The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 05, 2004, Page 9, Image 9
Softball opens SEC schedule
BY JOEL WALLACE
THE GAMECOCK
The USC softball team will
square off against the Mississippi
State Bulldogs in Starkville, Miss,
this weekend to open its SEC
schedule. ,
The Gamecocks are coming off
a weekend performance at the
Lead-Off Classic in Columbus, Ga.
that was more impressive than
their 3-2 record would indicate.
USC lost the opening game to No.
15 Fresno State before rebounding
to defeat Princeton, No. 11
Michigan and No. 20 Arizona
^tate. USC lost to No. 6 Florida
State 3-1 in extra innings.
The Gamecocks’ performance
earned them a boost in the rank
ings to place them in a tie with
Fresno State at 15th. USC has been
ranked in every NFCA poll this
season while compiling an im
pressive 11-2 record.
The Bulldogs enter the game
with a record of 16-6 and are cur
rently undefeated at home, with
12 victories to their credit.
Mississippi State lost to the only
ranked opponent the team has
played this year, while USC car
ries a 2-2 record against top 25
teams. The Bulldogs finished last
season with a 34-30 record and a
13-16 record against SEC oppo
nents, leaving them fourth place
in the SEC West.
Mississippi State is not to be
underestimated, however, as head
coach Jay Miller took his team to
their third NCAA Tournament in
the last four years.
“I want to compete for a
Southeastern Conference title," he
told his team at his first meeting
with them. “I want to be able to be
in a position to where we get a bid
for the NCAA Tournament and
then, hopefully, be able to qualify
for the Women’s College World
Series. Those are pretty lofty
goals, but if you don’t set goals
high, you’re never going to
achieve great' things."
The Bulldogs also have some
thing to be excited about, as they
have the only underclassman to
be named SEC Softball Athlete of
the Year—Iyhia McMichael.
McMichael tallied a .403 batting
average in 186 at-bats with 63 runs
on 75 hits, including 33 extra-base
hits and 63 RBI while drawing 38
walks. And don’t think just be
cause she puts up insane offensive
stats that she can’t play defense or
run. She was 36-of-37 on stolen
base attempts and finished the sea
son with a flawless 1.000 fielding
percentage.
The Gamecocks have a tough
SEC schedule this year, especial
ly with five other teams currently
ranked in the top 25. Of those
teams, USC will play four of them
on the road, with the lone home
series coming against current de
fending SEC Champion Georgia.
The only conference with more
teams in the top 25 is the PAC-10,
which boasts eight, including No.
1 UCLA and No. 2 Arizona, both of
which remain undefeated.
The first pitch of a doublehead
er Saturday will be at noon, with
the second game scheduled for 2
p.m. Sunday’s game against the
Bulldogs is set for 12:30 p.m. The
Gamecocks’ next SEC series will
be on the road against LSU before
returning home to face Arkansas.
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gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu
Men’s .
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8
V spot in the NCAA tournament.
If selected, this will be the first
time the Gamecocks have been to
the NCAA tournament since 1998.
After winning only two of their
last seven games, the Gamecocks
beat Georgia last Saturday only to
bow to Kentucky Wednesday.
“We’re coming off a really, re
ally difficult game last night
against Kentucky," USC coach
Dave Odom said. “They made us
look bad in every phase, and
you’ve certainly got to give them
all the credit in the world. I
thought our team would have
played better last night. I’m at a
loss to explain why, except that
Kentucky was very, very good.
What we saw last night here at
our place was an excellent team
flaying at a very high level.
: ou’ve got to give Kentucky cred
it for that."
After losing a heartbreaker to
Vanderbilt, 61-58, and this also be
ing their last game of the regular
season, Tennessee will be ready
for a win. This season for
Tennessee (14-12,6-9 SEC) hasn’t
been ideal. At one point, the team
was on a six-game losing streak.
Still, Tennessee guard Scott
McFadgon and forward Brandon
Crump have been averaging 20
points per game.
If the Gamecocks want to take
this game, they are going to have
to make sure there are no holes
in their defense.
“They offer a number of prob
lems," Odom said. “They’re big in
the post. They can score the ball
on the wings. C.J. Watts is an ex
cellent point guard, and they’re
well-coached as well. So we’ve got
our hands full. But the biggest
problem we’ve got right now is get
ting our team ready to play at its
very best, and then we’ll adjust to
what Tennessee is doing as we go
along." V '
If Saturday’s mAtfchiig is any
thing like the last ilnje tiese twcj
teams met, th^rfCftin'eqOcks
shouldn’t be worried at all.
