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BASEBALL vs. Gardner Webb, 7 p.m. Tuesday
nmTminmTrn ' SOFTBALL vs. Virginia (DH), 3 p.m. Wednesday
C ONTAG T U S BASEBALL vs. Furman, 7 p.m. Wednesday
• MEN’S BASKETBALL at Alabama, 8 p.m. Wednesday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Ole Miss at SEC Tournament
E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com in North Little Rock, Ark., 6 p.m. Thursday
USC splits with the Tigers
Clemson wins at Doug Kingsmore,
Gamecocks victorious at Sarge Frye
BY BRAD SENKIW
THE GAMECOCK
The lOth-ranked USC baseball
team (9-2) split a two-game series
with in-state rival Clemson (3-3)
this weekend, losing the first bat
tle 8-0 at Clemson before bouncing
back at home to take the second
game 6-4.
Clemson 8 - USC 0
It was a dismal, rainy Saturday
at Doug Kingsmore Stadium and
a dismal, dry day offensively for
the Gamecock baseball team.
Carolina managed only four hits
as Clemson shut the team out 8-0.
The Tigers stifled USC with
starting pitcher Tyler Lumsden
(2-0), who pitched 71/3 scoreless
innings and allowed four hits and
one walk, while striking out 11
batters.
Matt Campbell (1-1) recorded
the loss for the Gamecocks as he
struggled early. Campbell made it
through only 3 2/3 innings, giving
up six runs on five hits. Steve
Bondurant came in to pitch four
innings in relief, and allowed two
i uns uii im etr mis.
Clemson was led offensively by
Russell Triplett, who went 2-for-2
with am RBI, and Kyle Frank, who
was l-for-2 with two RBIs.
Justin Harris, Kevin Melillo,
Landon Powell and Brian
Buscher, who extended his hitting
streak to 10 games, had a hit
apiece. It is the first time the
Gamecocks have been shut out
this season.
Clemson got it going early with
four runs in the first inning. Brad
McCann hit a sacrifice fly to cen
ter field that scored Garrick Evans
before Roberto Valiente’s single
brought in Michael Johnson and
Ryan Hub. Valiente then scored
on a sacrifice fly by Triplett.
In the fourth inning, Frank and
Hub both picked up RBIs to make
it a 4-0 game, and the Tigers added
another pair of runs in the eighth
inning on an RBI single from
Frank, who later scored on an er
ror.
The Gamecocks went down in
order in the ninth inning to end
the game.
USC 6 - Clemson 4
As the sun came out on Sunday,
so did USC’s offense. Carolina
scored six runs on seven hits and
used a strong performance from
Aaron Rawl (4-0) to get a 6-4 victo
ry over the Tigers.
USC’s hitting was timely as it
put together one run in the fourth,
three runs in the fifth and a run in
both the seventh and eighth in
nings. Melillo was 2-for-2 with an
RBI and a run scored, while fresh
men Trey McDaniel and Michael
Campbell hit solo home runs for
Carolina. Buscher added a pair of
RBIs in the win.
Rawl pitched the complete
game, giving up four runs on six
hits. The sophomore kept the
Tigers scoreless through seven in
nings and gave up only two hits
during that span. Rawl struck out
eight batters but gave up two
home runs.
Based on wnat happened yes
terday, I wanted the toughest guy
out there the whole day,” USC
head coach Ray Tanner said. “I
don’t like leaving guys out there
that long, but that was his game.
I wasn’t going to take the ball
away from him.”
Jeff Hahn (1-2) recorded the loss
for Clemson, going 41/3 innings
and giving up four earned runs.
After three uneventful innings,
Melillo led off the bottom half of
the fourth with a single and was
advanced to second on a sacrifice
bunt by Bryan Triplett. With
Buscher at the plate, Hahn was
called for a balk as Buscher was
hitting a grounder that would
have given the Tigers two outs in
the inning. Instead, Melillo ad
vanced to third and Buscher’s sac
rifice fly to center scored Melillo
and cost Clemson a run.
The big inning for USC came in
the fifth, when Michael Campbell
hit a solo home run off Hahn and
♦ BASEBALL, SEE PAGE 9
PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK
Gamecock pitcher Aaron Rawl prepares to release the ball during USC’s win over Clemson on
Sunday. Rawl pitched a complete game, allowing six hits and striking out eight Tiger batters.
Powell leads Gamecocks to win
USC forward sets three
career highs on Saturday
BY CHRIS FOY
THK OAMECOCK
The USC men’s basketball team had not swept
any of its three series so far this season as it went
into Saturday’s match-up with Vanderbilt.
Nonetheless, the Gamecocks (12-13,5-9 SEC) got their
first series sweep of the season and crept one step
closer to .500 as they took the game away from the
Commodores (10-15,3-11), 76-64.
The game was tightly contested until a 12-0 run
in the second half gave way to the Gamecock victory.
Afterward, USC head coach Dave Odom said he was
proud of the effort his team put up to pull away.
“There are no easy games at this time of year,”
Odom said. “It has been a tough year, but our team is
very resilient.”
l ne nrst nau ieaturea several DacK-to-DacK DUCKets,
and neither team got a lead more secure than four
points. Rolando Howell put up eight of his 13 points in
the first half to lead the scoring for the Gamecocks.
Matt Frefie led the Commodores with 12 points. USC
failed to convert on their last possession of the half,
leaving the halftime score 30-28 in favor of Carolina.
The second half started dry for the Gamecocks
as its first points came nearly five minutes into the
period. Vanderbilt opened the half on a 9-3 run led by
Freije, who in the stretch had a jumper, a 3-pointer
and a dunk. But it was Chris Warren’s 3-pointer that
started USC’s big run.
