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.

Softball team obliterates MSU Bulldogs, falls to Tigers’ claws in best-of-3 series BY BRIAN SAAt TIIKCAMKCUCK The No. 16 USC softball team (14-5, 3-3 SEC) spent its spring break battling tough SEC oppo nents in the Mississippi State Bulldogs (17-11, 1-5 SEC) in Starkville, on March 6 and 7 before heading to Baton Rouge, La., to play No. 4 LSU (25-5,6-2 SEC) on Saturday and Sunday. MSU-1 USC-2 Carolina ended its first SEC game of the season with a 2-1 thrilling victory. The Gamecocks Were led by Nancy Crane who recorded a career high three hits with a run for the game, not to mention the eventual game-winning RBI. Carolina had a tough job clos ing the game out as Mississippi State’s Lindsay Nelson reached second on a throwing error and was brought home by pinch hit ter Kate Johnson’s single which cut the lead in half. USC pitcher Stacey Johnson then took con trol, and MSU’s Blair Geddings struck out as the Gamecocks recorded their first SEC win of the season. MSU-8 USC-0 Part two of the doubleheader did not go Carolina’s way. The Bulldogs were hungry to get their first victory in the conference as they were swept by LSU just two days before. USC fell to Mississippi State 8-0 in five in nings. Nancy Crane was the only Gamecock to record a multi-hit game as she went 2-for-3. The eight runs allowed by Carolina was the most this season. It was also the first time the mercy rule was used since April 9,2003, when the Georgia Lady Bulldogs beat ' USC 10-2 in six innings. MSU-4 USC-7 The Gamecocks brought their bats in the final game of the series as USC won 7-4. Carolina was led by Samantha Jennings as she went 3-for-4, recording a single, double and sixth home run of the season. She also tied the school record with four runs scored. Stacey Johnson earned her sec ond win in as many days for USC as she pitched 6.1 innings and gave up one run on four hits. LSU-1 USC-0 In the first game of the double header on Saturday, Carolina lost a nail-biter 1-0 in 10 innings. Stacey Johnson pitched her longest outing of the season as she recorded a season-high nine strikeouts and her sixth complete game of the season. Carolina did not bring its bats, and the team recorded just two hits with nine runners left on base. LSU brought its ace Kristin Schmidt (14-2) as she struck out Gamecock batters 15 times. LSU’s Lauren Castle brought in the only run of the game as she hit a bases-loaded, fielder’s choice grounder to score Sara Fitzgerald. LSU-4 USC-6 Johnson (8-1) thought her day was over but was brought in to a 4-3 game in the sixth inning to try to end the game. She pitched 3.2 innings. Samantha Jennings provided the majority of Carolina’s offense as she went 3 for-5, including two home runs, scoring three runs and driving in three. LSU-4 USC-0 Sunday’s game was plagued yet again by LSU’s ace Kristin Sctfmidt as she one-hit the Gamecocks in yesterday’s 4-0 loss. Ashley Smith provided the only hit for Carolina and was the only Gamecock to reach base. After starting the season with eight straight victories, Carolina has gone just 6-5. Carolina will continue its SEC schedule as it welcomes Arkansas to Columbia with a doubleheader tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m., and the second portion is timed to start at 3 p.m. The third game against Arkansas will be on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu (We^/W AN HISTORIC RESIDENCE Efficiency One Bedroom Two Bedroom $525 $585 $620 Rent includes all utilities and cable TV. All rates quoted are month to month. (Leases available, prices subject to change) Located across from the University Of South Carolina Horseshoe and the State Capital, Cornell Arms offers the premier location for downtown living. 2910 Devine Street 1254-7900 Solving Problems Including: DUI Criminal Defense Auto Accidents Cromer Law Offices A General Practice of Law J.L. "Bubba" Cromer, Jr. Former S. C. State Representative Baseball CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 consecutive hits and a sacrifice fly. It was a big day for Powell as he extended his hit streak to 12 games, recorded his 200th hit as a Gamecock and drove in a run. The catcher is only the 18th Gamecock to ever reach the 200 hit mark. USC-16 DESU-3 The Gamecocks completed their series sweep over Delaware State yesterday, blowing out the Hornets 16-3 behind three hits from Tolleson and four RBIs from Triplett. Matt Campbell took the win for Carolina, upping his record to 4-0. Perhaps the only place that Delaware State could look to as a good showing was its 13 strikeouts on the day, compared to USC’s four. Still, the win puts the Gamecocks in a position to remain undefeated when the top-ranked LSU Tigers come to town. USC next returns to the dia mond against Davidson tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Sarge Frye Field before the SEC season opener at home against No. 1 LSU Friday. Sports Editor Wes Wolfe con tributed to this story. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu Tennis CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 as Ganzer lost to No. 69 Kelly Schmandt and Walsh lost early to VU’s Ashley Schellhas. USC-6 Winthrop-1 Carolina got back on the right track on Wednesday, coming one match from shutting out Winthrop (5-1,1-0 Big South) at Patriot’s Point in Charleston. USC took each of the three dou bles matches to win the doubles point and moved on to take five out of the six singles matches in straight sets. The only trouble for the Gamecocks came from the Eagles’ Renata Caceres, who split two matches with Walsh before taking the last match. The victory by USC marked the first loss for Winthrop on the sea son. USC-6 CofC-1 Carolina cruised to another vic tory at Patriot’s Point on Thursday, when the Gamecocks put a hurt on the Cougars from the College of Charleston (8-5, 4-0 SoCon). Ironically, the only loss of the day came in singles play with. Wiggins, USC’s only nationally ranked player, losing to Charleston’s Rachel Magory in three sets. The doubles matches went easily for Carolina, with each team winning 8-3. Each of the singles wins went relatively easy as well, with only Koon having to go to three sets to put away her opponent, Andreea Niculescu. USC-5 Harvard-2 Carolina was able to pull the upset of Harvard on Saturday through the efforts of top-flight doubles play and dominant sin gles play. Only Wiggins, who lost to No. ( 35 Courtney Bergman, and Lucas, who was defeated by the Crimson’s Susanna Lingman, lost on the day for the Gamecocks. Each doubles team won its match, though Gutierrez and Suzuki had some trouble with Harvard’s Preethi Mukundan and Melissa Anderson before winning 8-6. The Gamecocks will return to the court Friday, when they take on the ko. 37 Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa at 4 p.m. The Crimson Tide are 4-4 against ranked opponents this season, while Carolina is also 4-4 after Saturday’s action against Harvard. USC’s next home match will be against Tennessee on March 66. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu The Sign Says It All .... Riverside 739 - 0899 I www.sterlinghousing.com I aa g; One Month FREE RENT $0 Deposit Special Water Included Free Shuttle to USC ;'s *Restrictions may apply 215 Spencer Place Cayce, SC • r r