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mIf. Senkiw CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 the NCAA, Carolina will need more than Brian Buscher bring ing in nuns. Even though it has lost to some questionable oppo nents, the baseball team is still on tops in the SEC Eastern Division, gaining it a B. ♦ Along the same lines as a team still playing, the USC softball team is ending its season and preparing for the SEC Tournament. The team has played well with one veteran and one freshman leading the charge at pitcher. If things go well, head coach Joyce Compton’s tough schedule — inside and out of the SEC — will prepare her team for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. I like the way the team has handled itself so far, so it gets a B heading into postsea son. ♦ Now for a quick recap of the unknown teams that shined for USC: The men’s swimming and diving team finished 20th in the nation this year, giving it its third fnn Oil ♦'onlrinfT in fnnr* ttqor*c On the women’s side, the team placed - 24th, with tjiree members bring ing home All-American honors, giving the men’s and women’s squads an A. The volleyball team earned a B+ with a trip to the sec ond round of the NCAA Tournament. Men’s tennis is still alive and is looking for a good SEC-Tournament run, earning it a B. The women’s golf team fin ished fourth in the SEC Tournament, with Kristy McPherson finishing third. With the controversy that surrounded her late in the season, the team gets a B+ with the NCAAs still to go. Finally, track and field has once again dominated, with events still remaining on the sea son. With a strong performance on outdoor and indoor, the men’s and women’s teams receive an A. So, there’s the first Senkiw’s USC Sports Report Card, brought to you by me. In case you are won dering, my cumulative GPA for these Carolina athletic teams is a 3.1. Senkiw is a third-year print journalism student. Rebels rise up, take two from Carolina Gamecocks lose a crucial SEC - road series with a pair of defeats at Mississippi BY NICK YOUNG THE GAMECOCK The USC men’s baseball team traveled west for a three-game SEC series at Ole Miss this week end at Swayze Field in Oxford, Miss. The Rebels (27-18,12-9 SEC) came into the weekend on a bit of a hot streak, having won four of their past six games. Carolina (28-17,9-10) came into the series looking to stay above .500 in the SEC. But the Gamecocks couldn’t finish over .500; they lost two games to the Rebels by scores of 6-5 and 2-0. USC salvaged a win on Saturday with a 13-2 thrashing of Ole Miss. Friday: Miss. 6 - USC 5 In the first game, the Gamecocks got off to a fast start by scoring four times during the first two innings. The first inning started off with four consecutive hits by USC, as Landon Powell and Matt Riddle had back-to-back RBI singles. Michael Campbell started off the second inning with a triple and was batted in by Tim Seaton. Seaton later scored on a Powell sacrifice fly. In the bottom half of the second, _ _ . the Rebels cut the CamPbeM lead to one with an RBI groundout by Justin Donovan and a two-run RBI sin gle by Seth Smith. The Rebels finally took the lead in the seventh inning with a two-out RBI single by Charlie Waite. The next inning, they added the game-winning run when Stephen Head sent a sacri fice fly to deep left. Carolina’s ninth-inning come back fell short when Seaton hit into a bases-loaded double play and Demetric Smith popped out to end the game. Saturday: USC 13 - Miss. 2 The Gamecocks came into the second game of the series looking to avenge their previous loss. USC started the game off with a bang, but unlike the match be fore, Carolina never let the Rebels come back, and it took a 13-2 win. The Gamecocks had four hits in the first inning, including a three-run homer by Kevin Melillo, as they took a 4-0 lead. The Rebels answered back in the next two innings with two runs scored, but the Gamecocks notched eight unanswered runs to pull away from Ole Miss. David Marchbanks picked up the win to better his record to 10 2. He gave up only two runs on 12 Mississippi hits. Brian Buscher and Bryan Triplett had four hits each to lead the way for Carolina, and Justin Harris also contributed three hits for USC. Melillo and Triplett led all batters with four RBIs apiece. Sunday: Miss. 2 - USCO USC and Ole Miss came out on Sunday to face off in the rubber game of the series. Head, a fresh man left-hander, took the mound for Ole Miss, and senior Chris Hernandez started the game for Carolina. Head was making only his sec ond start of the year, and fin ished in marvelous fashion with a complete-game, two-hit shutout. The win improved his record to 3-1 and dropped Hernandez’s to 2-4. Hernandez held the Rebels hit less through the first four in nings, but in the sixth inning, Jonathan Swearingen hit his fifth home run of the season to put Ole Miss ahead 1-0. In the eighth inning, Mississippi loaded the bases for Chad Sterbens, who hit a line drive that bounced off the glove of a diving Buscher. Harris and Melillo had the only hits for the Gamecocks. The loss dropped USC a half game behind Florida for second place in the SEC Eastern Division. The Gamecocks’ next game is Wednesday against Wofford in Spartanburg. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports (cvhotmail.com Draft CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 nity to play in the WNBA. It’s something that I’ve dreamed about,” Penn said. “It’s great TAKE AN (f INSIDE LOOK AT MORE U USC ATHLETES DRAFTED THIS WEEKEND that I will be able to play in Charlotte so my family and friends in South Carolina and Georgia will be able to watch me play.” Ujhelyi was also selected in the WNBA draft, but she will be a lot farther from USC; she was picked 16th overall by the Phoenix Mercury. Ujhelyi was third in scoring for the Gamecocks, with 11.7 points per game, and led the SEC in re bounds, with 9.3 per contest. She, too, is ready to start a new ca reer. “I’m excited about playing in the WNBA and going to Phoenix,” Ujhelyi said. “I wasn’t really nervous before the draft today. I had done my part, and now it was up to the WNBA coaches to evaluate me.” Penn and Ujhelyi are the third and fourth Gamecocks to be cho sen in the history of the WNBA draft. They will report to their training camps Thursday. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com NAME: Andrew Pinnock MAJOR: African-American studies POSITION: Fullback DRAFTED BY: San Diego, fspwpnth rnunri 229th overall 2002: Ran for 563 yards on 124 attempts and scored five touchdowns. Caught 16 passes for 106 yards. - r NAME: Langston Moore MAJOR: Sports and entertainment management POSITION: Nose tackle DRAFTED BY: Cincinnati. Sixth round, 174th overall 2002: Recorded 60 tackles, including three sacks. Forced three fumbles and had one interception in 12 games. - NAME: Petra Ujhelyi MAJOR: Business POSITION: Center DRAFTED BY: Phoenix, Second round, 16th overall 2002-2003: Led the SEC with 9.3 rebounds per game and 11 double-doubles. Scored 11.9 points per game. - Did you know that you can reduce the interest rate on your student loans and save thousands of dollars by consolidating your student loans after graduation? 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Note however, that you can only consolidate once and consolidation can affect certain deferment and cancellation benefits associated with loans. Are you about to Graduate? Act now by registering with the Student Loan Consolidation Program (SLCP). It is free and involves no uuugauon. oLtr will aimpiy proviuc you with information fon what consolidation is all about and contact you after graduation to remind you of the opportunity to reduce your interest rate by consolidating early. For more information, call a loan counselor at 1-866-311-8076 or dick on our ad at www.dailygamecock.com to see if you qualify for these savings While visiting the paper online, be sure and sign up for the email edition. It's the best way to stay informed beyond graduation, and it's free. ♦ * * STUDENT LOAN CONSOLIDATION PROGRAM www.slcp.com •«tr ft p*