Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Pride of Columbia springs into action BY JIM ROCHE THE GAMECOCK The USC baseball is the pride of Columbia come springtime. The team opened its season by setting major college records in a St. Valentine’s Day massacre over Charleston Southern 38-0. The team just swept UNC Wilmington and improved to 6-0 on the season. Carolina is ranked sixth in the latest National Collegiate Baseball poll has picked up right where it left off last season. After beating CSU in their season opening series 3-2, 38-0 and 3-0, the Gamecocks wrapped up the weekend by setting a school record with 20 hits in Saturday’s win over UNC-Wilmington, sweeping them 7-4, 20-3 and 12-0; im proving to 6-0 on the season. The Gamecocks play host to a round-robin tournament this weekend with home games against Duquesne, Radford and George Mason, but the road ahead looks grimmer. USC plays host to rival Clemson on March 6 and 7, then has a se ries with LSU on March 19,20 and 21. The Gamecocks are led by head coach Ray Tanner, who in his seven seasons (319-135) has a combined winning per centage of .703 and has led Carolina to back-to-back College World Series ap pearances in 2002 and 2003. Four Gamecocks are hitting above .400, including junior infielder Steven Pearce, who is batting .609. Junior out fielder Brendan Winn is batting a team leading .611 with three home runs, nine RBIs and six walks. The team is anchored by senior infielder Bryan Triplett, who has a six-game hitting streak, batting .440 with a team-high five doubles. Carolina is pounding the ball with a combined bat ting average of .409 for the season with 96 hits, 83 runs and 19 home rung in its first six games. On the mound, the Gamecocks have junior pitcher Aaron Rawl, who is 2-0 with an 2.25 ERA in 12 innings pitched. Junior pitcher Billy Buckner won his first game of the year Friday against the Seahawks, 7-4. Buckner has 13 strikeouts in nine and one-third innings pitched. Junior pitcher Chad Blackwell recorded his third save of the year against UNC Wilmington Friday night and has thrown a perfect four innings for USC this year, with nine strikeouts as well. “I’m pleased with the way they have come out of the blocks,” Tanner said. It’s early in the season, but USC looks to be one of the top contenders in the SEC; and with about 50 games to go, it looks to be an exciting season. “Were off a great start; we have a great supporting cast,” Tanner said. So to all the USC fans who have had a long year, it’s baseball season again, and the road to Omaha starts now. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@gwm. sc. edu PHOTO BY MARK SCHILLING/THE GAMECOCK The USC baseball team started off the season undefeated, reeling off-eight wins, including a 38-0 blowout of Charleston Southern on Feb. 14.