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Men’s tennis loses to Wolfpack for fifth-straight loss of season Carly Reed THE GAMECOCK USC men’s tennis team took in its fifth-straight loss this season, falling 5 2 to North Carolina State on Saturday. It was the first time the Gamecocks have lost to the Wolfpack since 1999. The Gamecocks’ top two doubles teams could not hold on and were defeated for just the third time this season. USC did get wins, however, in singles from Tom Eklund and Geraldo Knorr. Eklund and Jamie Cuellar also did their part by winning six of eight matches in their pro set. Eklund, a 2005 first team all-SEC selection, defeated N.C. State’s No. 64 ranked Nick Cavaday 6-2, 6-2. Knorr was victorious against Jay Weinacker taking the 6-3 win in the second set. Cuellar was beat by the Wolfpack’s Andre Iriarte 3 2 in the singles match. Both Adam Adler and Thomas Stoddard also lost in their singles matches. Stoddard kept the match very tight against Will Shaw, but lost in the final set, 7-5. William Noblitt defeated Adler 6-2, 6-1 to take home the win for the Wolfpack The Gamecocks will try to end their five-match losing streak on Tuesday when they travel to Winston-Salem to play the No. 23 Wake Forest Demon Deacons. USC is 23-4 all-time against the Wake Forest and has won nine of its last 10 match-ups against the school. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports @gwm. sc. edu Gamecocks sweep series with Dukes From Staff Reports USC freshman first baseman Justin Smoak had five hits, scored five times and drove in five runs as USC completed a suspended game from Saturday with a 6-3 win Sunday and followed with a 12-4 win over Duquesne. The two victories completed a sweep of the three game college baseball series and improved USC’s season record to 8-1. Duquesne dropped to 0-3. The suspended game was halted after four innings due to rain Saturday with Duquesne holding a 1-0 lead. The final five innings were completed before the start of the scheduled Sunday game. USC scored four fifth inning runs to gain the lead and added two in the eighth for the 6-3 first game victory. Robbie Grinestaff hit a three-run homer, his fourth of the season, to drive in three first game runs. Smoak siagled in his final two first game at bats and followed with a perfect showing in five second-game plate appearances, reaching base seven consecutive times. He doubled, driving in three runs, in his first two appearances, and followed with his first career home run, a two-run shot. BROom • conTinueDFRomio compete. He did as well in the Olympics as I did that year — and I was 7 years old. Then there was the Olympic basketball team in 2004, which finished third after losing games to such basketball powerhouses as Puerto Rico and Argentina. This year our token failure was Bode Miller, one of the favorites in five events — but won zero. Nike has been running advertisements for weeks. You can even visit his Web site, www.joinbode.com. I think I’ll join Bode in saying that maybe next time we shouldn’t start advertising people who won’t live up to the hype. Maybe next time we should wait until after the games to start proclaiming our team as the best ever. And maybe next time I’ll care about the Olympics. # Comments on this story? E-mail garnecocksports@gwm.sc. edu SOFTBALL • COflTinUEDfROITIIO walked three-straight batters, scoring one run for USC. With the bases loaded, Payne delivered a 3-RBI triple to left-center and later scored on another wild pitch. USC-double by Christie Hamilton. In victory, USC moved to 40-0 all-time against GSU. I he Camecocks began play on Saturday against Fordham, but finished the game on Sunday morning, losing 4-3 in extra innings. Carolina had runners in scoring position in the seventh and eighth innings, but the team could not bring anyone home. “We had our opportunities in (this) game,” Compton said. “When you let a team stick with you, bad things i can happen. A kid hit a decent pitch, and that’s all it takes.” Carolina was out ofi the gate fast, going up 2-0 in the first inning off of an RBI-double by Jessica JosJcer. However, the Gamecocks would not find their bats again until the seventh inning. Payne singled and eventually came across home plate to tie the game at 3-3. Hamilton recorded the' loss in relief, despite giving up only one run on four hits and striking out seven batters. In Carolina’s 3-0 victory over North Carolina State, Hamilton played an even larger role, striking out 10 and, giving up two hits and no runs. The game was a pitcher’s duel, as Hamilton had to keep pace with N.C. State pitcher Abbie Sims. The Wolfpack junior mowed down USC’s first nine batters on strikeouts and finished the game with a strikeout count of 13. USC drew first blood in the fourth inning against N.C. State, when Josker singled and then advanced to second. With two outs and two on, Longo singled up the middle, with Josker scoring for the winning run. The Gamecocks sealed the game in the sixth inning, when Longo hit an RBI-triple and later scored on a single by Ashley Smith. Up next for USC is a doubleheader Tuesday against Campbell at 4 p.m. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm. sc. edu women • connnuED momio and a lay-up by Cherish Stringfield to push the lead back to 13 points. After USC whittled the lead down to seven with a Shannel Harris jumper and 5:47 left to play in the game, Williams knocked down yet another 3-pointer to halt the threat. Williams finished with 14 points. “It was really important for Caroline to hit the shots she hit under pressure,” head coach Melanie Balcomb said. “At that point, we weren’t getting any stops and [USC] was hitting all their shots.” All five Vandy starters scored in double figures, collectively knocking down seven of their twelve 3-point attempts, and outscoring USC 31-12 at the free throw line. The Commodores earned 21 assists and 14 turnovers, while their defensive pressure forced the Gamecocks into 29 turnovers. “We had to be more aggressive and attack them,” Vanderbilt junior guard Dee Davis said. “We really were aggressive on the ball and trapped the point guard as much as. we could.” Davis finished with 14 points, 10 assists, four steals, and three turnovers. The Commodores, as a team, however, were out rebounded by USC 38-22 for the game, 19-9 on the offensive glass. Vanderbilt hit 31 of 36 attempts at the free throw line, while USC made 12 of its 14 attempts. The increased aggressiveness in attacking the basket was something Balcomb had been preaching to the Vanderbilt team all season. “I hope getting to the free throw line more often is a sign that we’re getting more aggressive, because that’s something that has been around us all year,” Balcomb said. The win in their final regular season contest moved the Commodores to 19-9 on the season (8 6 in the SEC) and secured for them the sixth-seed on the SEC Tournament that begins next week in Little Rock, Ark. The loss moved the Gamecocks to 17-10 overall and 7-7 in the SEC. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu :