The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 03, 2004, Page 13, Image 13
Fifth-ranked Gamecocks get mid
week tune up with Paladins before
weekend series with Clemson
BY GREG ROBERTS
Til K (iAMBCOCK
The No. 5 USC baseball team
^(9-0) takes on Furman tonight at
^hom'e; the Paladins are on their
first away game this spring after
splitting a double-header with
Miami of Ohio last weekend.
Furman, 2-6 on the season,
lost 8-1 in the opener Saturday
afternoon and then again 6-4 on
Sunday. The Paladins, howev
er, squeezed a win in between
the two losses by beating a
tough Miami of Ohio team 4-1 in
the nightcap late on Saturday..
The majority of Furman’s
pitching comes from three play
ers: David Mitchell, Kyle Funk
and Sam Perry.
Mitchell leads the team in
strikeouts with eight but has
given up a team-high 21 hits and
11 earned runs. Mitchell has the
liighest ERA on the team at 6.46.
HKyle Funk brings a team-low
^i.66 ERA and is close behind
Mitchell in hits with 16 and
overall earned runs with eight.
Mitchell and Funk are the
only two with more then nine in
nings pitched all season, while
Perry has only pitched nine in
nings and has a 6.00 ERA, giving
up almost as many hits as his
counterparts in fewer innings.
Overall, Furman’s opponents’
batting average this season has
been decent at .289. The
Gamecock lineup will be looking
to do some damage against this
relatively weak pitching.
Furman pitching has also given
up nine home runs, another good
sign that one of the best offens
es in the nation should hit some
deep shots tonight.
Matt Campbell pitched a close
to flawless game this past
Sunday, striking out seven of the
first 10 batters he faced. Carolina
hopes its pitching dominance
can continue, as the highest bat
ting average from the Furman
lineup comes from Andrew
Greene at .333.
Greene also holds the second
highest strikeout total for
Furman with seven, trailing
only Steve Hildreth, who had 10.
So far this spring, opponents
have totaled 52 strikeouts versus
Furman’s 33, a seemingly low
number considering they have
already played eight games.
The Paladins’ only two home
runs come from A.J. Davidiuk
and Dominic Franchini.
Furman, however, has been
getting consistent hitting from
Matt Betsill who leads the team
with five RBIs this season.
Franchini, responsible for one of
Furman’s two home runs this
season, is second on the team in
RBIs with four.
The Gamecocks should hope
to cause problems for their
small instate opponents.
Carolina’s lineup has been hit
ting well recently, especially
catcher Landon Powell, who af
ter knocking in four RBIs
against Duquesne, hit a line
drive shot over the left field
fence on Sunday that was ruled
foul.
USC hopes to move on from a
Furman victory to the in-state
opponent Gamecocks love beat
ing. Carolina takes on Clemson
this upcoming weekend.
First pitch against the
Paladins is at 5 p.m. at Sarge Frye
Field.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu
SEC.News.and. Notes
SEC names Winston
player of the week
For the second consecutive
week, the SEC has named
Alabama sophomore forward
Kennedy Winston its player of
the week. Last Tuesday,
Winston helped the Crimson
Tide beat the Auburn Tigers at
Auburn for the first time since
1996. Winston had 27 points
against the Tide’s arch-rival.
Division contests
decide SEC results
Even though the division
champions have already been
crowned for the season, division
races are far from over in the
SEC.
I
Kentucky clinched the SEC
East with a win over LSU on
Sunday, but the first spot in that
division is the only spot that has
been determined. Only two
games separate second-place
Florida with last-place Tennessee
in the standings, and the East will
battle within itself for SEC
Tournament positioning.
On Wednesday, Florida will
look to redeem itself against the
Georgia Bulldogs who beat the
Gators earlier in the year;
Kentucky will try to sweep USC
in Columbia, and Vanderbilt
will try to keep its NCAA tour
nament chances alive at home
versus Tennessee.
On Saturday, USC will travel to
Tennessee where the Vols are 6-1
in conference; and Vanderbilt will
travel to Georgia where both
/
teams will try to keep their bubble
from bursting. The East will con
clude its play on Sunday when
.Florida travels to Lexington to
take on the Wildcats.
The West also has a lot to de
cide on in its intra-division match
ups this week. Alabama and LSU
are in a two-team race for second,
while the bottom four teams are
all tied and will fight for the
fourth through sixth spots.