Back in January USC blew
them out of the water with a final
score of 85-64. The Gamecocks’
defense was as strong as it had
ever been; the league’s top scor
er, Scott McFadgon couldn’t even
break them. Before that night
McFadgon averaged 19.9 points a
game, that night he only scored
seven.
“We are excited and eager for
this game against South
Carolina," Tennessee head coach
Buzz Peterson said. “It’s a very
good team that has had a tremen
dous season. We know they will
come in here defending and will
do a great job on the defensive
end."
Although the Gamecock de
fense was probably at its best, the
offense is where they shined the
brightest, hitting an amazing 63.3
percent of their field goals.
Guard Josh Conner also scored
his career high of 24 points that
same-night.
iTfpbff for the game is at 1 p.m.
on Saturday and will be broadcast
on Jefferson-Pilot Sports.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu
Baseball
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8
in batting average with .392, slug
ging percentage with .705, RBIs
with 120, doubles with 35 and
home runs with 25 while ranking
only seventh in plate appear
ances.
Returning starters Aaron
Rawl and Matt Campbell have
jumped off to good starts this
season. Rawl is 3-0 while
Campbell is 2-0. Campbell has
not given up a run in his first 14
innings this season. In addition
to the returning starters, new
comers such as junior Billy
Buckner have made a splash
thus far, with 2-0 records.
Surprisingly, USC is almost
as dominant in the overall pitch
ing statistics as they are in the
hitting numbers. The
Gamecocks have the SEC’s low
est earned run average with 1.43
and opposing batting average
with .159, while leading the
league in strikeouts with 120
while having just the eighth
most innings pitched.
The USC staff also ranks sec
ond in saves with four, hits al
lowed with 48, earned runs al
lowed with 14, walks allowed
with 14 and home runs allowed
with three.
The Gamecocks will now turn
their attention to the Tigers
from the upstate, who are off to a
disappointing 3-3 start. Clemson
has had trouble from North
Carolina with a loss to Charlotte
and a pair of losses to East
Carolina in the Keith LeClair
Invitational.
Clemson’s offensive attack is
being lead this season by junior.
Brad McCann, who is hitting for
an average of .462 through six •
games. The team overall is hit
ting a surprisingly low .251 ear
ly, but got a big victory on
Wednesday over Gardner-Webb
Clelhson’s pitching staff,
•which was expected to be the
strength of the team, has strug
gled early despite having an
earned run average of 2.77.
Junior left hander Tyler
Lumsden, the ace of the fairly
deep staff, will try to get the
Tigers back on track this week
end against the Gamecocks.
USC will take on Clemson in
front of a sold out Sarge Frye
Field Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and
will travel to Clemson Sunday to
play their first road game of the
season at 2 p.m.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm. sc. edu
Briefly
Men’s tennis looks to
revitalize team record
Looking to rebound from their
first loss of the season, the No. 19
USC men’s tennis team will open
up SEC play this weekend
against the No. 15 Kentucky
Wildcats. The match will begin
today at 2 p.m. at the Sam Daniel
Tennis Center.
The Gamecocks experienced
defeat for the first time on
Tuesday, falling prey to an upset
at the hands of No. 36 North
Carolina, 6-1. The 10-0 start was
the best since the 1984 season.
Kentucky enters the match
with a 5-3 record on the season.
However, the Wildcats are 0-3
against ranked opponents on the
year. Individually, UK’s Jesse
Witten is ranked 14th in the coun
try. UK has won the last two meet
ings against the Gamecocks.
After battling the Wildcats on
Saturday, USC will travel to
Nashville'to take on the No. 22
Vanderbilt Commodores on
Sunday. Overall, Vanderbilt is 5-2,
but the Commodores are 0-1
against ranked opponents this
year. VUis also scheduledto play
host to No. 4 Florida on Saturday.
The Commodores won last year’s
meeting in Columbia, 5-1.
2004 Faculty/Staff and
Baseball Ticket Distribi
1
Baseball Game pjCk-Up w/ id @ the USC Box Office
rch 19-21,2004 Friday, March 5,2004
@ Sarge Frye Field 8:30am-5:00pm
Baseball Game pjck-^w/ id ©the use box office
ril 9-11,2004 Mon-Wed, March29-31,2004
@Sarge Frye Field 8:30am-5:00pm
Baseball Game Pick-up W/ ID @ the use Box Office
April 14,2004 Mon-Wed, March 29-31,2004
@Sarge Frye Field 8:30am-5:00pm
•Advanced tickets are not needed for any other baseball game.
-------
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799-7571
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