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News Nuggets, 06.05.05
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Clemson football legend succumbs to cancer

CLEMSON — Banks McFadden, an All-American halfback for Clemson in 1939, died Saturday after a long battle with cancer. He was 88.

McFadden died in Ormond Beach, Fla., at the home of his daughter, Clemson spokesman Tim Bourret said.

Bourret said he and Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips called McFadden about 10 days ago to check on his health. ``He sounded great, like he was getting better,'' Bourret said.

McFadden, a College Football Hall of Famer who was also a star on the Tigers basketball team, is generally regarded one of the greatest athletes in Clemson history. The school's football building is named for him and he was part of the first class inducted into the Ring of Honor, his name displayed high up at football's Death Valley stadium.

McFadden will be buried next to the football stadium on Cemetery Hill, where Clemson's famed coach Frank Howard was laid to rest nearly a decade ago.

Charlie Bussey, executive director of Clemson's Letterman Association, was coached by McFadden and remembered him as someone easy to admire.

``Everybody held him in awe, even in his later days,'' Bussey said.

Officials planned a moment of silence for McFadden before Clemson played College of Charleston in the NCAA baseball tournament on Saturday night.

McFadden was a standout at Clemson in football, basketball and track. He helped the Tigers win the Southern Conference basketball tournament title in 1939, still the only postseason crown for men's basketball in school history.

In football, McFadden led Clemson to a 9-1 record in 1939 and the school's first bowl bid, a 6-3 victory over Boston College in the 1940 Cotton Bowl. McFadden's feat of 22 punts of at least 50 yards during that season still stands as a school record.

In 1959, McFadden was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

McFadden coached defensive backs for Howard in 1941 and, after four years in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, from 1946-49.

He became freshman football coach at Clemson for five years before returning to coach defensive backs in 1955, a position he held until Howard retired in 1969.

Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said McFadden was always supportive of the football program. When Bowden first got the Tigers job before the 1999 season, he talked with his father, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who remembered McFadden as one of his era's greatest football players.

``He was very excited that I had an opportunity to meet him,'' the younger Bowden said.

McFadden also coached track and was head basketball coach for 10 years. After retiring from coaching football, McFadden directed the school's intramural department for the next 15 years.

He was a ``wonderful gentleman who had such a significant impact on Clemson University for a long period of time,'' Bowden said.

McFadden was a charter member of the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame and the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame. His basketball number, 23, and football number, 66, were retired by Clemson.

McFadden was married to the former ``Angie'' Rigsby for 55 years until her death in 2001. The couple had four daughters, