Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

14 -. THE GAMECOCK * Monday, February 23,2004 Game.Schedute MEN’S BASKETBALL at Florida, 7 p.m. Wednesday MEN’S AND WOMEN'S SWIMMING in SEC Championships Pnntact 1 ic at Athens, Ga., Wednesday C/UII LaUL. Uo WOMEN’S BASKETBALL at Kentucky, 7 p.m. Thursday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? SOFTBALL vs. Fresno State, noon Friday E-mail us at gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu BASEBALL vs. Duquesne, 3 p.m. Friday . USC.basebail No. 7 Carolina sinks Seahawks BY JONATHAN HILLYARD THE (JA.MECOCK The No. 7 USC baseball team re minded the Gamecock faithful this weekend that it is still top dog, sweeping the University of North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks in a three game series. The 7-4,20 3 and 12-0 wins improved the Gamecocks record to 6-0 for the season.' “I thought we played great baseball all weekend,” USC head coach Ray Tanner said. “We played about as good as we could probably play. I was glad to see that we were so consistent throughout the weekend.” USC-7 UNCW-4 Getting the call from Tanner in. game one of the three-game series was junior pitcher Billy Buckner, who was starting his first game as a Gamecock. Buckner started the game showing the home crowd why he was an All-American at Young Harris College in 2002, as he retired the first nine Seahawk batters in a row. Buckner pitched seven and one-third innings, strik ing out seven batters to record a win in his first start. “(Buckner) almost looked un hittable in the early going,” Tanner said. “He battled hard for us and gave us a chance to win.” At the plate, Carolina continued their early season dominance hit ting three home runs in the contest and racking up 10 hits for the third time in the young season. Juniors Kevin Melillo and Brendan Winn, along with freshman Tommy King, hit home runs for USC. King’s home run was the first of his colle giate career. Melillo and King’s home runs were back to back; marking the second time this sea son USC has hit consecutive ♦ BASEBALL, SEE PAGE 15 Arkansas hands USC biggest loss BY STEPHEN DEMEDIS THE GAMECOCK In its worst outing of the sea son, the No. 25 USC men’s basket ball team (20-6,7-5 SEC) fell to the Arkansas Razorbacks (12-12,4-9) 82-66. It was the most points al lowed by the Gamecocks, whose defense is ranked first in the SEC, in regulation this season. Carolina, hoping to play off an impressive win over Vanderbilt a week ago, came out lethargic. “It was the worst we’ve played all year, but you have to give Arkansas credit,” USC head coach Dave Odom said. “They made us play that way. When you make mistakes early, you have to adjust, and we didn’t.” Arkansas took the lead early and kept it for most of the game, thanks to shooting nearly 50 per cent from the floor. Whenever Carolina came close to evening the score, the Razorbacks would an swer with a three-pointer, or USC’s backcourt would turn the ball over, killing any momentum. Starting guards Mike Boynton and Josh Gonner combined for nine turnovers. Carolina gave the ball up 18 times, resulting in 19 points. Despite a size advantage, the Gamecocks were out-rebounded by the Razorbacks 30-39. Most of Arkansas’s points came off offen sive rebounds and put-backs. Carolina’s two starters in the paint, senior center Rolando Howell and freshman forward Brandon Wallace, combined for fourtotal rebounds. Sophomore Kendrick Davis, in his first start, led the Razorback scorers with 19 points, but it was Ronnie Brewer who sealed the win for Arkansas. The freshman from Fayetteville went 6-of-10 from the floor for 17 points and grabbed five rebounds. Brewer was also a force on defense, forc ing four steals and blocking three shots. “I thought he was a factor in ev ery aspect,” Odom said. “He’s one you have to allow for.” One Carolina highlight was the play of guard Tre Kelley. The freshman from Washington, D.C. scored a team-high 18 points, in cluding three key threes as the Gamecocks tried to mount a come back. A week ago, Kelley posted a then-career high of 16 points. Despite the freshman’s effort off* the bench, the Gamecocks lacked the energy they had in past games. “We looked like a team that had nothing to play for, and they looked like a team that had some thing to play for, everything to play for,” Kelley said. This lack of energy and sloppi ness in play has been characteris tic of the Gamecocks when play ing on one week’s rest, as was the case Saturday. The team is 1-2 af ter a week’s rest with the other loss coming against Temple and the win, a narrow victory over LSUathome. With the loss, Carolina falls two games out of first place be hind Kentucky. And with four games remaining, each against SEC East opponents, time is run ning out for the Gamecocks. While a spot in the NCAA Tournament appears to be a lock, ♦ MEN, SEE PAGE 15 PHOTO BY MARK SCHILLING/THE GAMECOCK Forward Renaldo Balkman plays defense In USC’s loss to Mississippi State on Feb. 11. PHOTO BY MARK SCHILUNG/THE GAMECOCK Outfielder Davy Gregg slides in safely In one of USC’s three games against UNC-Wllmington last weekend. Carolina won the series. Don’t crown Yankees yet Ever since the New York Yankees picked up Alex Rodriguez on Valentine’s Day, the general consensus has seemed to be that the Yankees are already _World Series Champions. Before we start Mlh ftt’T. si2*11® A-Rod’s finger for a World Series ring, let’s think of just a few of RFN CINPI AIR the Obstacles BEN SINCLAIR that stand in pZrtth'year the way of the journalism first Yankee student championship in four years. First of all, teams with super stars always seem to under achieve; look no further than the Seattle Mariners. Their best sea sons in team history were after they dumped Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr. In fact, Rodriguez and Griffey have not been to the playoffs since leav ing Seattle. The Mariners won 91 games in A-Rod’s last season, 116 the year after his departure. Speaking of underachieving, just this summer the Los Angeles Lakers were being