The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 22, 2002, Page 8, Image 8
,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.
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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
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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.
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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
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♦ SOFTBALL, SEE PAGE 9