The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 21, 2004, Page 13, Image 13
THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, April 21, 2004 ^3
-|—v ^. mn r^i Game.Schedule
■ m \ I [ I 1 L 1 SOFTBALL vs. Furman, 5 p.m.
fnntart lie | W m I ^ | BASEBALL vs. The Citadel, 7 p.m.
I II kit MEN'S TENNIS vs. Vanderbilt at SEC Tournament
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? If I L 1 in Nashville, Tenn., 2:15 p.m. Thursday
E-mail us at gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu B y y _ B fy J
Clemson pounds Citadel 13-4;
Gamecocks look to follow suit
Late-season woes
plague Carolina
sports programs
■ ■ ' .
.
It seems like all year there
has been a buzz around USC
sports — for the first half of ev
ery season, anyway. In a trend
that began in the fall, the hearts
of Gamecocks
everywhere
have been
torn to pieces
over and over
again with the
. crumble of our
most beloved
JONATHAN athletic
HILLYARD teams.
First-year It all began
electronic with good old
journalism coach Holtz
student and the
Gamecock
football team. We all want to
love it, and after a 31-7 win over
a ranked Virginia team, I could
hear the whispers around cam
pus of bowl dreams and maybe
more. Then came the Georgia
drubbing, which could have
been expected. Then came an ab
solute heartbreaker at
Tennessee in overtime, which
urnnlrl Vioo nrrr» hmm
the program.
Still, the team was 5-3 with
four games to play and was as
sured of a bowl game. Right?
Wrong. Four straight losses and
what a colleague of mine called
“the Clemson incident,” and all
of a sudden the boys are home
for Christmas once again.
Let’s not forget the men’s soc
cer team, which began the sea
son a stellar 7-0 before dropping
four in a row and revealing its
true face. A team that at one
point was ranked eighth in the
country finished the season in a
terrible slump, and let’s not for
get it also lost to none other than
our good old friendly neighbor
hood Clemson Tigers.
Then a glimmer of hope
peaked through the dark skies
that were Carolina athletics.
Amazingly, it was the men’s bas
ketball team that provided this
glimmer. How amazing was it
that this team, a team picked to
finish last in the SEC, was sitting
at the midseason point with a 19
3 record and surprisingly was on
top of the Eastern Division? This
team’s late-season struggles may
have been the toughest to watch.
A heartbreaking loss at the last
second in Kentucky and a de
fensive breakdown at home
against Mississippi State cost
the Gamecocks two victories
over top-10 opponents in the
span of a week. The team limped
through the rest of the regular
season, and in a win over
Georgia, lost arguably its best
player in Rolando Howell, who
broke his wrist at the end of his
senior season. A couple of SEC
Tournament wins and we could
finally celebrate something at
USC. The NCAA Tournament
was finally back on the
Gamecocks’ resume. However,
a first-round loss left us once "
again saying, “What if?”
So we come to the spring
sports schedule. Some team has
to bring us out of this funk,
right? This program can’t have
this curse in everv SDort. can it?
We saw it again with the men’s
tennis team. The squad got off to
its best start since the early ‘80s
to do what? You guessed it — ft
would lose 12 of its last 16 match
es heading into postseason.
OK, now we are safe. USC’s
best sport will be our savior this
year, right? Baseball will domi
nate and send us to Omaha
again, and the program will be
revived. Well, don’t look now be
cause our beloved bombers are
now 7-8 in the SEC and coming
off a series loss to last-place
Kentucky. Ouch, fellas. That one
hurts. So here is my plea to the
baseball team: Bring us out of
this funk, guys. You have the tal
ent —-just hang on for a few
more months and play like we
all know you are capable of play
ing. As hard as it is, I am willing
to forgive two losses to Clemson
if you make it back to Omaha.
As for the rest of you USC stu
dent-athletes, I’ll just say what
has become a slogan for USC
sports: I love you all, and better
luck next year.
f
•PHOTO BY MARK SCHILLING/THE GAMECOCK
Brandon Winn Is batting .344 for the season. USC will take on The Citadel tonight at home.