After Freije hit a 3-pointer in the Commodores’
run, the Gamecocks put up 12 unanswered points.
Warren hit a second consecutive 3-pointer, followed
by a jumper by Chuck Eidson, a layup by Howell and
a 3-pointer by Eidson; a Carlos Powell dunk capped
off the run. Vanderbilt would only be able to get as
close as five points during the remainder of the game.
Powell had an all-around career day as he post
ed career highs with 21 points (21), 11-for-ll free
throw shooting and 7 assists. Eidson was second in
points with 18 and notched in four steals in the out
ing. Warren had 11 points, four rebounds, and three
assists. It was the first time since the Clemson game
in early February that USC had four players score in
double digits in a game.
Forward Kerbrell Brown started the game but saw
only limited minutes before retiring to the bench.
Aft*er the game, Odom said that not letting Brown
♦ BASKETBALL, SEE PAGE 9
PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK
Rolando Howell, center, jumps over two Vanderbilt defenders
during USC’s 76-64 win on Saturday. Howell scored 13 points and
added six rebounds In the Gamecocks’ victory.
Odom praises Boynton
forgiving leadership
BY MATT ROTHENBERG
THE GAMECOCK
As Vanderbilt started the second half of
Saturday’s basketball game with eight straight
points, it appeared that the Commodores would
take firm control over the Gamecocks. Then,
USC head coach Dave Odom looked at his bench
and put in two players who would help lead the
Gamecocks to victory.
Mike Boynton and Carlos Powell played ma
jor roles as USC held off the surging Vanderbilt
Commodores in the second half. Each one gave
the Gamecocks what they needed to boost
Carolina just at the right time.
Boynton, a 6-foot-2-inch guard from Brooklyn,
N.Y., played sparingly over the last several
games, but quickly made his time against the
Commodores a time to shine. Boynton didn’t
play at all during the first half, but Odom decid
ed to insert him to bring some patience and calm
to the Gamecocks on the court.
Although he finished with two points, two
assists and two steals, Odom thought Boynton
brought more to the table than the statistics
miaht suggest.
“I certainly want to give Mike Boynton the
big commendation — a big salute. I didn’t par
ticularly come into this game thinking that this
would be Mike Boynton’s day, but the thing —
in the second half — that I thought we needed
was some veteran leadership,” Odom said. “I
think he’s been there before, and I was just
hopeful that he would just stand up and give us
the kind of leadership against the zone and the
calming influence that we needed, and he did.
“Again, the thing that we thought we need
ed at that point when we got down was some se
nior leadership. Somebody to relax us and give
us some poise and composure and some know
how on the court. Michael is limited in a lot of
ways, but not intellectually—he’s not limited in
any way intellectually. He’s very smart, he
knows what everybody supposed to do on ev
ery play and, the kind of coach that I am, I ap
preciate that,” Odom said.
Teammate Chuck Eidson agreed with
Odom’s compliments, noting that Boynt8n’s
♦ BOYNTON, SEE PAGE 9
Defiance
of flag is
not best
for team
m
cldHr
BRAD SENKIW
GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Player’s protest is taking
precedence over game.
If you’ve watched
“SportsCenter,” or any other news
program for that matter, you’ve
probably seen it: a 21-year-old,
standing on the court at her bas
ketball game and turning her back
away from the American flag dur
ing the national anthem.
This sounds like a patriotic
tragedy that should force this
young girl to leave the country,
right? Is a young, Division III bas
ketball player’s defiance of
America’s involvement in the
Middle East even worth noting?
Why does Manhattanville College
forward Toni Smith, a senior so
ciology student, even matter?
All of these
questions ran
through my head
this week as I saw
that small-college
athlete defending
herself and even
receiving abuse ^
from other fans. I g ^
began to ask my
self the real ques
tion in this situation: Should Smith
be allowed to demonstrate while
being part of a basketball team?
This is the hardest of all the
questions I came up with. It is dif
ficult to condemn or condone what
she is doing. Smith said in a state
ment released this week that “the
government’s priorities are not on
bettering the quality of life for all
of its people, but rather on expand
ing its own power, I cannot, in good
conscience, salute the flag.”
Here, we have a college athlete
demonstrating her constitutional
rights at a sporting event. No
longer are we reading about these
acts in history books or seeing
them on ESPN’s “SportsCentury.”
We are living in a day when
celebrities and athletes are mak
ing stands against our nation. It is
time for students of America to re
alize that war affects sports and
schools.
Toni Smith is doing something
that is best for her. I will not de
moralize her for feeling the way
she does. I do not agree with her
stance, but for me to say she is
wrong would be the just like the
government telling me I can’t have
this whole column printed. It is a
right and a privilege and, is the en
tire reason the United States was
created.
TC P_ i AV* iimviAn A „ _■» __•
II OIIUW one 10
displeased, let her. I am not con
vinced I would let her do it on a
basketball court if I were her
coach. Surprisingly, her coach and
even her school have backed her
up 100 percent. Many other coach
es around the country have not
had that sentiment.
University of Connecticut wom
en’s basketball head coach Geno
Auriemma was totally against
Smith’s even being on the team.
“Anybody who does (what
Smith has done), they have the
right to do it, but to me, it’s disre
spectful and, as a coach, I would
have that right not to have that per
son on the team," Auriemma said.
Even USC’s women’s head
coach Susan Walvius made a state
ment much like Auriemma’s.
“I think I would have certain
expectations of my
players, and either
they were willing
to follow the rules
of our team and
the expectations of
the university or
they wouldn’t be
Auriemma P31^ the team,
she said.
As far as athlet
ics go, this is the major issue. I
think it should be up to coaches
and other teammates to decide
whether another player caa
♦ SENKIW, SEE PAGE 9