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p ' ~_ : _ j l-, -i ■ • * ’ _- _' _*-.i_ _•_•• . i __v_. __' . _ ' ____ _fee: _:. ; *1V .1 ’ .* .• - -_l ' : _ . \ ■? '.-k'iA ■ BASEBALL START t USCsweeps Longwood Lancers in seasons opening three-game series, 4-1, 5-1, 13-3 By ALEX RILEY STAFF WRITER Months after their defeat at the hands of Cal-State Fullerton in Omaha, the No. 7 Carolina (3-0) baseball team took the field at Sarge Frye Field for the 2005 season. The campaign got started in positive fashion as the Gamecocks completed a three-game sweep over the Longwood Lancers (1-7) of Virginia, a team playing its first year as a Division I school. Senior pitcher Aaron Rawl started the first game of the season for the Gamecocks on Friday, and he came out firing. Rawl went seven innings, allowing only one run on four hits and striking out five hitters, including two in the fifth. USC got on the board in the first inning on junior shortstop Stephen Tolleson's double that scored junior Michael Campbell for a 1-0 lead. But it was junior college transfer Ian Paxton that provided USC with all the offense it would need, as his first at-bat as a Gamecock produced a homer that cleared the left field wall by inches, giving USC a 3-0 cushion. While Paxton was good at the plate, he was also good behind it, picking off a runner attempting to steal second and another leaning too far away from first. Paxton finished opening day 2-for-4 at the plate for three RBIs, as Carolina cruised to a 5-1 win. Game two proved to be a bit closer, as Carolina clung to a 2-1 lead for the majority of the game. USC opened up its lead in the seventh inning, as Campbell crushed a two-run homer that would give USC the 4-1 advantage it would not give up. Campbell went 2-for-4 from the dish, and was in some form responsible for all of the Gamecocks runs (scored two, 2 RBIs). Senior Zac McCamie looked strong with six innings of work under his belt, allowing only one hit and one run and striking out six. Freshman Andrew Cruse provided two innings of no-hit baseball, while junior Brent Marsh came on in the ninth to pick up his first save of the season, as Carolina won, 4-1. The final game of the series was nothing short of a blowout, as sophomore Forrest Beverly blew the Lancers a striking out seven in only four ir Freshmen Wynn Pelzer came relief to earn the first win of hi pitching two innings of shutout including two strikeouts. While the pitching was solid, was non-stop, as USC produced 13 runs on 16 hits. Sopho Mahoney had one of the best career, getting a double, going to : error after hitting a shot to first a two RBIs. Senior Brendan Winn his slump, jacking a two-run hoi hit of the season, as USC swept convincing 13-3 victory. “No disrespect to the comp you're a top-10 team and you r you're supposed to win," USC cc “That's what veteran guys are sup] Tanner said his team's offens performance over the weekend wa “It was a great weekend for us people stepped up." The weekend was also a g( players, as USC used all its availafc roster and used 9-of-12 available the series. The baseball squad will be wii the next three games after the ] have taken a round of complim midlands course. Among those suspended for which were the Longwood serie basemen Steve Pearce and Donald, Jason Fletcher, Arik H Lambert and Tim McCarty. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu i KATIE KIRKIAND/THE GAMECOCK | USC freshman pitcher Andrew Cruse hurls I a fastball in Saturday’s 5-1 victory over the * Longwood Lancers at Sarge Frye Field. Auburn shocks Carolina at home KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK USC guard Josh Gonner hangs his head after the Gamecocks fell to Auburn by three points Saturday. Gonner had 22 points in Carolina’s loss. By MIQUELJACOBS STAFF WRITER Trailing the Auburn Tigers 46 60 with eight minutes to play in the game, the USC men’s basketball team almost worked its way to its second come-from-behind victory in three games. Instead, the Tigers (12 11, 3-7 SEC) held off the favored Gamecocks 74-71 on Saturday to become only the second team to win at the Colonial Center this season. “It was a difficult loss for us, a great win for Auburn," USC coach Dave Odom said. “Credit (Auburn coach) Jeff Lebo and his staff They had a good plan, and they forced us to play right into their hands. We started bad and ended worse.” During a six-minute stretch, the Gamecocks clawed their way back into the game when Josh Gonner hit a 3-pointer to close the gap to 62-64 with 1:55 left in the game. Auburn's Nathan Watson retaliated with a 3 pointer with 1:20 remaining and what was thought a sure victory when Carolina failed to convert on its next possession. However, junior Rocky Trice gave Car ♦ Please see MEN, page 10 3-pointers dominate Gamecocks By STEPHEN FASTENAU ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR With no player on the court more than 6-feet-6-inches tall, there wasn’t much Auburn could do inside Saturday. So the Tigers resorted to the only thing they could do — playing outside. The Tigers drained 11 -of-22 3 point attempts Saturday night to turn the tables on a much taller USC squad. In the end. it was the Gamecocks who were at a disadvantage, not being able to match up against Auburn's quicker guards. “They're a team that can play very, very well one way if you let them.” USC coach Dave Odom said. “Your choice is to go really, really big and make them ♦ Please see SIZE, page 10 Softball survives rain, Wisconsin in western swing