The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 24, 2002, Page 12, Image 12
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12
GAME SCHEDULE
fVWTA T1T T TQ BASEBALL vs. No. 1 Clemson, 7 p.m. Wednesdav
IrivJ 1 UO BASEBALL at Kentucky, 6 p.m. Friday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? SOFTBALL vs. Alabama, l p.m. Saturday
E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com , BASEBALL at Kentucky, 2 p.m. Saturday
USC, Clemson to battle
one last time on diamond
No. 1 Clemson at No.
5 USC
7 p.m. Wednesday
Sarge Frye Field
BY MATT ROTHENBERG
TIIK (iAMBODCK
The fifth-ranked USC base
ball team meets the top
ranked Clemson Tigers
tonight for the final time this
regular season.
USC looks to even the season
series with Clemson at two vic
tories apiece. Clemson won the
first two meetings 9-7 and 11-10
last month, but Carolina took the
third game 8-6 a week ago in
Clemson.
Carolina (31-9, 11-6 SEC),
which is playing host to tonight’s
game, comes off a successful
weekend in which it won two of
three games and its first-ever se
ries against LSU.
PlnmoAn 1 n.9 APPA ro.
mains in Baseball America’s top
spot after sweeping Duke this
past weekend and winning a
game against Furman last night.
USC’s Aaron Rawl, pitching
in relief of Gary Bell, got his first
collegiate win last Wednesday at
Clemson’s Doug Kingsmore
Stadium. Steve Thomas and
Brian Buscher each homered to
lead the Gamecocks to the two
run victory.
Yaron Peters continues to
pace Carolina in hitting. He
leads the team with a .394 aver
age, 15 home runs, 58 RBIs and a
.768 slugging percentage.
Shortstop Drew Meyer is not far
behind Peters, holding a .386 bat
ting average and a team-leading
25 stolen bases.
USC head coach Ray Tanner
knows he can get production
from his entire lineup, as each
of the team’s starting players are
hitting over .280. The team’s
overall batting average stands at
.324, and its offensive numbers
compare closely with those of
the Tigers.
Clemson head coach Jack
Leggett also brings powerful
lineup to the table.
Khalil Greene remains the
Tigers’ top hitter with a .444 bat
ting average, 71 hits and 16 dou
bles. Michael Johnson owns a
.373 batting average with a team
leading 16 home runs, and third
baseman Jeff Baker has 14 stolen
bases and a team-high 53 RBIs.
On the whole, Clemson has 12
players hitting at or better than
.300.
The Tigers have been outper
forming their opponents in near
ly every offensive category, but
they also have a solid all-around
pitching staff to contend with.
Matt Henrie, Steve Reba and
Steven Jackson have seen most
of the innings this season for the
Tigers.
Reba, with a 9-1 record and a
3.29 ERA, leads the team with 56
strikeouts. His only loss came to
USC last week.
Henrie has a team-leading 2.17
ERA, an 8-1 record and 44 strike
nn+c
The Tigers have a deep
bullpen as well, with Paul
Harrelson establishing himself
as a quality closer this season.
Harrelson has seven saves in 16
appearances, a 1-0 record and a
2.79 ERA.
USC’s pitcHing staff should
have a fair share of confidence
after the LSU series. Despite
their relatively high ERAs,
Chris Spigner, David
Marchbanks -and Bell have
gelled into a tough starting rota
tion. With a combined 18-4
record and 169 strikeouts, the
three are capable of putting to
gether strong starts each time
they’re on the mound.
Steven Bondurant has also
come in for six starts this season
and has a 5-1 record and a 2.95
ERA.
Tanner’s bullpen has gotten
the job done when needed.
PHOTO BY ROBERT GRUEN/THE GAMECOCK
Kevin Melillo, left, and Yaron Peters will lead USC tonight against Clemson.
Freshmen Matt Campbell and
Rawl have received a lot of the
relief work and responded with
some quality innings. Blake
Taylor is the closer and has a
team-leading 11 saves, a 3-0
record and a 1.85 ERA.
Bondurant will take the hill
in tonight’s game for Carolina.
Clemson will counter with
Henrie. The first pitch is set for 7
p.m.
Comments on this story? E-mail
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Petty among free-agent signees
BY CHRIS FOY
THE GAMECOCK
After five Gamecocks were cho
sen in the first six rounds of the
NFL draft this past weekend, four
additional USC players have
signed free-agent contracts with
NFL teams.
