The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 19, 2003, Page 10, Image 10
GAME SCHEDULE
nnMrmnm tto baseball at The Citadel, 6 p.m. Wednesday
UUiN IAvj 1 U O MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Tennessee, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
„ . , „ ^ „ 0 MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING at SEC Championships, Wed.-Sat.
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? BASEBALL vs. Duquesne, 3 p.m. Friday
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USC to go up against Vols
Gamecocks can continue winning
streak by defeating Tennessee
BY BRAD SENKIW
THE GAMECOCK
The USC men’s basketball team
must stop the Tennessee
Volunteer’s six-game winning
streak in order to get its fourth
consecutive win tonight at the
Carolina Center.
Carolina <10-11, 3-7 SEC)
dropped its last meeting with the
Vols, 60-56, in which Ivan Howell
missed a 3-pointer in the last few
seconds. Stanley Asumnu’s free
throw clinched the win for UT.
Kerbrell Brown scored 17 points
in the loss, and Chuck Eidson
added 14. Ron Slay’s 16 points led
the Vols (15-6,7-3).
“We played Tennessee two,
three weeks ago up in Knoxville,”
USC head coach Dave Odom said.
“And I thought it was sort of an
aberration. I don’t think anyone
saw what a true South Carolina
Tennessee match would be, sim
ply because of foul trouble. Since
then, Tennessee has obviously got
ten better.”
Since the last meeting,
Tennessee has steadily improved
with conference wins over Auburn,
Georgia, Arkansas and Florida, as
well as a nonconference victory
over Massachusetts. UT is third in
the SEC East and three games be
hind first-place Kentucky, who they
take on next week.
“We’ve got more confidence,”
Tennessee head coach Buzz
Peterson said. “You go through so
many times where you fail, and
you get sick and tired of it. We’re
not going through that any more.”
In the five-game SEC winning
streak, UT knocked off their first
ranked opponent of the season
when they took down the No. 17
Georgia Bulldogs. Slay scored 33
points on a 12-for-18 shooting day.
Against then fourth-ranked
Florida on Saturday, Slay and
Crump scored 20 points and 19
points, respectively, in a 66-59 up
set in Knoxville. The Vols trailed
for most of the game until a Jon
Higgins 3-pointer gave them a 51
50 lead with 5:15 to play.
Slay added 23 points against
Arkansas to nab his second
straight SEC Player of the Week
honor, the first conference player
to do so since 1994. He is an All
American candidate and leads the
league in scoring with 21.8 points
per game and is grabbing 7.4 re
bounds per game.
“The last game we played in
Knoxville was the first time I’ve
seen him in person,” Odom said.
“In my mind, he’s the best player
in the league. He’s shown me that
he’s terrific. The two things that
are different are their team de
fense is much better and Ron Slay
gives them star power.”
Peterson thinks a win against
Carolina in Columbia, where
USC is 9-3 this season, will not be
easy.
“This is a much improved
South Carolina team,” Peterson
said. “It’s going to be a tougher
challenge for us, because they are
playing in their home gym.”
Odom also thinks this will be a
tough match-up and is worried
about the Vol defense.
“If you’re comparing this year’s
team to last year’s, the defense is
much, much better. The second
thing is Ron Slay. We’re looking
at this game as a great challenge,”
hesaid.
Tennessee holds a 21-18 lead in
the overall series against USC, but
the Gamecocks are 10-6 when fac
ing UT in Columbia.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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FILE PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK
Carolina’s Tarence Kinsey, left, puts the ball up despite being swiped at by Arkansas’ Larry
Satchell. The Gamecocks will be tested when Tennessee comes to town tonight.
BY MATT ROTHENBERG
THE (1AMEU0CK
Just when they thought they
could unpack from their latest trip,
the 20th-ranked USC softball team
heads back on the road this week
end, traveling to Columbus, Ga., for
the Lead-Off Classic Tournament.
Last weekend, USC (7-4) visited
Henderson, Nev., to take part in the
Desert Classic Tournament, fin
ishing 2-3 against a tough field that
included several ranked opponents.
