threaten the Gamecocks. The Terriers left 11 men on base, and their pitching staff gave up 13 hits and had only one strikeout. Carolina now gets back into conference play as it heads to Fayetteville this weekend for a three-game series against Arkansas. The Razorbacks (15-11,2-5 SEC) grabbed a 7-4 win on the road Wednesday against Southwest Missouri State. Scott Woods im proved to 3-0 as the Razorbacks fought off a late rally to get the vic tory. Tanner doesn’t think Arkansas’ last-place standing in the SEC means an easy victory for the Gamecocks. “It is always a battle at Arkansas,” Tanner said. “They have veteran pitchers and are a better team at home then they are on the road.” The series begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Baum Stadium. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com FILE PHOTO/THE GAMECOCK Drew Meyer hit a home run in the Gamecocks’ 11-0 victory Wednesday night over the Wofford Terriers. FIRST PLACE * PHOTO BY AARON HARK/THE GAMECOCK The Lady Gamecocks celebrate after scoring a run. Softball sweeps USC moves to first place in SEC East with win over UT BY MATT ROTHENBERG THE GAMECOCK Spurred on by Adrianna Baggetta’s two big hits and Aleca Johnson’s solid relief pitching, the USC softball team beat the Tennessee Lady Vols 4-3 on Wednesday in Knoxville. With the win, USC swept Tennessee (31-17-1,6-10 SEC) for the second straight year. Carolina (26-11, 7-5) struck first in the third inning, as Jodi Fittro scored on Kim Evans’ double. However, the Lady Vols put up three runs in the bottom half of the innine. Tennessee catcher Adrianna Wilson hit a two-run home run off USC starter Megan Matthews, who then gave way to Stacey Johnson. Johnson allowed another run to cross the plate before loading the bases and handing the ball over to Aleca Johnson. Aleca Johnson got out of the jam, and her offense tied the game up in the fourth inning when Baggetta took a Stephanie Humphrey pitch deep for a two run home run. The teams .remained dead locked until Baggetta connect ed again in the sixth inning with a solo shot. In all, the senior from Chantilly, Va., went 2-for-2 with three RBIs and two runs scored. It was her third home run in two games. Aleca Johnson earned the win in relief and improved her record to 4-1. She scattered two hits while notching six strike outs in 4 2/3 innings. With the sweep, the Lady Gamecocks move into sole pos session of first place in the SEC Eastern Division. They will return home this weekend to face Auburn (26-15, 5-7) in a three-game series at Beckham Field. The Tigers are a very deep team with a good mix of talent both offensively and defensively. Senior outfielder Ashley Moore is one of Auburn’s top hitters. She is hitting .343 with a team-leading 11 home runs and 21 RBIs. Shannon Anderson, a freshman outfielder, brings speed to the table with 14 stolen bases. Catcher Sara Dean leads the team with 23 RBIs and also has seven doubles. Paige Jones (.389), Kasey Angulo (.331) and Rasheedah Hameed (.316) are among the team’s hitting lead ers. Auburn also has a number of talented pitchers. Sophomore Kristin Keyes is the ace of the staff, fielding a 12-7 record and a 1.72 ERA. She also has 127 strikeouts and eight saves this season. Jen Lofton is next in the rotation, with a 9-8 record, a 2.43 ERA and 90 strikeouts. Tracy Murdock (3-0, 2.24) provides quality relief. Saturday’s doubleheader and Sunday’s game both start at 1 p.m. