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8 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, April 19, 2002 _ ^ ^ ^ GAME SCHEDULE ^ -» t m. I Bfl \ I Vill L 1 BASEBALL vs. LSU, 7 p.m. Friday CONTACT US B W fl B B J B WOMEN’S TENNIS in SEC Championships, Friday-Sunday \ B i MEN'S TENNIS vs. No. 1 Georgia in SEC Championships Story ideas? Questions? Comments? B \ #ll I k 1 in Knoxville, Tenn., 2 p.m. Friday E-mail us at gamecocksportsfaihotmail.com m V_y ■ B rV_-/ TRACK AND FIELD at Georgia, Saturday Adrianna Baggetta plays with discipline, competitive streak BY MATT ROTHENBERG THE GAMECOCK When Adrianna Baggetta was asked how she would describe her self as an athlete, she answered, “competitive, a hard worker, and (someone who’s) going to give everything.” The senior from Chantilly, Va., certainly has exemplified those at tributes for the past three-plus years as a member of the Lady Gamecocks softball team. A co-captain, Baggetta selected USC over other schools mainly be cause of the softball program. “I felt that I’d have the opportu nity to get to the national champi onship,” she said. “It was also the best school closest to where I live, and there is a great coaching staff as well.” Primarily a catcher, though she’s played some third base over the years, Baggetta is hitting her stride now after missing 11 games early in the season because of con cussions. The injuries forced her to change positions to left field, but it helped her to become a better player. “I was catching, and I knew anything could be taken from me,” she said. “I loved catching, and when it was taken from me, it made me more focused and to make the best of every day. You want people to remember that.” After seeing limited playing time as a freshman, Baggetta played 65 games as a sophomore in 2000 and set career-high statis tics in the process. Among those were a .270 batting average, 41 hits, a .961 fielding percentage, two triples and four home runs. Baggetta seems to be headed for a breakout senior season as well, and many of those career-highs are in danger of getting higher. Baggetta is now batting .304 with six doubles and three home runs. Her .511 slugging percentage and .418 on-base percentage are also among the team’s best. All of the home runs came during a two game span at Tennessee earlier this month. According to Baggetta, a lot of the credit for her success at USC should go to her coaches. “They’ve always been a positive influence on me,” she said. “They tried to get the best of me. “Since I’ve been here, I’ve got ten better with more fine-tuning. Coach Compton broke down my “Since I’ve been here, I’ve gotten better with more fine-tuning. Coach Compton broke down my hitting, and coaches Aprile and Thompson have been positive influences. They’ll help you with whatever you need help with.” ADRIANNA BAGGETTA USC SOFTBALL PLAYER hitting, and coaches Aprile and Thompson have been positive in fluences. They’ll help you with whatever you need help with.” With so many underclassmen on the roster, Baggetta under stands the importance of being a leader and passing along those traits to the younger players. Among those traits is a strong work ethic. “You’re only going to get out what you put in, and discipline is also important,” she said. “Just be cause others are doing something doesn’t mean you have to. You need to be your own person and at least get done what you need to get done.” Baggetta will graduate with a degree in sport and entertainment management, and she plans to continue with softball. “I would like to end up in coach ing,” she said. “My goal is to be a Division I college coach.” Baggetta said she would like to carry on some of Compton’s coach ing styles. Those traits include “her disci pline and the way she instills it in her players and the way that she can break down batting and posi tions. Hopefully, one day, I’ll know enough to do that.” Looking back on her experi ences at USC, Baggetta said win ning the 2000 SEC Tournament was one of the most memorable times of her career. “Every year has been memo rable,” she said. “It’s been a great four years. I’ve had fun, and I’ve been on some good teams. Overall, I think it’s been a great experience with great coaches and great team mates.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK After an injury sidelined her early in the season, Adrianna Baggetta has come back and posted career-high numbers in several areas. The Baggetta File Adrianna Baggetta is hitting her stride after an injury kept her out for 11 games. Batting average: .304 Slugging percentage: .511 Doubles: 6 Home runs: 3 Lady Gamecocks heading to Gainesville Softball team prepares for Florida series BY MATT ROTHENBERG THE HAtyKCOCK After a week of rest and prac tice, the USC softball team hits the road this weekend for a three game series at Florida. USC is coming off a nine-game homes tand during which it went 8-1, while the Gators are looking to knock Carolina out of the top spot in the SEC Eastern Division. Florida (27-29,7-14 SEC) recently split a doubleheader with Florida State as well. The story for USC (34-12,15-6) this weekend is pitcher Megan Matthews’ quest to be the Lady Gamecocks’ all-time strikeout leader. The senior needs only three strikeouts to hold the record, now held by Trinity Johnson, who had 1,030 strike outs from 1995-97. Matthews and her teammates will face a Florida squad that is filled with potentially dangerous hitters and pitchers. Florida coach Karen Johns, a former All American catcher at Carolina, will meet her former coach, Joyce Compton. Mylin Prieto, batting .322, is the top hitter for Florida. She leads the team with 22 RBIs and is second in hits with 49. The Gators also have a trio of power hitters in Mandy Schuerman, Jenn Mossadeghi and Bree Berger. Schuerman owns a .307 batting average with team-lead ing figures in hits (50), doubles (14) and home runs (six). Her slug ging and on-base percentages are also tops for Florida. Mossadeghi has 12 doubles and 22 RBIs, while Berger has five home runs. The Gators have speed threats with Jackie Marchetta and Jenilee Garner. Batting .305, Marchetta has a team-leading 15 stolen bases, while Gamer is sec ond with 11 steals. Florida’s pitching staff has tak en its share of lumps over the sea son. Amanda Moore has seen the load of work and has a 9-12 record and a 2.86 ERA to show for it. The Gators’ other starter, Amanda Knowles, has fared better, with a 10-8 record and a 2.54 ERA. Knowles also has a team-leading 95 strikeouts. Schuerman can fill in as a starter or as a reliever. Junior Kim Evans leads Carolina in hitting with a .320 av erage and 28 runs scored. Shortstop Amber Curtis is right behind Evans with a .312 batting average. Curtis is also the team leader in doubles (10), home runs (5), RBIs (27) and slugging per centage (.523). SEC Player of the Week Meghan Cornett is batting .305 with 43 hits and 25 RBIs. Cornett earned the weekly honor after going ll-for-18 with two home runs and 4 RBIs against Kentucky and Georgia. Senior Adrianna Baggetta has a .304 av erage as well as a team-leading .418 on-base percentage. On the mound, while Matthews is 18-5 this season with a 1.31 ERA. She has struck out 163 batters this season. Stacey Johnson is not too far behind Matthews in the No. 2 position, with a 10-5 record and a 1.49 ERA. She has 82 strikeouts. Aleca Johnson (6-1,1.69) brings quality relief pitching when need ed, with five saves this season. Saturday’s doubleheader and Sunday’s game all start at noon at The Florida Softball Stadium in Gainesville. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com FILE PHOTO/THE GAMECOCK Drew Meyer had two hits, one run and three stolen bases during USC’s victory over the Clemson Tigers. Baseball defeats Clemson 0 USC 8 & Clemson 6 BY BRAD SENKIW THE GAMECOCK The USC baseball team got its first win this season against its chief in-state rival when it defeat ed Clemson 8-6 on the road Wednesday night. USC (29-8) defended its No. 8 ranking by knocking off the No. 1 Tigers (31-5) at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in front of 5,273 fans. The Gamecocks scored in all but two innings, and freshman pitcher Aaron Rawl (1-1) notched the first win of his career by going 31/3 in nings in relief of starter Gary Bell, who allowed one run and two hits. Steve Thomas led the way of fensively for USC by going 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a home run. Brian Buscher also hit a homer and went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Both starting pitchers were tak en out during the fourth inning. Clemson’s Steve Reba (8-1) took the loss in relief. i ne Gamecocks struck early with Thomas’ solo homer in the first inning and Buscher’s shot in the second. Clemson’s Michael Johnson then connected with a home run, his fourth against USC this sea son, in the bottom of the second to make it a one-run game. The Gamecocks got another RBI from Buscher in the third on a two-out single that scored Yaron Peters. The Tigers also added a run in the inning when Chad Coder scored on a fielder’s choice, but Bell struck out Jeff Baker with two men on to end the inning. Landon Powell led off the fourth inning with a double, then Drew Meyer ripped a single to score Powell from third. Tigers starting pitcher Jeff Hourigan was then pulled, and Tiger ace Reba entered the game. Meyer stole second and third before Reba loaded the bases on two walks, and, with two outs, Garris Gonce flied out to left field to end any hopes of scoring. Clemson came right back dur ing the bottom half of the inning to load the bases. Bell’s wild pitch scored Hourigan, who moved to designated hitter, and Colin Mahoney and David Slevin added RBI singles to cap the three-run inning. USC fought back in the fifth in ning when Meyer reached first on a controversial call that scored Powell. After Meyer recorded his SEC-leading 24th steal of the sea son, Thomas smacked a shot down the left-field line that scored Kevin Melillo and Meyer to give USC a two run lead. Clemson again threatened in the bottom half after loading the bases with no outs. Rawl then got Coder to strike out and Mahoney to ground out to end the Tigers ral ly Clemson did get a run in the sixth on Khalil Greene’s 12th homer of the season off Rawl, but the Gamecocks added another run in the eighth with a bases-loaded walk off Justin Harris that brought Tim Seaton home. Taylor then pitched the last two innings, where he gave up only one hit and grabbed his conference-leading eighth save of the year. Carolina gets back to SEC play this weekend against LSU at home. LSU (25-13,8-6 SEC) is on a six-game winning streak after de feating Southern 13-2 on Tuesday night at home. LSU is third in the SEC West and fourth in the con ference sweeping Georgia last weekend. LSU’s offense has been on fire during the last three games; it’s scored 37 runs. The Tigers are led by Aaron Hill’s .385 batting aver age. 27 RBIs and five homers. Sean Barker is also hitting .385 with a team-high 57 hits and 36 RBIs. The three-game series kicks off 7 p.m. Friday at Sarge Frye Field. 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