The Gamecocks began the
Desert Classic on a down note
Friday, losing to top-ranked
University of California at Los
Angeles 12-0 in five innings. UCLA
was paced by four home runs in
the game, as pitchers Keira Goerl
and Michelle Turner combined for
U1C 911UIUUI.
USC got the bats going later on
in the day, with a 643 win over tour
nament host University of Nevada
at Las Vegas. Danielle Quinones
went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a
home run and three RBIs to lead
the Gamecocks. Stacey Johnson
pitched her first complete-game
shutout of the season, striking out
a season-high nine batters.
Carolina also rang up a season
high total of 13 hits in the game.
The Gamecocks were sparked
by a three-run sixth inning, which
included Debralee Troesh’s two
run single.
Saturday, Carolina faced off
against 23rd-ranked Oregon State
and came away with a close one,
winning 4-3 over the Beavers. The
Gamecocks scored two runs in the
first inning and added another in
the third when Amber Curtis drove
in Samantha Jennings. USC added
its final nm in the sixth inning.
Henkes held a shutout through
six innings before Johnson came
in, got the last out, and picked up
her first save of the year. Henkes
(4-1) received the victory.
The Gamecocks faced 10th
ranked Cal State-Fullerton that
evening and could muster only one
nm on four hits in a 6-1 loss. USC
scored their only run of the game in
FILE PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK
Amber Curtis breaks from third base as Meghan Cornett bats
against UNC-Greensboro. USC will travel to Columbus, Ga., to
take part in the Lead-Off Classic Tournament this weekend.
the third inning when Nancy Crane
scored on Jodi Fittro’s ground out.
CS-Fullerton’s bats broke
through in the fifth inning, scor
ing four runs on two home runs
off Johnson. The Titans added two
more runs in the sixth.
Carolina faced fourth-ranked
Nebraska in its final game of the
Desert Classic and lost 9-1 in five
innings. Melissa Sandel tied the
game at 1-1 in the second inning,
but Nebraska got another run in
the fourth. Henkes replaced
Johnson, giving up seven runs in
the fifth inning to seal the loss.
Johnson (3-2) took the loss for USC.
Now the Gamecocks head to
Columbus, Ga., this weekend to play
a pair of top-10 teams. Washington
and Michigan await Carolina on
Friday and Saturday, respectively.
USC lost 8-1 to Washington and 5-0
to the Wolverines last year. The
Gamecocks will also play Temple on
Friday before beginning bracket
play on Sunday.
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use, The Citadel
to meet at the Joe
Gamecocks, Bulldogs will make
up contest postponed on Sunday
BY SHAWN ROURK
THE GAMECOCK
Much like this year’s
Daytona 500, Mother Nature
cut this past weekend’s
Berkeley Co-op Shootout in
Charleston short.
However, unlike the 500,
USC and The Citadel will make
up the last scheduled of the
Shootout today at Joe Riley
Park.
The struggling Citadel
Bulldogs (0-2)
will look to
pick up their
fi ret virtnrv nf
the season
against the
12th-ranked
Gamecocks.
USC has domi
Melillo nated the meet
ings between
the two teams and hold a 1 OB
42-1 all-time record over The
Citadel.
South Carolina (4-1) will be
looking to make it a clean
sweep of the Shootout with a
win.
The Gamecocks’ bats will
try to ride the wave they have
been on lately. Led by sopho
more Kevin Melillo and his .615
batting average, the team’s of
fense has flourished in the past
two games. Collectively, the
team is hitting .315 in its first
five games. The returning SEC
champions also have five
homers on the season includ
ing two against James Madison
in the first game of the
Shootout.
Trey McDaniel and Nick
Gardiner are also helping the
offensive charge. The two are
batting .500 even and have also
contributed heavily with their
bats, knocking in seven RBIs.
USC’s opponent won’t show
any way to slow their bats
down, as well.