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com BRIEFLY Dyson receives academic award use baseball player Trey Dyson has been named the re cipient of the 2001-02 H. Boyd McWhorter Southeastern Conference Male Scholar Athlete of the Year Award. With ‘ the award, Dyson will receive a ; $10,000 post-graduate scholar ship provided by the Alltel . Corporation. Dyson is a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member and a USC Dean’s List and President’s List member. . Dyson, a senior, maintains a * -3.74 GPA and majors in finance. * “I m very blessed and hon ored to receive this award,” said Dyson, a graduate of Spring Valley High School in Columbia. “I want to thank the coach ing staff, teammates, family, the ' USC faculty and God for pro viding me encouragement and guidance. I’ve taken my com petitiveness on the field to the classroom, and I believe that has helped me obtain goals that I have set.” Dyson is the starting desig nated hitter for No. 4 USC and is second on the Gamecocks in RBIs (33) and home runs (9). Over his four year career, Dyson has batted .288 with 24 home runs and 124 RBIs. “Trey Dyson USC is the type of stu- baseball dent-athlete that bead makes me want S°ach Ray x 1.*. „ Tanner to coach forever, sa|d <*Trey USC head coach Dyson is Ray Tanner said, the type of “I’m proud of student him and honored athlete to have had the makes me opportunity to wantto coach him at the coach University of forever.” South Carolina.” Lady Gamecocks sixth in final poll With a 25-7 final record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, the USC women’s basketball team finished the 2001-2002 season ranked No. 6 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The sixth-place finish is the team’s highest ranking of the sea son. The Lady Gamecocks spent the week of January 21 at No. 7. Carolina earned its first ranking in 11 years Nov. 26 af ter its victory over ninth ranked Duke. It was the first time since the third week of the 1990-91 season that the Lady Gamecocks had earned a na tional ranking. The highest ranking ever by a USC team came during the 1981-82 season, when the Lady Gamecocks were No. 2 in the Associated Press poll for three weeks. Track teams ranked in first outdoor poll In Trackwire’s first national rankings for the 2002 outdoor track and field season, USC is No. 4 on the women’s side and No. 11 on the men’s side. USC also has athletes ranked No. 1 in their respective events. Demetria Washington is No. 1 in the 400 meters, Lashinda Demus is first in the 400-meter hurdles, and the women’s 4x400 relay team is also ranked No. 1. USC travels to the Sea Ray Relays in Tennessee this week end before returning home to host the S.C. State Collegiate Championship on April 10. At the recent NCAA Indoor Championships, USC’s women were fourth, while the men fin ished sixth. No. 2 Georgia next for women’s tennis The 20th-ranked USC women’s tennis team returns home Friday afternoon for a 2 p.m. match with 2nd-ranked Georgia in a key SEC Eastern Division contest. With three regular season matches remaining, the Lady Gamecocks (13-4,6-2 SEC) trail the Bulldogs by two matches in the race for the SEC Championship Georgia (18-1, 8-0), which spent six weeks ranked No. 1 in the nation, has won five straight matches since Virginia Commonwealth snapped its 42 match home win streak. Carolina, meanwhile, has won nine of its last 12 matches to move to its third-best confer ence mark in school history. Friday’s match will feature some of the top players in the collegiate game. Five ranked singles players and four ranked doubles teams will be in action. TRACKWIRE’S NCAA TRACK AND FIELD TOP 25 Men RANK. TEAM SCORE 1 Tennessee 77 2 LSU __ 75 3 SMU36 4 Arkansas32 5^ Miss. State27 6 Georgia _26 Oregon _ _ 26 8 UTEP 25 9 E. Michigan^ 20 Clemson_20 11 USC 19 Bayloj^ 19 13 ^Alabama^_ 18 14 TCU 17 Auburn_ 17 16 _Michigan 16 17 _Florida_ 15 _Notre Dame 15 19_ Stanford 14 Kansas_ 14 Idaho_14 22 BYU 13 Colorado_13 24 Nebraska 12 ~ UCLA 12 Women RANK. TEAM SCORE 1 Southern Cal 84 2 LSU 69 3 UCLA 52 4 USC 46 5 Rice 30 6 Kansas State 29 7 _ Nebraska 27 8 _Washington St. 22 9 Auburn 21 Indiana__21 BYU 21 12 Flojida 20 Stanford 20 14 Arizona 19 Texas 19 16 Illinois 18 17 Iowa State 16 18 N. Carolina _15 19 Arkansas_13 _Liberty_13 21 Georgetown _12 22 _Clemson11 Ohio State1J. _N. C. State 11 25 Weber State 10 Arizona State 10