The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 18, 2004, Page 13, Image 13
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!
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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.
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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
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