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9 Game.Schedule BASEBALL vs. Clemson, 7 p.m. Pnnt^rt WOMEN’S TENNIS vs. Ole Miss in SEC Tournament V»UI v at Nashville, Tenn., Thursday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? MEN’S TENNIS at Arkansas, 2 p.m. Friday E-mail us at gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu Gamecocks look to end series BY JOEL WALLACE AND WES WOLFE THE GAMECOCK The decisive game in the sea: son series between the USC base ball team and the Clemson Tigers will take place under the lights at Sarge Frye Field tonight at 7 p.m. The Gamecocks (25-7,6-6 SEC) own a 2-1 advantage over the Tigers (18-13, 6-3 ACC) this sea son. Carolina defeated the Tigers 5-2 in their first meeting at the Sarge on March 6 and traveled to Clemson the next day to eke out an 8-7 victory in extra innings. The teams met again in Clemson on April 7, and the Tigers pulled off a 9-4 upset of the No. 6 Gamecocks. Carolina is coming off of a heart-stopping weekend of play against the Florida Gators. The Gamecocks won the series 2-1, with both wins tallied by fresh man southpaw Arik Hempy (2-0). Each game was decided by just one run. The series victory was the fifth consecutive series win over the Gators. The Gamecocks’ senior catcher Landon Powell continues to add to his resume after being named to the Golden Spikes Award watch list last week. Powell hit a game-winning home run for Carolina in USC’s 5-4 win Friday against Florida. For the series, Powell had two home runs, giving him 34 for his career at South Carolina, tying him for ninth on the USC all-time list. So far this season, Powell is batting .383 with nine home runs, 10 doubles and 40 RBIs. Another Gamecock prone to leaving his mark on the record books is sophomore outfielder Michael Campbell. After tying a school record earlier this season ♦ BASEBALL, SEEPAGE 10 PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK Outfielder Michael Campbell swings at a low pitch in a game against Florida last weekend. Brothers face off in state rivalry BY WES WOLFE THE GAMECOCK It’s a little unusual for two brothers from New York to go to college in South Carolina. It’s even more unusual for those brothers to be playing baseball for the state’s biggest rivals. Collin Mahoney arrived first, playing catcher for Clemson. Then his brother, Ryan, was lured to Carolina by USC baseball coach Ray Tanner. “We liked Ryan,” Tanner said. “Collin was a year older and a lit tle bit more advanced at the time, but we liked what Ryan brought to the table.” Still, Tanner likes both of the Mahoneys and there isn’t any ani mosity between the brothers, who played for two different high schools. “You know, I like them — I like their parents, I like the young men,” Tanner said. “Last Wednesday when we played, be fore the game they were out be hind third base in short-left field, just the two of them, and they were having a brother conversa tion. I just happened to see them and I started yelling at them, and I was just having a good time—I’m not sure if Collin thought I was kidding or not.” Collin shouldn’t feel too bad, though, as Tanner makes sure Ryan keeps in contact with his brother. “Last year I would ask Ryan all the time, ‘You talked to Collin to day,”’ Tanner said. “And if he hadn’t I’d get on him, ‘Call your brother.’ And it seems like now ev ery time I ask him he’s just done talking to him.” While the brothers came to col lege as catchers, Collin developed. a fastball that has been clocked in the mid-90 miles per hour range after an elbow injury. Since then, he’s been getting looks at the mound. Ryan said you have to start your swing early to get a hit. “Start swinging when his arm comes back,” Ryan said. “He throws the hardest I’ve ever seen. I saw him throw 95 one time, and that’s gas.” With Collin already earning a shot against Carolina in the series, there’s a chance he’ll be back on the mound at some point in tonight’s game to face-off with his brother. The Mahoney brothers not only talk to each other, but faced off against each other in the second USC-Clemson game this season, which the Gamecocks won in ex tra innings. However, Collin got the best of his brother in the at-bat. “That match-up that they had, what was it—game two,” Tanner said. “That was a classic. I’m sit ting there — I’m enjoying it, and I can imagine how his parents were ♦ BROTHERS, SEE PAGE 10 Football completes last practice of spring BY WES WOLFE THE GAMECOCK The USC football team hit the field for its last practice of the spring yesterday, but as the day ended, there were questions about whether the Spring Game on Saturday would be a real game or a glorified scrimmage. Word on the format of the Spring Game should come Thursday. The game could be played based on a point system based off individual plays and not touchdowns, field goals and extra points. USC head coach Lou Holtz threatened to have the Spring Game in a non-traditional format if center Fran Person hasn’t recov ered from the mild concussion he suffered in the scrimmage April 10, considering how thin the Gamecocks are at center. Offensive lineman Chris White said after practice yesterday that he’d be happy for Person to get healthy. “I talked to him today on cam pus, I was like, ‘Man, you got to get right,’” White said. “I just told him, I was like, ‘If you don’t think you can go, don’t go in there and jeopardize your health.’” Whichever way the game is played, the Carolina offense will try and pull it together and hold on to the ball, something that has been an issue in spring practice. “There’s been quite a bit of fum bling this spring,” quarterback Dondrial Pinkins said. “It just gets to a point, a point in time where we can’t hold on to it.” However, Pinkins said that the fumbling isn’t because of any new wrinkles put in the play calling, but a simple inability to hold on to the ball. Pinkins will also try not to fum ble his position as the presumptive starting quarterback by putting in a fine performance Saturday.. “Yeah, it’s my job,” Pinkins said. “I’m going out to solidify it, and if I don’t, you know, somebody will take over or we’ll come back this summer and look at it again.” Pinkins also said he’s enjoying running the I-back and split-back formations and how the run is opening up play action pass oppor tunities. Running back Demetris Summers also likes the new I-back looks this spring. “I think the fullback is most of all standing back there in the I-for mation so I can see what the linebackers are doing, and that’s helping me out,” Summers said. USC’s final action of the spring will be at the Spring Game Saturday at 1 p.m. PHOTO BY MARK SCHILUNG/THE GAMECOCK Quarterback Syvelle Newton tosses a pass during practice. Head coach Lou Holtz said Newton will be the probable back-up. Mickelson’s win means changes in golf hierarchy As his putt for birdie on the 72nd hole fell to the bottom of the cup, Phil Mickelson made it clear to us all that golf does not rely solely on Tiger Woods to reach new heights. In fact, the previously majorless Mickelson final «ly breaking through in what were the best nine holes in JONATHAN Masters history HILLYARD was exactly First-year \frhat golf need electronic ed. journalism For years we student . have been talk ing about how unbelievable Tiger Woods is and how there is nobody in golf who could challenge him — in skill or popularity. Golf has finally found its answer for such a prob lem. How fitting was it that the year one of the tournament’s most popular champions, Arnold Palmer, called it quits is the same year that Mickelson, arguably the tournament’s most popular winner ever, ends his streak of winless majors. Many now say that Mickelson, also known as “Lefty,” is going to be a constant force in majors to come. Lefty obviously has the talent to con sistently play with Tiger at his best. That is why we were all shocked that he hadn’t already won a major. Popularity, how ever, was not an area in which we expected Tiger to be chal lenged in. While watching the replay of the final hole of the Masters, I focused on the reac tion of the crowd when the putt fell. Every single person stand ing around the 18th green leaped in excitement when Mickelson finally ended his losing streak. I sat in my home, usually divid ed between a number of golfers, and watched my entire family— including my mom, who knows about as much about golf as I know about croquet, yell in ju bilation at such a magnificent sight. Don’t get me wrong, Tiger is still extremely important to the game. However, he is better for the sport as one half of a Palmer vs. Nicklaus type rivalry be tween he and the smile-ridden Lefty. Golf has been fortunate enough to see epic battles over the last few years between play ers such as