crowned me dia champions of the NBA when they acquired Gary Payton and Karl Malone in the off-season to complement the services of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. One alleged rape by Bryant, foot surgery for O’Neal and an injury to Malone, and the Lakers cur rently rest in fifth place in the Western Conference, just one win ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies. I would dare not bet the house on them winning a cham pionship at this point. A similar meltdown could occur with the Yankees. The Yankees are incredibly short of pitching. With just one injury or collapse under the pressure of playing in New York, George Steinbrenner might be trading the naming rights to his next grandchild for a pitcher by midseason. While Mike Mussina and Kevin Brown are capable starters, Brown has had several season-ending injuries over the last four seasons. The Yankees might slug their way to several victories this year, but they have to do it with a pitching staff that includes Javier Vasquez, Jose Contreras and John Lieber. This is not the rotation champi onships are made of. There are some staffs in the National League that command attention as well. The Houston Astros now have Roger Clemens and Andy Petite, half of the Yankees’ pitching staff from last season. As we learned from the Arizona Diamondbacks’ playoff run from 2001 with Schilling and Randy Johnson, it only takes two dominant pitchers to bring home a championship. Clemens and Petite are as capable as any two pitchers in the game. The beloved and cursed Chicago Cubs hope having a staff like Mark Prior, Kerry Wood ♦ SINCLAIR, SEEPAGE 15 Lady Bulldogs stomp Gamecock basketball BY WES WOLFE THE GAMECOCK The USC women’s basketball team (10-15,1-11 SEC) wasn’t able to stop the No. 18 Georgia Lady Bulldogs (17-7,6-5) on Sunday, losing 73-50. Freshman guard Lauren Simms led Carolina in scoring with 12 points and five rebounds, going 4-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Another freshman, forward Iva Sliskovic, led the team in re bounds with nine, while chip ping in eight points and three as sists in 31 minutes of action. Overall, though, the Gamecocks shot horribly from the field, hitting only 34 percent of their shots. The first half was ex ceptionally bad and saw Carolina go 7-of-25 from the field, including O-of-6 from the three-point land. Georgia, on the other hand, put on a command perforimance. Five players, four starters and the first player off the bench, scored in double figures. Three players, center Christi Thomas, guard Alexis Kendrick and cen ter Alexis Pierce, led the Lady Bulldogs with 14 points. Thomas notched a double-double, getting 13 rebounds to go along with the points. She also managed four steals on the afternoon. The Gamecocks put them selves in a hole in the first half, • scoring an anemic 16 points. Carolina’s only lead in the game came at the 17:52 mark in the first half, when Sliskovic hit a jump shot to put USC ahead 4-2. The Gamecocks’ last chance against the Bulldogs occurred when sophomore forward Olga Gritsaeva tied USC with Georgia at 10-10. Following her free throws, UGA outscored USC by 28-6 in a run that closed out the ♦ WOMEN, SEEPAGE 15 Softball grabs 4 wins at home invitational BY JOEL WALLACE THE GAMECOCK The USC women’s softball team (8-0) turned in several im pressive performances over the last weekend during the Gamecock Invitational. In four games, Carolina recorded three shutouts, seven home runs and, most importantly, four wins. USC-5 MTSU-0 USC started off the Gamecock Invitational on Saturday with a bang, and junior Meghan Cornett provided the fireworks. Cornett, Carolina’s first baseman, pillaged the Lady Raiders’ (4-2) pitching staff with a pair of home runs that posted four of the Gamecocks’ runs. The win pushed USC to 5-0 on the season, while Middle Tennessee fell to 2-1. USC’s third baseman Samantha Jennings hit her fourth homer of the season, a solo shot, in the first inning to put the Gamecocks on the board. That was all senior pitcher Stacey Johnson (2-0) would need, as she recorded her second complete game in as many deci sions, giving up two hits and strik ing out six. In'the second inning, Cornett took over, notching her first home run of the season to put the Gamecocks ahead 2-0. With one out and two runners on in the sixth, Cornett connected again, leaving the score 5-0. Her two home runs gave her 12 in her career at Carolina, placing her sixth on the school’s all-time list. USC-4 CofC-0 The Gamecocks didn’t let up against the Cougars (5-2) later that afternoon, recording their fourth shutout this season while climb ing to 6-0. Another pair of Gamecocks tallied home runs, with sophomore catcher Ashley Smith and freshman pinch hitter McKenna Hughes doing the dam age this time around. • Carolina pitcher Aleca Johnson (3-0) hurled a complete game once again while striking out a season high eight batters and scattering four hits. Brittany Shepherd took the loss for the Cougars, giving up four runs on nine hits in six innings. Smith drove in Carolina’s first run in the opening inning with a double. The score remained 1-0 un til Smith slapped her fourth home run of the season to left field, putting the Gamecocks up 2-0 in the fifth. The very next inning, Hughes hit her first career home run as a Gamecock to make the score 3 0. Later on in the sixth inning, USC scored its final run of the game, when shortstop Amber Curtis drove in second baseman Chrissy Schoonmaker with a two out single. USC-11 RU-3 For the first time during this year’s Gamecock Invitational, Carolina’s pitching was less than perfect, but the offense picked up the slack with a lopsided victory over Radford (2-5) on Sunday. Jennings was the hero this time around, hitting a walk-off, three run homer to cap off a six-run fifth inning that sealed the Highlanders’ fate and secured the Gamecocks a spot in the champi onship game. ♦ SOFTBALL, SEE PAGE lfe PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK Shortstop Amber Curtis makes a play at Sunday’s game.