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SEC.News.and, Notes Pearce named top ballplayer for week Playing in his first series for USC, junior college transfer Steve Pearce has been named the SEC Baseball Player of the Week. Pearce hit for a total bat ting average of .800 against Charleston Southern this week end, including three home runs, one of which was a grand slam, and a seven-RBI game on Saturday. Pearce went 5-for-6 on Saturday and 3-for-3 on Sunday, a game in which he also hit a home run. Florida pitcher Justin Hoyman was named the SEC’s Pitcher of the Week after pitch ing seven shutout innings on Friday against the No. 2 Miami Hurricanes. Hoyman gave up just one hit and struck out sev en batters in his outing, includ ing a stretch in which he retired 12 batters in a row. SEC regular season begins to wind down The SEC will begin to wind down the regular season this week. On Wednesday, Ole Miss and Tennessee will play to fight for their NCAA Tournament lives in Knoxville, Tenn.; Vanderbilt and Alabama will do the same in Tuscaloosa, Ala.; No. 9 Kentucky will travel to Arkansas; and red-hot LSU will play host to rival Auburn. On Saturday, Kentucky con tinues the road trip at Auburn; Tennessee goes to Georgia; Arkansas plays host to USC; SEC-leading Mississippi State plays host to Alabama at 4 p.m. on CBS; LSU goes to Vanderbilt; and Florida will look to fight back into the top 25 at Ole Miss at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. Interested in taking The Gamecock Sports Challengp? If you can beat the editors, you’ll win a free Gamecock T-shirt. Send your picks to gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu by 2 p.m. We’ll select ONE person’s picks, at random, to be our reader of the week. This week’s games: Vermont at New Hampshire 10 Louisville at 17 Cincinnati 11 Texas at Oklahoma Virginia at Clemson 9 Kentucky at Auburn Tennessee at Georgia 24 LSU at Vanderbilt Florida at Ole Miss Alabama at 4 Miss. St. 25 USC at Arkansas • FOR TIE-BREAKING PURPOSES, PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR SCORE FOR THE USC-ARKANSAS GAME. AND DON'T FORGET YOUR NAME! _ «... -; : ; _x_:i ~~ ~ j—-———-—— Briefly USC Equestrian team second in ISHA show The USC equestrian team post ed a strong showing at an Intercollegiate Horse Show Association event in Augusta, Ga. The Gamecocks finished second to Berry College. Also competing in the event were Lander University, Clemson University and North Georgia College. This was the first IHSA event for USC in the spring season. Named Reserve High Point Rider for Sunday’s competition was freshman Sarah Lowe who finished first in open flat and open fences. Winning Saturday’s open fences | was sophomore Chelsea Koomick. Koomick also won Sunday’s open flat. Junior Tara Brothers also had a good weekend, leading USC in open fences on both Saturday and Sunday. The equestrian team will return to action next Saturday when they play host to the Auburn Tigers. The competition will begin at 10 a.m. at Irish Oaks Equestrian Centre in the Ascot subdivision in Irmo. we a CAN * HELP! CALL NOW for a FREE SCREENING! No additional studying or reading required. Partners in Achievement _ 803-798-3171 STERLING UMIVERSITY NEED EXTRA GASH?!? I Sign a Lease within 24 hrs from you first visit and receive $100 •Some Restriction May Apply. See Management For Details. 215 Spencer Place Cayce, SC www.sterlinghousing.com Rumors hang over rugby team after weekend game forfeiture BY JON TURNER THE GAMECOCK Rumors flew when the USC rug by club team failed to take the field on the second day of the Black Rose Tournament in Statesboro, Ga., last weekend. Posts on the team’s on line message board by the president of the club and the coach indicated that more than one team member had become too drunk the night be fore to play in the morning. President Justin Czerski opened up the discussion at 5:50 p.m. on Sunday, reprimanding himself and his teammates. “I don’t care how hungover ev eryone was this morning, because everyone knew we had games,” he wrote. He said he felt as if he and the other officers had let the team down and apologized to head coach Geoff Mason for the incident. On the phone, however, Czerski . was quick to explain the incident as an unusual and isolated case. “This whole thing has been blown out of proportion,” he said, adding that he had left early in or der to study for two tests on Monday. Czerski said the team was scheduled to play one game on Saturday and up to three games on Sunday. He said several players left early to study, and the offenders were being suspended from play. “We went down there with only about 18 guys, and a couple of them twisted their ankles,” he said, “One or two guys were huri gover, but the reason we left was for our academics.” Mason responded early Tuesday morning. “I like a drink as much as the next bloke,” Mason wrote to his team, “but there needs to be self-dis cipline and a sense of responsibility to your teammates. Few of you . showed that on Sunday.” He said the forfeiture compro mised the team’s integrity. “I am concerned about the im age that this now projects about our team. We do have, or had, a good thing going. Not showing up is a cardinal sin and reflects poor ly on us as individuals, both play ers and coaches.” When Brandon Hudson, a third year member of the team, heard the news, he could barely believe it. “Are you serious?” he asked. He said that if hangovers had resulted in the Sunday forfeits that the team had a big problem. “A lot of times when we go on away games we par ty too much before a game, he said. “It’s happened before, but it hasn’t happened to the point where we have to drop out of a game,” he said. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu i mm — m — --y-- — i s60 off j 112 Silo Court, Columbia, SC 29201 1 1 Move-In Fees!1 I »«<*—»«—»»«■—«_OnwW-fSC , KOSSOMM Mom ; i L-ri7 H /tSSwiinSicek *• ASSttMtv st ' •JJII"* I C&icS-Qns Dm» South \ B I on BMfRd from Stadium ■ about a quarter of a mite p 1 Jm4 803.T79.3a80