BY WES WOLFE
THE GAMECOCK
The game against The Citadel is
coming at a good time for the No.
10 USC baseball team, which begins
an eight-game homestand as the
semester draws to a close. The
Gameeocks (26-10,7-8 SEC) are com
ing off a 2-1 series loss to Kentucky,
arguably the worst team in the con
ference. The Bulldogs enter
tonight’s game at 23-13 overall and a
12-3 second-place record in the
Southern Conference.
Though The Citadel is doing
well against opponents of a simi
lar caliber, the team is scheduling
teams with higher prestige, such
as its games against Clemson
(played on Tuesday) and tonight’s
game at Carolina.
In the game against Clemson
last night, the Bulldogs had a
chance to upset their cross-state
rival, but fell short 13-4. The
Citadel’s starting pitcher, Griff
Beckham, was allowed significant
time to turn things around but
ended up allowing 12 hits and
eight runs including five earned
runs. Beckham’s hit total includ
ed two doubles and two home
runs in four and two-thirds in
nings.
Zach Brown came on in relief
of Beckham, pitching three and
one-third innings while allowing
five runs off four hits.
While it seems curious that
Beckham and Brown would be al
lowed to stay in after giving up so
many runs, one can imagine The
Citadel coaching staff wanted to
save some mid-week arms for the
Carolina game.
The Citadel got off to a 3-2 lead
in the first inning and lengthened
the lead out to 4-2 before the Tigers
reeled off 11 unanswered runs.
USC surely try to beat the
Bulldogs in a similar fashion this
evening.
Before the Clemson game, The
Citadel swept High Point, winning
the three games 10-4,11-10 and 14-2.
Though The Citadel hails from a
conference that doesn’t have as
much prestige as the SEC, the
Bulldogs still pack a wallop. The
Citadel beat USC in Columbia last
season—a USC team that made it
to the College World Series for the
second consecutive year.
Right-hander Cliff Donald is set
to start for the Gamecocks against
The Citadel in his first start of the
season. As of the game this
evening, Donald will have the
fewest innings pitched of any of
the starters this season. So far,
Donald has two earned runs in 19
innings pitched, giving him a 0.95
ERA, along with 18 strikeouts. The
♦ BASEBALL, SEEPAGE 14
LeBron and Melo
set rookie standard
No one was surprised when
the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted
LeBron James with the No. 1
pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.
Equally obvious was the choice
facing the Denver Nuggets, when
Carmelo
Anthony fell to
them at the No.
3 pick. Even be
fore NBA
Commissioner
David Stern
called their
JOEL WALLACE fmeaondraft
„ ,, day, the quest
Fourth-year for this sea.
print , .... „
journalism son s NBA
student Rookie of the
Year was a two
man race.
So it should come as a shock
to no one that LeBron and Melo
finished 1-2 in this year’s ballot
ing. James garnered 78 of 118
first-place votes, with Anthony
taking the other 40.
The only shock was the aplomb
with which LeBron went about
"havincr rvf 1_i. 1- _
-- WCOl 1 UUIV1C ocu
sons in NBA history. King James
averaged over 20 points, five re
bounds and five assists this year,
which is nothing too extraordi
nary — if you’re a seasoned vet.
But for a man who has not yet
reached his 20th birthday, such
numbers are almost unprece
dented.
The only other NBA players to
achieve such lofty stats in their
rookie campaigns were Oscar
Robertson and Michael Jordan.
And if you’re not too familiar with
basketball, take it from me —
those guys turned out all right.
James was the subject of more
hype than any other player in
NBA history. To refer to him as a
“phenom” was a va^t understate
ment; analysts across the country
practically hailed him as the mes
siah of the NBA, and have been
doing so since he was a sopho
more in high school.
I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t
think he could do it. From what
I’d seen, he was a gifted athlete
who showed incredible passing
skills for someone his age.
But the boy just didn’t look like
he could shoot. Some pundits jok
ingly referred to him as LeBron
Ames. No J — get it?
