The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 21, 2003, Page 10, Image 10
10 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, March 21, 2003 GAME SC'HE DELE
“| \ /^V “■ \ FT1 BASEBALL at Tennessee, 7 p.m. Friday
I 1/ 11 I I L 1 MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TRACK at Weems Baskin Relays in
CONTACT EJS Lf I I L/1 I ' Columbia, Friday and Saturday
I i MEN’S GOLF at Schenkel EZ-GO Invitational in Statesboro, Ga„
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? . I \ /lllk) Saturday and Sunday
E-mailusatgamecocksports@hotmail.com 1 v>/ 1 B rv'_/ WOMEN'S BASKETBALL vs. Chattanooga at NCAA Tournament
in University Park, Pa., 12:10 p.m. Sunday
Carolina obliterates the Terriers
W Wofford 4
MjtmBii (2-16)
BY MATT ROTHENBERG
THE OAMECOCK -
After losing both games of a
doubleheader to Arkansas on
Sunday, the 14th-ranked
Gamecock baseball team knew it
needed to break out offensively in
the coming days. Carolina got its
shot during a game against the
Wofford Terriers (2-16) on
Wednesday and break out they
did
USC (16-5) pounded out 24 hits,
including seven doubles and five
home runs, as they demolished the
Terriers 29-4 in a game that Was
called in the seventh inning. The
29 runs were the most for a
Gamecock team since it scored 38
against Clemson in 1997.
“We knew after a bad couple of
games against Arkansas, we had
to come out and swing the bats,
and today we did,” Gamecock in
fielder Bryan Triplett said. “We
swung the bats really well, and
that’s how we should swing the
bats the rest of the season.
Hopefully, this game will carry
over into the rest of the season.”
Freshman Conor Lalor re
ceived the start for the
Gamecocks, and he pitched two
scoreless innings, allowing just
two hits and a walk, to earn his
fourth victory of the season.
Culley Kline of Wofford wasn’t
nearly as lucky. Kline pitched just
two-thirds of an inning, allowing
11 runs on six hits and dropping
his record to 0-5.
The Gamecocks came out on
fire in the first inning after Justin
Harris grounded out to open the
game. After Harris, the next 10
Carolina batters reached base and
scored as well. Altogether, 17 bat
ters came to the plate in the first
inning for USC. Hank Parks had a
two-run double — the first of both
his two-base hits — and Jon
Coutlangus smashed a three-run
home run to provide the power for
Carolina.
“We were very fortunate in the
early going. We hit some balls
well,” USC head coach Ray
Tanner said. “I don’t want to take
anything away from our hitters —
we swung the bats pretty good —
buf.we had some balls fall in for
us. Sometimes baseball’s like that,
you have a big inning.”
An inning later, the
Gamecocks chased Wofford re
liever Andrew Hewitt out after
five runs crossed the plate. USC
sent 16 hitters to the batter’s box
and collected 10 hits — a school
record for most hits in an inning.
Brian Buscher drilled the first of
his two home runs on the night,
a three-run shot that capped the
Gamecocks’ scoring in the second
inning. Four of Carolina’s 10 hits
were doubles from Buscher,
Landon Powell, Triplett and
Parks, and all were hit in consec
utive at-bats.
Triplett went a perfect 4-for-4
for USC, driving in three runs and
scoring three himself. Harris,
Buscher and Michael Campbell
each had .a three-hit day for
Carolina, with Buscher knocking
in six runs. Powell, Parks and
Sadry Cafe all had multi-hit per
formances as well.
“It’s a funny thing,” said
Triplett, who also had four hits in
Sunday’s games. “In baseball, you
hit the ball hard sometimes, and
you hit it right at ’em, and some
times you’ll hit (the ball) over into
the infield and it goes in. So, you
just got to hit the ball when you
see it.”
USC’s bats quieted down
through the remainder of the
game, but there was still some
power left in the bank. Campbell
hit a two-run home run, his third
of the season, in the third inning.
But Keith Sturkie entered the
game for Wofford after the home
run and shut the Gamecocks down
for the most part through three in
nings of work.
Carolina added a solo home run
by Buscher in the fourth inning,
a two-run home run by Demetric
Smith in the fifth inning and an
RBI double by Matt Riddle in the
sixth inning to finish the scoring.