In the first two games of the
season, Bulldog pitchers were
lit up for 10 earned runs off 30
hits in two losses. The Citadel
is looking to put left-handed
pitcher Ryan Owens to the
mound to start. This will be
Owens’ first start of the season.
The Gamecocks will likely
send right-hander Aaron Rawl
to the mound. Rawl has a 1.08
ERA and a 2-0 in 81/3 innings
pitched. He also has the second
highest total of strikeouts with
10.
The Bulldogs’ hitters may
help Rawl out. In their first two
games they only have seven
hitters with a batting average.
However, freshman Trent
Weathers, junior Chip Cannon
and sophomore Chris Ard have
provided most of the offense for
the Citadel.
Weathers is hitting .625, and
Cannon and Ard are batting
.429 apiece. The three have
combined for five doubles and
three RBIs as
well. Farther
down the line
up, though, The
strength fades.
Other play
ers like sopho
more Josh
Stackley and Rawl
freshman Matt
Matulia are having lukewarm
starts. Stackley is hitting .111
after going l-for-4 in a 3-4 loss
to Vanderbilt. Matulia went 1
for-6 in the first two games of
the season, earning an average
of .167.
The one bright spot for the
Bulldogs is their fielding. They
only have two errors on the
season compared to the
Gamecocks, who have 10 so
far.
First pitch is scheduled for
6 p.m.
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NHL’s
elite put
league in
jeopardy
\
MATT ROTHENBERG
GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Rich teams driving up
salaries, hurting league.
If there is an Armageddon in
the National Hockey League in
2004, as many people expect there
to be, one cannot help but feel that
there are several teams who have
certainly done their part. After
next season, the collective bar
gaining agreement ceases be
tween the league and its players.
Most onlookers think that nego
tiations are going to grind to a
halt, putting part, if not most or
all, of the 2004-05
season in jeop
Naturally, the
rising pay scale
will be the main
issue, though
surely to be dis
cussed will be the
plight of some Bettman
franchises, in
cluding the Ottawa Senators, the
Buffalo Sabres and the
Pittsburgh Penguins.
But for all the problems going
on with those teams, and similar
small-market franchises, their
large-market counterparts must
be held to blame. There is no
salary cap in hockey, and there
won’t likely be one in the near fu
ture. Commissioner Gary Bettman
has also discounted the possibility
of contraction.
So, what can be done to save the
teams that are bringing in less rev
enue than others? Sadly, it’s un
certain. For starters, teams can
stop paying free agents well over
market value.
The one team known very well
to do this is the New York
Rangers. I am a Rangers fan; al
ways have been, always will be. I
was excited in 1994 when they won
their first Stanley Cup in 54 years,
as any fan would be. But it was
clear back then that their mis
management was going to run
them into the ground. In a series
of deals at the trading deadline,
the Rangers swapped many of
their talented younger players for
guys who knew how to win in the
playoffs.
Hindsight is always 20-20, so
maybe back then, it was a good
thing; but nearly 10 years later, it’s
not looking promising for them or
the league.
New York has missed the play
offs for five straight seasons and
is on the outside
□ looking in for this
year’s postseason.
They have the
highest payroll in
the game and
nothing to show
for it. Yet they al
ways manage to
Sather secure some of the
best players, de
spite getting little in return.
In those years, the names read
as a “Who’s Who” of the NHL:
Pavel Bure, Mark Messier, Petr
Nedved, Eric Lindros, Wayne
Gretzky, Alexei Kovalev, Theoren
Fleury and Luc Robitaille, just to
name a few.
In the end, the Rangers simply
overpay these players, especially
the ones with less name recogni
tion than others. What happens is
that players all over the league, <
when negotiating, tend to use the
Rangers’ salaries as an example,
thereby driving up the prices
across the board.
Ten years ago, there were
maybe a few dozen players earn
ing well over $2 million per sea
son. Now the average NHL salary
has become higher than that of
the National Football League.
This has priced the smaller-mar
ket teams out of competition. Yes,
while they might have one or two
star players, once those athletes’
1 s
♦ ROTHENBERG, SEE PAGE 11