Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, June 2, 2004 9 FIGURE OF THE WEEK CONTAGT US 5. Number of schools from South Carolina to receive a E-mail us at gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu bid to the NCAA Baseball Tournament this year. USC captures first SEC Tourney crown Gamecocks lock down second seed in NCAAs, host Columbia regional BY BRAD SENKIW THE GAMECOCK The USC baseball team reached new heights May 30 when the team captured its first SEC Tournament championship in Hoover, Ala., with a 3-2 win over Vanderbilt. The Gamecocks (45 15) dominated the tournament, winning four straight games, and will play host to an NCAA Tournament regional in Columbia Friday. After a tumultuous mid-season in which Carolina was facing post season uncertainty as well as in juries to the middle infield, the Gamecocks have found a way to win 12 of their 16 games in May. USC went undefeated this past weekend in the SEC Tournament, knocking off Ole Miss in dramatic fashion 7-6 in the opener before beating Tennessee 5-1, Arkansas 3-2 and Vanderbilt in the champi onship game. Second baseman Kevin Melillo and shortstop Steve Tolleson bounced back from their injuries to receive the co-MVP award of the tournament. After winning the champi onship, Carolina was awarded the No. 2 seed overall in the NCAA Tournament and will play host to The Citadel, Coastal Carolina and North Carolina at this week’s re gional. “We’ve done everything we can to get into this position,” USC baseball head coach Ray Tanner said. “We made a rim at the end of the year. I think we’re a little more confident now than we were ear ly in the year.” Tanner said Carolina’s regional is the second-toughest draw in the NCAA Tournament and thinks it’s any team’s regional to win. “You got to play good baseball,” Tanner said. “That’s what it’s go ing to come down to this weekend: who plays the best. There are four quality teams here. There’s no body with numbers who doesn’t deserve to be here.” Much like the Gamecocks, The Citadel (38-26) enters the weekend with a conference tournament win. The Bulldogs came out of the losers’ bracket in the Southern ♦ BASEBALL, SEE PAGE 10 2004 NCAA Baseball Regional June 4-6,2004 at Sarge Frye Reid FRIDAY Game 1-No. 2 North Carolina vs. No. 3 Coastal Carolina, 2 p.m. Game 2-No. 1USC vs. No. 4 The Citadel SATURDAY Game 3-Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2,11 a.m. Game 4-Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2,3 p.m. Game 5-Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 7 p.m. SUNDAY Game 6-Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5,1:30 p.m. Game 7-lf necessary, Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6,5:30 p.m. PHOTO BY JOEL WALLACE/THE GAMECOCK Outfielder Michael Campbell waits on a pitch during the Wofford game May 19. USC plays The Citadel Friday at 7 p.m. Softball player reminds us why we watch sports A famous line from Peter O'Toole's 1968 classic film “The Lion in Winter” goes something like this: “As if it matters how a man falls down. When the fall is all that's left, it matters very much.” What is that supposed to JOEL mean? WALLACE In the world Fourth-year of sports, it print means you nev journalism er abandon student hope. Witnessing proud athletes taking arms against a sea of seemingly insurmountable odds is one of the most breathtaking experiences in existence. With all the bad press athletes get these days, it's easy to forget about the nobility of the human spirit in competition. Fortunately, someone comes along every once in a while to remind me. Kristin Schmidt is one of those people. After a bevy of heavy storms across the Midwest forced the postponement of the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, the third-seeded LSU Tigers, already saddled with one loss suf fered at the hands of defending champion UCLA in the double elimination tourney, would have to reel off three straight victories in one day in order to stave off elimination and reach the National Championship game. At around 10 a.m. central time Sunday, LSU's senior hurler Kristin Schmidt took the field against fourth-seeded Florida State just three days after she pitched 12 innings in the Tigers' opening-round win over Michigan, and only two days after she took the loss in a complete game effort against UCLA. Schmidt seemed to have no trouble against the Seminoles, needing only 115 pitches in toss ing a complete game four-hitter to lead LSU to a 2-1 victory in just over two hours and 30 minutes. Just after 5 p.m., Schmidt squared off against the University of California. Throwing another 122 pitches, Schmidt notched eight strikeouts against just seven hits in yet another complete game, and she led LSU past the fifth-seeded Bears in a 4-1 victory. The record ed attendance was 5,276. With LSU now only one step away from the title game, all that stood in their way was a rematch with California. Just 24 minutes after the end of game two, the same 5,276 fans who just saw Schmidt carry the Tigers on her aching back sat, transfixed, waiting to see if she had enough in the tank for one more game. At 7:50 p.m., Schmidt strode onto the field once more, her pur ple jersey and golden ribbons now resembling battle armor more than a uniform. Through four in nings, it looked as if this 5-foot-8 inch warrior could do it. The Tigers clung tenuously to a 1-0 lead, unable to provide much of fense throughout the tourney. In the fifth inning, however, the ♦ WALLACE, SEE PAGE 10