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,8 the GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, April 22, 2002 GAME SCHEDULE BASEBALL vs. No. 1 Clemson, 7 p.m. Wednesday rflNTAf T TTS TRACK AND FIELD at the Penn Relays, Tuesday 1 BASEBALL at Kentucky, 6 p.m. Friday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? SOFTBALL vs. Alabama, 1 p.m. Saturday E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com BASEBALL at Kentucky, 2 p.m. Saturday Reversal of fate PHOTO BY J. KEITH ALLEN/THE GAMECOCK The Gamecocks celebrate after Steve Thomas’ three-run double in the seventh Inning gave USC a four-run lead. Baseball team wins series against LSU BY BRAD SENKIW THE GAMECOCK The roles were finally reversed this weekend as the USC baseball team won a series against LSU for the first time since Carolina joined the SEC in 1992. The Tigers took Friday night's opener at Sarge Frye Field, but the Gamecocks came back to win two in a row over the weekend. Carolina improved its record to 31-9,11-6 in the SEC, and it re mains in first place of the SEC Eastern Division. LSU fell to 26-15, 9-8 in the SEC. Friday: LSU 9, USC 8 The Gamecocks trailed by six runs in the ninth inning of the opener Friday night, but they gave the Tigers quite a scare. USC scored five runs in the bot tom half of the inning and came up just short, losing 9-8. LSU scored four runs in the fourth and seventh innings, putting the Gamecocks in a large hole. Steven Bondurant (5-1) gave up seven hits and five runs in his first loss of the year. Drew Meyer went 3-for-5 with two runs and started the game with a solo home run to left field. LSU had dominant pitching by Lane Mestepey (8-2), who notched his fifth straight win by going 6 2/3 innings and only giving up three runs on 12 hits. "We're catching LSU at a time when they are playing good base ball,” head coach Ray Tanner said after the game. "We didn't play well enough to win." Saturday: USC 4, LSU 2 USC took care of LSU's seven game winning streak Saturday with a 4-2 victory thanks to a strong effort by pitcher David Marchbanks (7-2). The Gamecocks starter shut down the Tigers' prolific offense, only giv ing up two runs and six hits while striking out five in 7 2/3 innings. Blake Taylor secured his 10th save of the year by getting the final four outs for the Gamecocks. Yaron Peters went l-for-3 with a two-run homer in the third inning. He now has 15 home runs on the year. Trey Dyson scored Drew Meyer in the first inning on a single, and Steve Thomas added another RBI in the sixth. LSUs Wally Pontiff hit an RBI double in the eighth that ended Marchbanks's day, but the Tigers didn't get any closer. Tanner gave his thoughts on Marchbanks's gutsy outing. "David Marchbanks had an in credible performance today," he said. "That's as good as you can do against a LSU club." Sunday: USC 4, LSU 3 USC finished the weekend strong with another great pitch ing performance and timely hit ting in a 4-3 win. The Gamecocks survived an LSU rally in the eighth and ninth innings to take the series. Steve Thomas was the hero of the day with a bases-loaded dou ble in the seventh that scored three runs. "He'd thrown me seven break ing balls in a row, and I was finally able to get one I could hit," Thomas said. "Fortunately, it came with the bases loaded." Kevin Melillo went 2-for-3 with an RBI single, a run and a walk. After Marchbanks' solid perfor mance the day before, the Gamecocks got another dominant outing from the pitching staff. Gary Bell (7-2) gave up two runs and only five hits through 71/3 innings. He retired 15 straight batters between the second and sixth innings. Taylor once again grabbed the save, his leagu-leading 11th on the season. Bo Pettit (5-6) took the loss for LSU, and the Tigers were shut out through seven innings. USC grabbed the lead in the fourth with Melillo's RBI, but he was caught stealing with two men on base. LSU put together two runs in the eighth and a solo homer in the ninth off Taylor before he ended the game with a strikeout. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com WNBA DRAFT Gortman, Geter make history Lady Gamecocks become USC’s first-ever draftees BY J. KEITH ALLEN THE GAMECOCK Shaunzinski Gortman and Teresa Geter made history Friday when they became the first USC women’s basketball players to be chosen in the WNBA draft. Gortman was the ninth ' overall pick in the draft, taken in the first round by the Charlotte Sting, and, initially, the Columbia native was ex cited at being selected by the Sting. “This is a wonderful day for me and I’m happy that I have the opportunity to continue playing basketball,” Gortman said. However, the All-SEC guard will not continue playing bas ketball in Charlotte, as Gortman was traded to the Minnesota Lynx for forwards Erin Buescher and Maylana Martin. Gortman scored 1,331 points in her career and averaged 12.9 points a game. Geter was chosen in the third round by the Washington Mystics with the 36th overall pick in the draft. Geter will be reunited with Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt, who is serving as the Mystics’ player personnel con sultant. Geter played for Summitt at Tennessee for two years before transferring to use. Geter was also named to the All-SEC team for her efforts last season, and she said she can’t wait to take the next step to the professional ranks. “Being drafted is a wonder ful experience,” Geter said. “I plan to make the best of my op portunity. I’m happy that Washington decided to take a chance on me, and I’m going to do the best that I can on the court.” Geter averaged 10.4 points a game during her two years in Columbia, and in 2001, she set the single-season record for blocked shots (58). The Columbia native was a leader for the Lady Gamecocks in their remarkable run through the NCAA Tournament last season. