University of South Carolina Libraries
8 a . THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, April8,2002 q V\iE SC'HEDE^LE I 'V Ik ’V fTl / ^ BASEBALL vs. The Citadel, 7 p.m. Wednesday nnATTiAnT'TTO I Vi ll Vrl 1 W 1 SOFTBALL vs. Georgia, 5 p.m. Wednesday EU1N 1AE 1 Uo V_^ V I I_I MEN’S TENNIS at Wake Forest, 3 p.m. Wednesday „ I ■ V I 1 I 1 TRACK AND FIELD in S.C. State Story ideas. Questions. Comments? I 1 VII 111 Championships, Wednesday E-mailusatgamecocksports@hotmail.com Vy . 1 V- 1 FW SPRING FOOTBALL GAME, l p.m. Saturday GAMECOCKS BASEBALL PHOTO BY ROBERT GRUEN/THE GAMECOCK USC's baseball team, which Is ranked fourth in the country by Baseball America, lost to Arkansas twice this weekend in Fayetteville. Sunday's game was canceled because of rain. Hogs take two from USC Arkansas beats No. 4 Gamecocks twice in shortened series; USC falls to 24-8 overall BY J. KEITH ALLEN THE GAMECOCK Coming into this weekend’s se ries against Arkansas, the fourth ranked USC baseball team has never won a series in Fayetteville. That streak continued this weekend, as Baum Stadium and its artificial turf was once again a house of horrors for the Gamecocks, who dropped both games played. Sunday’s game was canceled because of inclement weather. Carolina (24-8,6-5 SEC) returns to Sarge Frye Field on Wednesday night for a rematch with The Citadel. Arkansas improved to 17 11,4-5 in the SEC. Friday: Arkansas 7, USC 4 The Gamecocks jumped out to an early lead courtesy of a Yaron Peters first-inning home run, his team-leading 11th of the year. Arkansas reclaimed the lead in the second inning off pitcher Gary Bell (5-2) by plating two runs on a sacrifice fly and a two-out RBI sin gle by Scott Hode. Arkansas took the lead for good in the fourth inning, as it scored four runs on a Brett Hagedom single, a double by Hode and a triple from Kirk McConnell. Bell was finished for the night after 3 2/3 innings. Down 6-2 in the fifth inning, USC squandered a golden oppor tunity by stranding three runners. Razorbacks starting pitcher Gary Hogan Jr. (3-2) struck out Steve Thomas and Peters to get out of the jam unscathed. Carolina closed the gap to 6-4 in the seventh inning on RBI singles by Thomas and Peters, but the Razorbacks tacked on a seventh run in the seventh inning with a Nick Pitts sacrifice fly. USC shortstop Drew Meyer went for 4-for-5, and Peters went 2-for-3 in the defeat. Saturday: Arkansas 8, USC 7 (15 innings) Jeff Fletcher took his .238 aver age to the plate with one out in the bottom of the 15th inning and picked the best possible time for his first home run of the season. His three-run blast gave Arkansas an 8-7 win over the Gamecocks. Scott Woods, the fifth Razorback pitcher of the after noon, pitched one inning for his fourth win of the season. Freshman Matt Campbell took the loss for USC after surrendering the dramatic home run. Arkansas scored three runs in the first inning and tacked on an additional run with a Ryan Fox home run in the fourth inning. The Razorbacks had a 4-1 lead. USC scored their first run with a solo home run from Thomas, and the Gamecocks scored their second run came courtesy of a Razorbacks error in the eighth inning. The game looked just about over in the top of the ninth inning with Arkansas holding a 4-2 lead, but Peters struck again. He belted his second homer of the series, a two-run blast to tie the game, with two outs and two strikes. Trey Dyson gave USC a short lived 5-4 lead with a home run in 14th, but Patrick Woodruff crossed the plate for Arkansas in the bottom half of the inning off an RBI single by Fox, his fifth hit of the afternoon. Carolina out-hit Arkansas 17-13, but the Gamecocks stranded 17 base runners in the marathon contest. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com Quick hits Friday ♦Yaron Peters’ first-inning home run was his 46th RBI of the season. That gives him the SEC lead in that category. ♦ Gary Bell’s 3 2/3 innings pitched was his shortest outing of the season. ♦ Drew Meyer went 4-for-5 and scored two of USC’s four runs. Saturday ♦ USC is now 0-2 in extra inning games this season. ♦ Carolina out-hit Arkansas 17-13 in the defeat. ♦The game-winning home run by Arkansas’ Jeff Fletcher was his first of the year. Lady Gamecocks sweep Tigers BY MATT ROTHENBERG THE GAMECOCK The USC softball team contin ued its winning ways this past weekend, as the Lady Gamecocks swept the Auburn Tigers in a three-game series. Carolina won both games on Saturday by scores of 4-2 and 3-1, and it hung on to win 3-2 on Sunday. The Tigers (26-18, 5-10 SEC) rallied in each game but couldn’t pull anything out. USC head coach Joyce Compton, for the most part, likes the way her team has played recently. “I feel like we’re playing well, but (Sunday’s game) was our worst game of the series,” she said. “We found ways to win, with dif ferent people stepping up each game. Our hitting and pitching have been well-balanced.” In the series opener, USC (29-11, 10-5) got on the board in the first inning with Jodi Fittro scoring on Amber Curtis’ single. In the next inning, Melissa Sandel came home on Danielle Quinones’ base hit, while Adrianna Baggetta crossed the plate on Fittro’s sacrifice fly. “We play much better at home,” said Quinones, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI in the game. “When we have home-field advantage, the intensity is a lot higher.” Auburn rallied for two runs in the sixth inning, but USC starter Megan Mat Jiews forced a groundout by the next batter to end the inning. “When we have home field advantage, the intensity is a lot higher.” DANIELLE QUINONES USC SOFT8ALL PLAYER With a one-run lead going into the bottom of the sixth, Sandel led off with a solo home run to extend the lead. Matthews got out of a jam in the seventh inning to secure the win. Matthews allowed two un earned runs on six hits. She had seven strikeouts, improving her record to 154. Jen Lofton (9-9) took the loss for the Tigers. USC started quickly in the night cap when Kim Evans scored on a first-inning error. Auburn man aged tQrfie the game, however, in the fourth inning as Kelly Sutton crossed the plate on a wild pitch by Carolina starter Stacey Johnson. In the fifth inning, Curtis dou bled to score Fittro from second base and later came around to score on a wild pitch. Aleca Johnson pitched the final three innings and gave up one hit and struck out five to earn her fifth victory of the season. Curtis, who is among the team’s leaders in several offensive cate gories, said she feels good about her performance this season. “I definitely look to get a hit when I’m at bat,” she said. “I feel like I’ve got more confidence this year, and I didn’t have that much last year.” The Lady Gamecocks closed out the sweep Sunday with some late inning heroics. Sandel scored on Quinones’ sec ond-inning sacrifice fly, and Carolina added another run in the third inning as Evans crossed home on Debralee Troesh’s single. Auburn scored an unearned run in the fifth inning with Matthews back on the mound. Matthews allowed only that run, as well as two hits, while striking out two in 4 2/3 innings. After Stacey Johnson briefly re lieved Matthews, Aleca Johnson was brought in to pitch with the bases loaded in the seventh inning. Despite allowing a run, which was credited to Stacey Johnson, Aleca Johnson closed down any other Auburn scoring threats. In the bottom of the seventh, with runners in scoring position, Sandel banged a single up the middle to score Evans with the winning run. Aleca Johnson (6-1), who pitched one inning and had two strikeouts, was credited with the win. The Lady Gamecocks return to action Wednesday night against Georgia in what should be a piv otal SEC series. Compton is hop ing for student support. “We’re both playing well,” she said of her team and her oppo nents. “We just hope we get a good crowd to come and support us. I look to get more students to come. If there’s anything to do to help that, it’s winning. It will be a big series to determine the (SEC) Eastern Division.” -- Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com The Lady Gamecocks took three games at home this weekend against Auburn. It was USC's second straight SEC sweep. PHOTO BY COREY DAVIS/THE GAMECOCK Jenkins No. 1 on QB depth chart after scrimmage BY CHRIS FOY THE GAMECOCK The USC football team took another step in preparation for its 2002 campaign, when the team scrimmaged Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium. Afterward, head coach Lou Holtz said Corey Jenkins is now No. 1 in the depth chart at quar terback. Jenkins, a junior col lege transfer, played last year be hind Phil Petty and is on his last year of eligibility. “Corey is a natural leader and has been impressive,” Holtz said. Holtz went on to talk about Jenkins’ likely backup, redshirt sophomore Dondrial Pinkins, who has been competing with Jenkins all spring for the starting role. “Dondrial looked good the final two series,” Holtz said. “He needs to become more assertive and ex ert himself more as a leader. ” On the whole, Holtz was im pressed with the “hard-hitting” scrimmage. And he said that while the offense did a good job protecting the ball, it wasn’t quite flawless on the da«. In ad ♦ FOOTBALL, SEE PAGE 9 PHOTO BY AARON HARK/THE GAMECOCK Corey Jenkins, who scored the winning touchdown against Clemson, Is the front-runner to succeed Phil Petty as starting quarterback for the Gamecocks this upcoming season, USC head coach Lou Holtz said on Saturday.