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10 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday. June 11. 2003 T^r\T^rT\C^ THIS WEEK IN USC SPORTS HISTORY CONTACT US I /j | L) ' I ■ 1975: Carolina wins four out of five games at the College E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com I W II I LYj World Series before losing title game to Texas 5 -1. USC sweeps UNC to advance USC’s baseball team will go to Omaha for College World Series BY BEN SINCLAIR THE GAMECOCK North Carolina head coach Mike Fox de scribed facing USC for the second-consec utive season in Columbia as “deja vu.” For the second straight year, _ USC ended UNC’s season by sweep ing the Tar Heels in the NCAA Super Regional this past weekend. 'With the series win, the Gamecocks (44 20) have earned their second consec utive trip to Omaha for the College World Series. USC was led by catcher Landon Powell, who contin ued his postseason hot-streak by go ing 5-for-8 in two games, belting three home runs and driving in sev en runs. The Gamecocks once again received quality pitching from David Marchbanks and Steven Bondurant. GAME 1: USC5-UNC4 USC rallied from a sluggish start to defeat North Carolina 5-4 in the opening game of the series. The Gamecocks were sparked by Powell, who went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, and Michael Campbell’s 2-for 4 performance and two RBIs. The Gamecocks led 2-1 in the first inning, tnanKS to a two-run nome run by Powell. The Tar Heels (42-23] roughed up Marchbanks for three runs in the second inning to pul] ahpaH 4-9. The Gamecocks cut the lead to 4-3 in the third inning when Powell singled to score Justin Harris from third base. The Gamecocks went ahead for good in the fourth when Campbell’s single brought home Kevin Melillo and Nick Gardiner. With USC leading 5-4 in the top of the fifth inning and a runner in scoring position for the Tar Heels, Michael Campbell ran down an extra-base hit by Wes Moyer that might tie the game. Campbell relayed the ball to PHOTO BY COREY GARRIOTT/THE GAMECOCK Brian Buscher celebrates with his teammates after slamming one of his two home runs In Saturday’s series-clinching win over UNC. Carolina takes on Stanford at 2 p.m. Friday in Omaha. cates. The three Gamecock hitters went a com bined ll-for-16 with 10 RBI’s and nine runs scored, as Powell and Buscher each hit a pair of home runs. USC head coach Ray Tanner had plenty of praise for the three. “I’m happy to be the hitting coach to day,” Tanner said. “Those guys (Buscher, Powell, and Harris) stepped up today; they came through in a big, big way, and you _ can’t say enough good things about them. The team also could not say enough good things about the fans that watched the series. “It helps when you have 7,000 peo ple yelling for you,” Buscher said. “It gives you a feeling that you cannot explain.” Powell’s three-run shot in the third inning gave USC a 4-2 lead, but UNC took advantage of two Gamecock er rors in the fourth to make it a one run game. Buscher’s two-run home run in the seventh capped a three-run inning and pushed the dp. meconks load to 7-3. r&rrammismm Aaron Rawl got USC out of two poten tial disasters late in the game. In the sev enth inning, Rawl re lieved Bondurant (7-3) with the bases loaded, Rawl two outs and the tying run at bat. Rawl got Moyer to line out to third base to end the inning. Rawl then walked three-consecu tive batters with one out in the eighth inning, but Sean Farrell grounded into a double play to get the LramecocKS out oi me jam. USC followed with six runs in the ninth inning to put the game away when Buscher and Powell hit back to-back home runs. Rawl and Matt Marchbanks recovered and allowed just three hits and no runs the rest of the way before being replaced in the seventh inning by Chris Hernandez, who threw three in nings of one-hit ball for his second save of the season. “Chris was unbelievable today,” Marchbanks said. “He came in and threw strikes and did his job.” Harris, who gunned down Chris Iannetta at home plate. Carolina held on to take the first game of the Super Regional. GAME2: USC 14-UNC4 Brian Buscher, Powell, and Harris led a Gamecock assault, exploding for 14 nms on 21 hits as USC cruised past UNC 14-4 in a game much closer than the final score indi Campbell shut UNC out in the ninth for the victory and a trip to Omaha. The Gamecocks, who have won 17 of its past 22 games, take on the Stanford Cardinal at 2 p.m. in the first game of the double-elimination tournament. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com Patience moves USC into Omaha BRAD SENKIW GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM Ray Tanner deserves credit for return to CWS. Congratulations are in order for the USC baseball team, not only because they made the College World Series, but because they did it without a strong team. The Gamecocks lost so many parts to last season’s national runner up squad that two months ago it looked as though any postseason trip was a stretch. All I heard through March and April was that the team couldn’t hit and pitching was weak. I admit I wrote this team off around the end of March when I realized they couldn’t score. I was hop ing T-ball would be allowed in college baseball just so the Gamecocks could bring a few guys across home plate. I also wondered what had happened to Matt Campbell and Aaron Rawl. Without the suprise pitching perfor mances from the two youngsters in last season’s CWS, Carolina would have gone home early. This year, Campbell was sitting in the bullpen, and Rawl was slammine his hand into walls. Somewhere along the way, this squad found the one aspect for post season success in college baseball: pa tience. Carolina never got rattled amid fans’ complaints. Ray Tanner contin ued coaching like he normally would, which shows how incredible he real ly is. Tanner didn’t hang his head ♦ PATIENCE, SEE PAGE 11