With the recent wet spell, USC
was fortunate to see some live
pitching for the first time in a
while, which Tanner thought
helped his team.
“We feel better for ourselves of
fensively. I think some of our guys
got a little confidence back,” he
said. “I think that (the weather’s)
taking a toll on a lot of teams in
PIOXSHIPS
TITLES
r JK* I . .. I .. m , ..ii
FILE PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK
Landon Powell connects with a pitch during a game against Arkansas. Powell went 2-for-4 with a
double, three runs scored and two RBIs in the Gamecocks’ 29-4 blowout of Wofford.
this state. We’re not getting time
on the field right now; we’re work
ing in the cages trying to find any
place we can to try and swing the
bats.”
Wofford managed to come up
with four runs off Gamecock re
liever Forrest Beverly in the third
i
inning. Scott Holloway and Blake
Timanus both hit two-run dou
bles off Beverly, who surrendered
four runs on three hits in two in
nings.
Carolina will need to keep its
bats warm this weekend when the
Gamecocks travel to Knoxville for
a three-game series with the
Tennessee Volunteers. Friday’s
and Saturday’s games will begin
at 7 p.m., and Sunday’s contest
will begin at 2 p.m.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
- ,
Gamecocks to travel
to NCAA Tournament
Chattanooga
vs. No. 16 USC
12:10 p.m. Sunday
Bryce Jordan Center
University Park, Pa.
BY BRAD SENKIW
THE GAMECOCK
March Madness begins for the
16th-ranked USC women’s bas
ketball team Sunday when it
takes on the Chattanooga
Moccasins in the first round of
the NCAA Tournament in
University Park, Pa. The
Gamecocks (22-7) are a fifth-seed
in the Midwest Region, while
Chattanooga, winner of the
Southern Conference Tourna
ment, received a 12th-seed.
USC head coach Susan
Walvius thinks last year’s Elite
Eight run will carry over into
this season's tournament.
“Our team has been to the
NCAA Tournament before, and
we’ll have to take it one game at
the time,”
Walvius
said. “Yet
at the
same time,
they ex
pect suc
cess, and
instead of
wondering
what will
happen
when they
go into the
game, they
know how
good we
are, and
this team
can go far
if we can
stay
healthy
and stay
out of foul
trouble.”
FILE PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK
The Cristina Ciocan, center, will help lead Carolina in
Mocs (26-4) its first-round NCAA Tournament game against
are sport- the Chattanooga Moccasins on Sunday.
ing a nine
game winning streak after de
feating Georgia Southern 66-52 in
the tournament finals.
Chattanooga also knocked off
Furman 65-53 and College, of
Charleston 75-49.
The Mocs have no players who
average double figures in scor
♦ BASKETBALL, SEE PAGE 11
S.C. coaches, sports officials
seek ways to cope with war
BY PETE IACOBELLI
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
It happened nearly every time
South Carolina women’s basket
ball coach Susan Walvius
stepped in a taxi during her
European recruiting trip last
week.
“What are your thoughts on
the war?” the cabbies would ask.
“No comment” was her usual
reply, she said Thursday.
Walvius made stops in
Croatia, Sweden and the Czech
Republic and heard firsthand
how people overseas were
against U.S. bombs falling on
Iraq.
But with war engaged,
Walvius, other coaches and offi
cials at South Carolina sporting
events will look at coping mea
sures big and small — be it a dis
cussion of world events among
South Carolina football players
with coach Lou Holtz or addi
tional water pa
trols off the
Daniel Island
coast for the ten
nis tournament in
Charleston next
month.
Walvius also
will talk to her
team about world Holtz
events as they
prepare to play Chattanooga on
Sunday in the NCAA women’s
basketball tournament.
“There certainly is an atti
tude in the places that I visited
toward peace, and Americans
want peace,” Walvius says.
“And that ultimately is what
we’re fighting for: freedom and
peace.”
Holtz said he’ll discuss the
war with his team when they
meet Friday to open spring prac
tice.
“President Bush says he’s
prayed on the decision. That may
alarm a lot of people, but it makes
me feel comfortable,” Holtz said
this week.