Quarterback Phil Petty will re
main fairly close to home after be
ing picked up by the Tennessee
Titans. One of his offensive tack
les, Melvin Paige, will be playing
for former Florida Gators head
coach Steve Spurrier in
Washington. Wide receiver Brian
Scott will join former Gamecock
John Abraham with the New
York Jets, and linebacker Kenny
Harney has been signed by the
Green Bay Packers.
The USC players picked up in
the draft were Kalimba Edwards
(Detroit), Sheldon Brown
(Philadelphia), Andre Goodman
(Detroit), Willie Offord
(Minnesota) and John Stamper
(Tampa Bay).
Detroit's executive director of
personnel, Bill Tobin, was partic
ularly impressed with the amount
of talent USC's seniors had to offer.
"They had a lot of good players
this year," Tobin said. "Going to
South Carolina this year was like
going to Florida State most years."
The last time Carolina had five
players go in one draft was in
1988, when the draft was 12
rounds long instead of seven.
The SEC was the most repre
sented conference in the draft,
with 47 players taken.
Depth chart released
The Gamecocks' depth chart
wtts released Tuesday, and coor
dinators Skip Holtz and Charlie
Gamecocks Depth Chart 2002
Offense
WR 19 Andrea Gause, 5-9,190, So.
15 Matthew Thomas, 6-1,180, So.
WR 88 James Adkisson, 6-5,215, Sr.
83 Chavez Donnings, 5-11,185, Sr.
TE 49 Hart Turner, 6-5,240, Jr.
85 Fran Person, 6-6, 245, Fr. or
39 Brian Brownlee, 6-3,245, So.
LT 68 Travelle Wharton, 6-4,300, Jr.
75 Chad Walker, 6-4,305, So.
LG 76 Cedric Williams, 6-3,300, Sr.
52 Jeff Barnes, 6-4,280, Jr.
C 58 CJ. Frye, 6-3,315, Sr. or
74 John Strickland, 6-5,295, So. or
70 Na’Shan Goddard, 6-6,270, Fr.
RG 71 Shane Hall, 6-6,300, Sr.
79 Josh Malloy, 6-5,325, Fr.
RT 77 Watts Sanderson, 6-6,300, Sr.
71 Jonathan Alston, 6-5,276, So.
FB 4 Andrew Pinnock, 6-0,255, Sr.
20 Daccus Turman, 5-11,220, Fr.
TB 21 Ryan Brewer, 5-10,215, Sr.
42 Thez Robinson, 6-0,200, Fr.
QB 9 Corey Jenkins, 6-2,220, Sr.
5Dondrial Pinkins, 6-2,238, So.
Defense
LE 93 Dennis Quinn, 6-4,265, Sr.
96 Shaun Smith, 6-3,310, Sr.
NG 57 Langston Moore, 6-2,290, Sr.
94 Preston Thorne, 6-0,275, So.
RE 99 George Gause, 6-5,255, So.
90 Jason Capers, 6-4,265, So.
LB 36 Jermaine Lemon, 6-0,225, Sr.
33 Jeremiah Garrison, 6-1,225, Jr.
LB 34 Rod Thomas, 6-1,235, Sr.
51 Orus Lambert, 6-2,230, Fr.
LB 60 Lance Laury, 6-2,225, Fr.
46 Lenny Williams, 6-4,230, Sr.
S 11 Rashad Faison, 5-9,190, Sr.
16 Jamacia Jackson, 6-1,210, So.
S 30 Jonathan Martin, 5-11,215, Sr.
12 Rodriques Wilson, 6-2,210, So.
LC 32 Dunta Robinson, 6-0,180, Jr.
18 Rachiem Monroe, 5-9,185, Jr. or
8 Teddy Crawford, 5-10,175, Jr.
RC 41 Isaac Stackhouse, 5-10,190, Sr.
25 Brian Elam, 5-10,175, Sr.
FS 28 Deandre Eiland, 6-0,200, Jr.
1 Jermaine Harris, 6-4,210, Jr.
Specialists
PK 97 Daniel Weaver, 6-1,205, Jr.
KO 90 Joey Bowers, 6-0,185, So.
P 47 Tyeler Dean, 5-10,195, Sr.
H 13 Erik Kimrey, 6-1,205, Sr.
DS 67 Kevin Saylor, 5-11,205, Sr.
Top: Deandre
Elland. Bottom:
Andrew Plnnock.