While he still has room to im
prove his jump shot (LeBron
posted an unimpressive 41.7 per
cent field goal percentage), the
fact that he still put up 20 points a
game only becomes more im
pressive.
In addition to his stats,
LeBron also brought the
Cavaliers within one game of the
playoffs, improving the team’s
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The rookie sensation also
gave Cleveland fans a reason to
show up to games. The team’s at
tendance rose from 11,497 to
18,288, which was the largest in
crease in league history for a
team not moving into a new are
na.
But what about Melo, you ask?
I didn’t forget about him. I re
member watching him in the na
tional championship game last
year and being absolutely amazed
at what he could do, thinking he’d
be a better player than LeBron.
Anthony, who led Syracuse to
that NCAA Championship his
freshman year, would have been
the star of any draft had his light
not fallen under the shadow of
LeBron.
Anthony’s numbers this year
were almost as impressive as
Lebron’s. Carmelo put up 21
■1
♦ WALLACE, SEE PAGE 14
USC hopes to prolong Furman’s misery
PHOTO BY MARK SCHILLING/THE GAMECOCK
Kristin Hall throws to first base against Georgia earlier in the
season. USC plays Furman tonight at home.
BY WES WOLFE
THEfiAMECOCK ~
■The No. 25 USC softball team
will try to focus on getting a
couple of wins tonight when it
takes on Furman.
The Gamecocks (22-18,11-16
SEC) are 5-10 in their last 15
games and need a turnaround
if they are looking to advance
into the postseason.
The Lady Paladins are in
even worse shape, coming into
the doubleheader with a 12-37
record overall and a 5-7 showing
in the Southern Conference.
Furman has also dropped its
past five games against
Carolina, dating back to a 1-0
Furman victory in 2001.
The games this evening could
mean history for the Gamecock
softball program. Head coach
Joyce Compton is within two
wins of the 800-win mark for her
career, and third baseman
Samantha Jennings is two home
runs away from breaking the
school’s single-season home run
record. Jennings currently has
nine home runs on the season
and is fourth on the career home
run list.
Furman will look for the up
set with batters like centerfield
er LaKerah Barr and first base
man Megan Jaudon. Barr leads
the team in batting average this
season; she also leads the team
in hits with 51, tying for second
on the team in doubles with sev-'
en, and having the fewest strike
outs among probable starters
with only 12.
Jaudon is not to be fooled
around with either. She leads
the team in home runs with
three and RBIs with 27, along
with also being the top person
in doubles with nine on the year
and tying for the lead in triples
with three.
In the Lady Paladins’ last
game, a 4-1 upset victory over
Elon, Barr went 3-for-4 with one
run and two stolen bases.
Jaudon had a good game as well,
going l-for-3 but driving in three
of Furman’s four runs.
Rachel Henley pitched all sev
en innings for the complete
game victory, allowing five hits,
one run and one walk while
striking out seven. Henley, a
righty from Kingston, Tenn., has
a 9-17 record on the season but
has the lowest ERA of Furman’s
three pitchers at 2.02.
Kristy Goodrich, the other
usual starter for Furman, ar
rives in Columbia with a 4.03
ERA and a 3-10 record.
Goodrich is 1-4 in her last five
credited games, including los
ing her latest game, a 4-3 loss to
Elon on April 17. The righty
from Lordstown, Ohio gave up
four runs on five hits, while
pitcning a complete game.
However, only one of those
runs was earned.
The third pitcher that
Carolina could face in tonight’s
games is Erica Nesselroad, who
has yet to be credited with a win
and is currently 0-10 on the sea
son. The sole lefty on the pitch
ing staff also has the highest
ERA at 7.97. Though Nesselroad
has only pitched 45 and two
thirds innings, she has just sev
en earned runs fewer than
Henley, who has pitched 159
more innings than the sopho
more.
Carolina will play the Lady
Paladins in a doubleheader this
evening at home, with the first
game starting at 5 p.m. and the
second game to follow at 7 p.m.
This weekend, the Gamecocks
will remain at home to enter
tain Ole Miss in a three-game
series.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu