The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 05, 2002, Page 7, Image 7
I | m, § || - GAME SCHEDULE
CONTACT IJS WOMEN'S TENNIS vs. Georgia, 2 p.m. Friday
MEN’S TENNIS vs. Georgia, 5 p.m. Friday
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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.
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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.
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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