PHOTOS BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK AND GRAPHIC BY BRANDON LARRABEE/THE GAMECOCK
Strong had a few comments on
the projected lineups.
"I think there were some pleas
ant surprises along the offensive
line during the spring," Holtz
said. "Na'Shan Goddard has come
on for a young player. Watts
Sanderson looks like he'll be a ma
jor contributor now."
The offensive coordinator was
also happy with his starting quar
terback.
"I was pleased with Corey
Jenkiijfs' development as a throw
er," Holtz said. "I think he im
proved as much as anyone on the
team. He is making himself a
complete quarterback."
Strong feels that the strongest
area on his defense might still be
the secondary, despite losing
Brown and Goodman.
"Our strongest position may be
at spur with (Rashad) Faison and
(Jonathan) Martin," Strong said.
"I feel pretty comfortable there.
We've got some new faces, but I
feel pretty comfortable with what
we have oiji'defense."
USC joins cancer fight
Strong took 15 players to the
state capital grounds Tuesday to
welcome the American Cancer
Society's national bus tour. The
bus, which is collecting signatures
for the fight against cancer,
stopped in Columbia around noon.
A number of the players men
tioned family members that had can
cer as they signed the bus and auto
graphs for children. Faison talked
to the crowd about his mother and
her personal struggle with cancer.
"My mother was diagnosed
with lung cancer recently," he
said. "All of us are touched by
cancer, including my family. It's a
tough battle, and that's why we
are here today to support the
American Cancer Society. They
help so many people."
Gov. Jim Hodges joined the
team as well. Afterward, the bus
continued onto its next stop in
Washington, D.C.
Comments on this story?E-mail
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Memphis’
Calipari
sets bad
example
J. KEITH ALLEN
. GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Too many coaches
stress the importance
of playing over the
importance of learning.
I’ve had a breakout year aca
demically, and I’m ready to move
on to the next level. I am formal
ly announcing my plans by
forego my last three years of col
lege eligibility and enter the
work-force draft. I’m told I’ll be
a lottery pick, and they say my
high marks should guarantee me
quality minutes with a big com
pany next year.
sounds aDsurar 11 iviempms
basketball coach John Calipari
was my academic adviser, some
thing this harebrained just
might happen.
Last week, Memphis’ fresh
man standout, Dajuan Wagner,
joined a long list of underclass
men that are trading in their
textbooks for a shot at super star
dom.
While the early exodus to the
NBA is certainly nothing new,
Calipari’s stance on this partic
ular case came as a surprise.
Throughout the National
Invitation Tournament, Wagner
was thinking about returning to
Memphis for his sophomore sea
son, despite every yes man in the
country’s assertions that he was
ready for the pros.
Regarding Wagner’s decision,
Calipari said in an ESPN inter
view that Wagner shouldn’t lim
it his options for next year.
Limit his options? Is he nuts?
Who ever considered getting an
education as limiting one’s op
tions?
And furthermore, how could
a coach, who at least pretends to
be associated with higher educa
tion, counsel someone out of re
turning to school?
I’m not saying that Wagner
isn’t talented. But with all of 36
college games under his belt, he
doesn’t appear to be the complete
player necessary to succeed in
the pros.
sure, ne can score, nui is ins
body ready for the grind of an 82
game schedule? Has he even ac
quired enough defensive skills
to stop NBA players?
Calipari is entrusted with re
sponsibility at Memphis, and he
clearly failed to use any. At a
time when so much attention is
being paid to college athletes and
their academic records, the
coach merely furthered the
stereotype that the college ranks
are just a temporary showcase
for NBA scouts.
You often hear players like
Shane Battier and Tim Duncan
described as “complete” or “ma
ture,” and it’s no coincidence
that both players stayed in
school for four years before mov
ing on to the NBA. They both
could have left early and still
been top 10 picks, but they real
ized that college was about more
than basketball.
You might recall who coached
Duncan for his four-year stay at
Wake Forest — Dave Odom. And
that’s why I think Odom will do
so well here; he understands his
job. Inside the locker room at
Frank McGuire Arena, a sign
reads, “The goal is ... gradua
tion.”
I wonder what the sign in
Calipari’s locker room says.
Buzzer Beaters
I’m rooting for the Dallas
Mavericks in the NBA playoffs
this year. Any team with a point
guard that looks like Austin
Powers is ail right in my book....
For those of you seeking verifi
cation of a higher power, make a
note of the fact that Phil Petty
inked a deal with the Titans and
♦ ALLEN, SEE PAGE 13