Other Palmetto State events,
preparing for the world’s focus
in April — the WTA Tour’s
Family Circle Cup and the PGA
Tour’s Heritage Classic — are
tightening security measures al
ready well-honed after the ter
rorist attacks of Sept. 11,2001.
Heritage Classic tournament
director Steve Wilmot said
Thursday that protections put in
place for the 2002 event, includ
ing bag searches and bans on
♦ SPORTS, SEE PAGE 11
condo aims high in
baseball, academics
«
Senior pitcher has made a major impression for USC
BY BRAD SENKIW
THE GAMECOCK
USC pitcher Steve Bondurant
speaks of last season’s run to the
finals of the College World Series
with a smile on his face and gleam
in his eye.
“It was a great experience,”
Bondurant said. “It was un
believable.” ^fk
For the Gamecocks to
return to that place and
have a chance to win, ■
Bondurant. a fifth-year
senior, must play an im
portant role in his team’s
maturation this season.
“I’m going to have to
be one of the main guys ■ ^
to lead these young H
guys,” he said. “We have
a lot of great young pitch- Vj
ers, and I must be the guy
to show them what to do
and help them deal with
pressure situations.”
Bondurant thinks it
takes more than just his
ability on the mound to get UPM
to the young pitching staff.
“I’ve got to show by ex
ample, but I also need to tell '*
these guys what to expect com
ing into the (SEC) season,”
Bondurant said.
Luckily for Bondurant and the
uaroxxxia uaseDail team, xxie
younger players are listening.
“These guys are definitely re
sponsive. Rico Bravo is another
guy that has been here for four or
five years. We all come together
and talk to them as a group as well
as individually,” he said.
Not only is Bondurant leading
on the field, but his performance
in the classroom has been un
matched. He is a three-year SEC
Academic Honor Roll recipient
and graduated in 2002 with a de
gree in marketing and manage
ment. Bondurant is continuing his
education as he works on a mas
ter’s degree in human resources.
USC head coach Ray Tanner is
a firm believer in what Bondurant
has done.
“He’s a great student, he’s in
graduate school, and I’m proud of
what Steven Bondurant means to
this program. He’s an inspiration
to the other guys on the team,”
Tanner said.
In a time when many athletes
leagues,
Bondurant
shows that a
true student
athlete cannot
rely on
promises of
fortunes in
the profes
Gamecock hurler
Steven
Bondurant, a
three-time SEC
Honor Roll
recipient, has a
degree in
marketing and
management. He
Is working
towards a
master’s degree 4
in human
resources.
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE "
GAMECOCK
are skip- sional area,
ping * “I’ve talked to a lot of pro teams,
school for and, hopefully, I can get drafted or
the pros get picked up in free agency,”
or using Bondurant said. “That would be
college as my ultimate dream. If it doesn’t
a stepping- come true, I already have my de
stone for the gree, and I’m working on my mas
big ter’stofallbackon.”
Not only does bondurant Know a
lot about pitching, but he also un
derstands how pro sports work and
that the emphasis must be on tak
^ ing care of business no w and
letting the future happen.
“You cannot worry
about getting drafted,”
Bondurant said. “It is
a business, as well,
and they can tell you
anything they want,
but you just have no
clue. You just have to go
out there and have
fun.”
If a pro career doesn’t work out
for Bondurant, he will look to
use his degree to follow oth
er dreams.
“I want to get involved in
sports marketing, kind of ad
fvertising and marketing for
professional teams,”
Bondurant said. “That would
be something interesting, get
ting into the marketing side of
sports.”
Bonaurant, a native oi
Matthews, N.C., didn’t dream of
making USC the home of his col
lege baseball career until his final
year of high school. Being that his
father was a graduate of the
University of North Carolina,
Bondurant pursued the opportu
nity to play for his instate school.
“I was looking at North
Carolina, and my senior year,
fc they had a coaching change
so the recruiting kind of
■P stopped on that side of it,”
10 he said.
Unce Bondurant began
talking with USC, he found out
what made him want to be part of
this school.
“I loved the coaches,” Bondurant
said. “I talked to Coach Meyers, the
pitching coach, and we got along
great. The main thing was the con
ference and the coaches.”
Bondurant’s career began
slowly. It took him several
♦ BONDURANT, SEE PAGE 11