Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Game schedule THf%AMECOCK a b, B, J-? Baseball vs. Florida, 4 p.m. A ~U "v ” k F I 'l Softball @ Miss. State, 4 p.m. L ^ I ■ / \ Fill l Women’s golf in the Liz Murphey ■ * ■ ■ ^ I Collegiate Classic, all day in Athens, Ga. ^ Page 8 —I— — LI YJ Friday, March 24, 2006 The Players Championship more fun than NCAA tourney Famous holes, quality field make weekend at Sawgrass memorable To most of the country, the coming weekend is the high water mark of March Madness. Many brackets will be busted as the field of 16 college basketball teams is narrowed to - four. But there is another,'far more exciting, spectacle of sports entertainment T000 GREER taking place Graduate from Thursday student m to Sunday — * ■ The Players manaiemmt Championship — golf’s unofficial fifth liiajui. The TPC at Sawgrass, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., is one of golf’s greatest venues. The final two holes are so difficult and unpredictable that no lead is too safe, ensuring a dramatic finish. The Players Championship is the deepest field in golf, with 48 of the top 50 golfers in the world taking part in the tournament. The 17th hole at Sawgrass is known as the infamous Island Green. At 137 yards in distance, even the casual weekend golfer is tempted to think that they might be able to conquer the dubious par three. What makes the hole so difficult is that there is no margin for error — you either hit the target or the ball is in the water. The green’s surface is also very hard, so hitting the target is only half of the equation; keeping it on the green is another challenge altogether. Of the 84 players that entered the tournament’s final two rounds last year, 37 put at least one ball into the water on the 17th hole. In all, 54 balls found a final resting place in the murky waters surrounding the 17 th green. Bob Tway put four straight balls in the water before three-putting for a GREER • 9 Back to the Big Apple Tony Tribble / The Associated Press USC's Tre’ Kelley drives to the basket during the Gamecock’s 65-62 win in the NIT quarterfinals Thursday. Kelley finished with 21 points as the Gamecocks advanced to the semifinals for the second year in a row. Gamecocks beat Cincinnati to advance after 2 Bearcats starters barred from play Terry Kinney THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CINCINNATI — Tre’ Kelley’s nine point outburst early in the second half and go-ahead basket in the final minute led USC to a 65-62 victory Thursday night over a Cincinnati team that had two starters declared ineligible just hours before its NIT quarterfinal game. Kelley finished with 21 points and Tarence Kinsey had 18 for USC (21-15), which will play Louisville ^ in Tuesday night’s semifinals 9 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Old Dominion plays Michigan in the other semifinal. The Gamecocks are trying to become the first team to win consecutive NIT championships since St.John’s in 1943 and 1944. Eric Hicks led the short-handed Bearcats (21-13) with 22 points. A Cincinnati spokesman, citing an NCAA ruling, declined to say why seniors James White and Jihad Muhammad were declared ineligible. White, a 6-foot-7 swing player from Washington, was the Bearcats’ leading scorer at 16 points a game. Muhammad, a 5-11 guard from Plainfield, N.J., averaged 11 points and was Cincinnati’s top 3-point shooting threat. Chadd Moore and Ronald NIT • 9 Rice still catching TDs; team wants second threat After record-setting season, Rice trying to set example for other young receivers RJBembry STAFF WRITER The USC football team continued its spring practices Wednesday afternoon, and the Gamecocks will likely pick up in September where they left off last year at the wide receiver position. Record-setting redshirt freshman Sidney Rice leads his fellow wideouts, but the competition may be picking up at the position. Rice, Kenny McKinley, O.J. Murdock, Noah Whiteside, Freddie Brown, Paul Haile, former linebacker Mike West and a handful of walk-ons took part in the receiver drills and subsequent scrimmage Wednesday. Rice appears to be bigger than he was in the Independence Bowl in December, but his speed is noticeably different. On several routes during the wideout/defensive back scrimmage, Rice hit a second gear and created substantial separation from the secondary and hauled in deep passes from quarterbacks Blake Mitchell and Tommy Beecher. While Rice was snatching everything that came his way, the same couldn’t be said for the rest of the corps, most notably Murdock, the 2005 prize recruit from Tampa, Fla. Murdock had some trouble catching passes cleanly during some of the drills, as he would juggle the pass before bringing it into his body. During the scrimmages, however, Murdock appeared to have better control of the ball, as he caught passes with certainty while making cuts downfield. “I think O.J. and the rest of those guys are doing a real decent job,” Rice said. “Coaches are teaching them new things, trying to get them to work harder in individual and pass skills, so as long as they’re doing that, they’ll be fine.” 0k After about an hour and a half of practice, the team headed to Williams-Brice for a full-contact, 11-on-11 scrimmage. The first play saw a quick touchdown from Mitchell to Rice, with Rice again blasting by the defense and racing down the left side for the score. Although Rice and Mitchell are entrenched as the team’s top pass and-catch combination, Beecher, the Concord, N.C., product, threw the ball well during drills and the scrimmage. He rifled balls to West, who looks to be a natural fit on the RCCCIUCRS • 9 Baseball ready to face UF in top-10 battle Tom Benning STAFF WRITER After taking care of two instate rivals, the USC baseball team (19-3) will turn its sights back to the Southeastern Conference this weekend against Florida (17-8). The series will be a matchup of two Top-10 teams, despite the Gators losing two of its last three games. “We may be playing a team that is underperforming right now, but they are still very, very good,” said USC head coach Ray Tanner. “We have great respect for them, and we are hoping we can catch them at the right time.” Last season, UF took the series from USC 2-1 and*,went on to compete in fUa m nmncK i n game at the College World Series. With much of its squad returning this year, the Gators earned a No. 3 preseason ranking and were favored to win the SEC. However, Florida stumbled early, at one point losing five out of seven games. Injuries hampered the team, but the Gators’ powerful offense kept them afloat. While Florida ranks 11th in the SEC in batting average (.266), they are second in runs (173), RBI (161), walks (114). The Gators also have two of the league’s top pitchers, based on earned run average, in relief pitcher Darren O’Day (1.04 ERA) and starter Bryan Augenstein (1.49 ERA). Despite these numbers, \ GATORS • 9 Juan Bias / THE GAMECOCK USC first baseman Justin Smoak and the Gamecocks play host to Florida for a weekend series matching two jtop-10 teame The fiatnre have Inct turn nt their lact three USC doesn’t overlook Paladins, gets big win Team avenges last year’s losses, looks to Gators dlichael Aguilar THE GAMECOCK USC’s baseball team has a lot to look forward to this weekend, namely proving its worth by playing conference foe No. 9 Florida. That said, the team could not look past a game against instate competitor Furman on Wednesday. Last season is a good example. A streaking Furman team stormed into Columbia and gave the Gamecocks a loss that would not soon be forgotten. “There was no doubt that Furman played well against us last season,” coach Ray Tanner said. “I’ve never put the suit on when I didn’t want to win, but certainly T xir«ic rr\<iA f-n rrf*t o win tonight.” The team made sure there was no repetition of last season’s debacle by taking an early lead it did not relinquish. USC won 11-3 behind sophomore Harris Honeycutt’s pitching and strong hitting from sophomore catcher Trent Kline and senior third baseman Neil Giesler. Furman struck first with speed. Batters got up on Honeycutt early in the count, and the first inning looked as if the Paladins had brought all the Gamecocks could handle. Furman took a one-run lead after an RBI double from freshman Jay Jackson. That was the last FU MgBfUL • 9 *