Friday, Saturday rainouts dont slow down USC offensive attack By MICHAEL FINNEGAN THE GAMECOCK The Carolina softball team traveled out west this past weekend to take part in the Kajikawa Tournament in Tempe, Ariz. Carolina was scheduled to play five games this past weekend, but the first two days of the tournament were rained out. The tournament committee decided to play the final day of the tournament, so a well-rested Carolina team took on Wisconsin on Sunday. It was Wisconsin’s first game of the year. It was the Gamecocks’ first game since Tuesday, but they ii r It was the Gamecocks' first game since Tuesday, but they - showed no sign of rust, coming out hot and scoring five runs in the first inning. This lead was too much for the Badgers to handle as Carolina rolled to a 9-0 victory in six innings. S11U VYt-VJ I1U MUl, coming out hot and scoring five runs in the first inning. This lead was too much for the Badgers to handle as Carolina rolled to a 9-0 victory in six innings. The first five runners reached base for USC. Freshman outfielder Jessica Josker started the game off for the Gamecocks with a leadoff double. Another freshman, Carolina's first two runs of the game on a RBI single. To cap off the five-run first, sophomore Chrissy Schoonmaker hit a three-run home run, her first on the season and only the third of her career. The Gamecocks struck again in the fourth inning. Junior Ashley Smith drew a bases-loaded walk with one out. These would be the only runs for USC this inning, as Longo grounded out into a double play. Wisconsin threatened to make the game close in the bottom of the fifth inning when the Badgers had the bases loaded with no outs. However, the Badgers would come up empty. Freshman pitcher Jessica Barnes got the Badgers' Joey Daniels to ground out into a double play. Carolina escaped the jam when sophomore McKenna Hughes and Schoonmaker teamed up to pick off the Badgers' Samantha Polito at second. Carolina capped the game in stellar fashion in the top of the sixth inning. Junior catcher Ashley Smith hit a two-run homer, her second on the year. Longo followed this with a home run of her own, her first on the year and of her career. Josker, who went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a double, led Carolina at the plate. Smith, Longo, and Schoonmaker had all of Carolina's RBIs, each driving in three runs. On the mound, Barnes recorded her first complete game shutout of the year. She runs her record to 3-0 on the year. Carolina's next game is a doubleheader at Beckham Field on Wednesday against Virginia Tech. The first game is set for 3 p.m., with the second game tentatively scheduled at 5 p.m. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu •- Sr - * • '*■' ■ :,-7,;±?r^ femes'■ 'mi- .asswa. KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK The softball team improved its record to 5-1 with a 9-0 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers on Sunday. Women’s hoops falls to LSU By BRIAN DAVIS THE GAMECOCK Valiant effort and stifling defense can only be productive and maintained for a certain period of time — that is, when a team is confronting the No. 1 team in the land, which is flawless in conference play. The USC women's basketball team fell to the No. 1 LSU Tigers on Sunday at the Colonial Center 66-36, a tremendous defeat considering there were several lead changes and the Gamecocks remained in contention for much of the first half. The USC women held their own for some time, until the Tigers went on a late first-half run to grasp a small lead. At the start of the second half, the Tigers clenched their paws and pjbunced on the Gamecocki:, outscoring USC 40-17 in the second half and shooting 30 percent better in the second than the first at nearly 63 percent from the field. Without point guard Lea Fabbri, the team shot just 15-of-48 from the field, just more than 30 percent, while going 2-of-13 from 3-point range. Fabbri averages just five points per contest but is the team's assist leader with 66 on the season and is the second-best 3-point shooter at just more than 30 percent. Fabbri, a Croatia native, is at the side of her sick father in her home country, and her return date is unknown. LSU's All-American guard Seimone Augustus was contained to 13 points but was a perfect 2-for-2 from the field and 4-of-5 from the line. Augustus also dished out four assists and claimed three rebounds. The hot-hand for the Tigers, however, was freshman center Sylvia Fowles, who tallied 13 points and nine rebounds in a mere 18 minutes of play. With the loss, the team drops to 6-18 on the season and 0-10 in the SEC. Even more frightening, USC has dropped its last eight games, as it has not won since defeating College of Charleston by 30 points last month. Moving forward, an opportunity to halt this winless streak presumably will not occur this week, as the team travels to Knoxville to combat the No. 5 Lady Volunteers. After squaring off against Tennessee on Thursday at 7 p.m., the team will return home for games against Alabama and Kentucky before closing the regular season in Oxford. The SEC Women's Basketball Tournament will be held in Greenville at the beginning of March. Comments orchis story? E-mail ga7necocksports@gwm.sc. edu w m f v«&t ; *■<$?%’ V» ,i« rWHirlTlIWI' fe—*, --u-iSHHL. KYLE PARKER/THE GAMECOCK USC sophomore guard Lauren Simms is trapped by LSU’s Sejmone Augustus and another player during the Gamecocks’ 66-36 loss to the Tigers on Sunday. LSU is ranked No. 1 in both national polls.