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com PHOTOS BY ROBERT GRUEN/THE GAMECOCK Teresa Geter (left) will head to Washington, while Shauzinskl Gortman (right) will join the Minnesota Lynx. Women’s golf team wins SEC Tournament THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The 25th-ranked USC women’s golf team accomplished something it never had before when it won the SEC Championship on Sunday in Athens, Ga. The Lady Gamecocks shot a two-over 290, and finished with a three-day total of 861, three strokes better than top-ranked Auburn. And while the Lady Gamecocks posted their first team title, USC’s Kristy McPherson became just the second SEC women’s golfer ever to win back-to-back individual medalist honors. McPherson, a ju nior All-American, shot a one-un der 71 Sunday and won the title by two strokes over Vanderbilt’s Nicki Cutler. “It was magic,” USC head coach Kristi Coggins said. “I’m so proud ♦ GOLF, SEE PAGE 9 17th-ranked women’s tennis falls to Florida in SEC finals Carolina upsets No. 1 Georgia in semifinal round BY J. KEITH ALLEN THE GAMECOCK The 17th-ranked USC women’s tennis team did more than play host to the SEC championships this weekend—it played its way into the finals for the first time in school history. The Lady Gamecocks fell 4-0 to Florida, however, in Sunday’s fi nal after they dramatically upset No. 1 Georgia 4-2 on Saturday. The victory over Georgia was the first time in the program’s history that it had defeated a No. 1 team. USC head coach Arlo Elkins was upbeat despite the loss to Florida. “This was a great week,” he said. “We’ve beaten the No. 1 team in the country, so I told the girls they have nothing to hang their heads about; we’ve accom plished a lot.” Carolina (16-7) shocked Georgia behind the strong play of Jennifer Radman and Kathy Boyanovich. Both players notched victories in singles and doubles action, and Boyanovich’s 6-4,6-4 win over Georgia’s Anne Nguyen cemented the upset. Boyanovich said she was con fident taking the court against the country’s top-ranked squad. “Each time we play them... we know we can beat them,” she said. “But today, we really knew that we were going to beat them. It feels really good to finally do it.” The good feeling didn’t extend to Sunday’s match against Florida (19-1). Alexis Gordon clinched the SEC title for Florida with a 6-2,6-2 victory over USC’s Lynn-Yin Tan. The championship marks the sec ond SEC title in three years for the Gators, and Elkins felt that they set the tone from the onset. “[Florida] was just too tough for us oday,” he said. “They started in the doubles and they “This was a great week. We’ve beaten the No. 1 team in the country ... we’ve accomplished a lot.” ARLO ELKINS use WOMEN'S TENNIS HEAD COACH dictated play the whole match. I don’t think we played as well as we could have, but I don’t think that Florida allowed us to play as well as we could have.” Florida’s Jessica Lehnhoff was named MVP of the tournament for her outstanding play, which included a win in both singles and doubles Sunday. Carolina returns to the court May 9 for the beginning of the NCAA Tournament. Its strong run through the conference tour ney makes it a strong candidate to play host to a first-round game. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com PHOTO BY AARON HARK/THE GAMECOCK Kristin Hall and the Lady Gamecocks lost two of three games this past weekend to Rorida. Softball team falls in Florida Gators give USC 2nd series loss BY MATT ROTHENBERG THE GAMECOCK The USC softball team trav eled to Florida this past weekend looking to increase its lead in the SEC Eastern Division, but the Florida Gators had other ideas. The Gators won the first two games of the three-game set and handed USC only its second se ries loss of the season. The lone win for the Lady Gamecocks, though, was a no hitter by Megan Matthews on Sunday, her second of the season and sixth of her career. Matthews also became the school’s all-time leader in career strikeouts, eclipsing Trinity Johnson’s mark in the first game of the series. With the series win, the Gators improved to 29-30,9-15 in the SEC. USC is now 35-14 and 16-8 in the SEC. The Lady Gamecocks will get another week of rest and prac tice before heading to Alabama for another key SEC series this weekend. Game 1: Florida 1, USC 0 (8 innings) In the first game Saturday, Carolina fell to the Gators 1-0 in eight innings. Matthews and Florida’s Amanda Knowles each kept the opposition at bay with great pitching, though USC squandered several opportunities to score. The Lady Gamecocks left run ners in scoring position in three straight innings. The winning run resulted from an error. Pinch runner Jackie Marchetta went to steal third in the bottom of the eighth, and catcher Danielle Quinones’ throw sailed over the third base man and allowed the winning run to cross home. Knowles (11-8) scattered four hits in the complete-game shutout. Matthews (18-6) allowed one unearned run on seven hits and struck out five. Matthews’ strikeout of Katy Berger in the first inning tied Johnson’s strikeout record, and her strikeout of Priscilla Walden in the sixth inning broke the mark. Game 2: Florida 2, USC 1 Miscues again proved disas > jt ♦ SOFTBALL, SEE PAGE 9