The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 11, 2003, Page 10, Image 10
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