Mickelson and Payne Stewart, Tiger and Bob May and many others, but we have not had the showdown that golf deserves and hopefully will get. We haven t seen two players such as the King and the Golden Bear go face to face to be called golfs best in recent years. Woods and Mickelson, who are without a doubt the sport’s two most popular players, have a chance to give golf something it has not had in a very long time — a rivalry. No offense to Ernie Els, who is without a doubt one of golf s'best, but imagine this past weekend with Tiger in Ernie’s place, setting the bar higher and higher for Mickelson, who answered every challenge he was given. The days of Tiger’s blowout major victories are over and hopefully so are the days of Mickelson’s major tournament woes. Now, what the whole country deserves is a show down. The best thing that can happen from here is for Tiger to come out of his current major drought and be paired with Mickelson on the final day of the next major championship, June’s U.S. Open. Then there will be no excuses, no disap pointments, just an epic battle between golfs two brightest stars. NBA ruling thwarts triple-double attempt BY PAUL NEWBERRY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ATLANTA — Bob Sura didn’t make any pretense about it. Urged on by his teammates in a blowout game, the Atlanta Hawks’ journeyman guard in tentionally missed a layup just before the buzzer so he could get the rebound and make his small mark in history. Sura was trying to become the first NBA player in seven years with three straight triple-dou bles. The game was essentially over. What the heck? The NBA didn’t see it that way. Less than 24 hours after Sura’s bit of self-gratification, the league ruled Tuesday that he wouldn’t be rewarded for inten tionally missing a shot. The field goal attempt was tak en away, which wiped out the re bound. Sura was left with 22 points, 11 assists and nine re bounds —not 10—in the Hawks’ 129-107 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Monday night. so mucn ior naving mree straight games with double fig ures in scoring, rebounding and assists — a feat last accom plished by Grant Hill in 1997. After flying to Boston for Atlanta’s regular-season finale Wednesday night, Sura issued a statement through a team spokesman. “I’m disappointed that my at tempt to turn my third triple-dou ble caused so much controversy,” he said. “It was never my inten tion to make a mockery of our sport and to take any attention away from our huge win over the Nets. If anyone was offended by my actions, I sincerely apologize.” Sura’s motives didn’t seem all that sinister — “it was kind of a reaction thing,” he said after the game — but he joined the grow ing list of players and coaches who have resorted to under handed tactics in an attempt to pad individual stats. Ricky Davis, then with Cleveland, took matters to the extreme last season when he in tentionally missed a shot at the wrong basket, with the idea of getting his own rebound and fin ishing off the first triple-double of his career. It didn’t work—the NBA has a rule against trying to score for the opposing team. After his at tempt, Davis was bear-hugged by an angry Utah player, fined by his own team and roundly con demned for his blatant attempt at personal glory. Davis wasn’t the first Six years ago, Connecticut women’s bas ketball star Nykesha Sales, lost for the season with a torn Achilles’ tendon, hobbled onto the court at the start of a game to make an uncontested layup that gave her the school scoring record. in uanuai _y ui ecu uay quarterback Brett Favre ap peared to take a dive so New York Giants defender Michael Strahan could set the single-sea son sack record. Both players de nied they were in cahoots. The NBA,’s basketball opera tion department made the deci sion not to count Sura’s rebound. “I don’t know if there are any messages in this,” said Brian Mclntrye, a league spokesman. “We saw something that needed to be corrected, so we made the correction.” The NBA cited a rule that states, “A field goal attempt is a player’s attempt to shoot the ball into the basket for a field goal.” Because Sura wasn’t trying to make the shot, he shouldn’t get credit for a field goal attempted. Therefore, no rebound, the NBA said. In the final minutes, Sura’s teammates kept pumping up shots, hoping to give him a le ♦ NBA, SEE PAGE 10