Division champion
Mississippi State will play host
to Auburn on Tuesday on ESPN;
LSU will travel to Ole Miss on
Wednesday when Arkansas
plays host to Alabama.
On Saturday, Mississippi
State will look to avenge its loss
to Alabama in Tuscaloosa; Ole
Miss will play host Arkansas;.
and LSU will travel to Auburn.
Tourney
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12
Georgia contest. Florida (18-9,8-6)
seems to have Georgia’s number
this season, beating the nation
ally-ranked team by 10, twice.
Florida has also lost to the
Gamecocks in two out of the last
three years.
No. 19 Auburn will play against
the winner of the Kentucky
Vanderbilt game. The third-seeded
Tigers have lost to Vandy twice
this season. In 1997, Auburn won
the SEC women’s tournament as
the ninth seed, becoming the low
est-seeded SEC tournament cham
pion ever.
There have been four different
tournament champions in the last
four years. This has happened
twice before, from 1980-1983 and
from 1990-1993. There has never
been a string of five different SEC
tournament champions; Georgia
ended the first streak in 1984, and
Tennessee ended the second in
1994.
Fox Sports Net South is televis
ing the first two rounds of the
semifinals. ESPN2 will show the
championship game at 3 p.m. on
Sunday, March 7.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu
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If you can beat the editors, you'll win a free Gamecock T-shirt Send your picks to
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reader of the week.
This week’s games:
Hartford at Northeastern
North Carolina A&T at S.C. State
22 Memphis at 13 Cincinnati
^ 16 N.C. State at 11 Wake Forest
11 North Carolina at 3 Duke
Vanderbilt at Georgia
LSU at Aubum
Arkansas at Ole Miss
5 Miss. State at Alabama
USC at Tennessee
♦ FOR TIE-BREAKING PURPOSES, PLEASE INCLUDE TOUR SCORE FOR THE USC-UK GAME. AND DONT FORGET YOUR NAME.
Briefly
Senior night honors
5 players at game
The Student Gamecock Club is
attempting to involve the student
| body in the senior night cere
I monies tonight. Each student sec
^uon will represent one of the five
VSC seniors by wearing a T-shirt
with the jersey of a senior on the
front and back. One section each
will be assigned for seniors Mike
Boynton, Kerbrell Brown,
Sheldon Everett, Ivan Howell and
Rolando Howell.
Tip off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
so students should arrive around 7
p m. The event is sponsored by the
Student Gamecock Club and
Jewelry Warehouse.
Women’s track team
ranked 9th in country
The women's track and field
^am moved up to ninth in the
j^^untry this week after a fifth
place finish at the SEC Indoor
Championships last weekend.
The women’s 4x400 relay team is
ranked second nationally after
breaking a school record.
Individually for the women, the
I best ranked athlete is Chelsea
nmond at second in the pen
ilon rankings, rising from
th in last week’s poll. In the 200
ter rankings, Erica Whipple
red from ninth to fourth,
.ashinda Demus continues to
•ress in the 200-meter rankings,
ding in the fourth spot, while
phanie Smith ranks seventh in
t event. Also ranked in the top
nationally is Ronnetta
xander who is eighth in the 60
ter hurdles.
Phe men’s team is now ranked
h nationally after a seventh
ce finish in the SEC Indoor
Championships. The men’s 4x400
relay team is ranked 11th nation
ally.
In the men’s heptathlon rank
ings, Fred Townsend is ranked
third, four spots better than last
week after his runner-up finish
last weekend.
Ranking fourth in the 200-me
ter and long jump competitions re
spectively are Rodney Martin Jr.
and Tony Allmond. Both athletes
improved by one spot from last
week.
» 1
Men’s
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12
lowed no open looks, and
Kerbrell Brown’s desperation
heave hit the backboard and
clanged out of bounds, seal
ing Wildcat head coach
Tubby Smith’s 100th career
SEC win.
To beat the Wildcats this
time around, USC will need to
rely heavily on its defense.
Without Rolando Howell, the
Gamecocks will have to revert
back to the quick, fly-to-the
ball style of defense they
played earlier this season and
hope to create some
turnovers.
The Gamecocks will have to
find a way to rebound against
Kentucky’s giant post men
who destroyed USC on the
glass last time with a 41-26 re
bounding advantage.
Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.
Wednesday at the Colonial
Center.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu
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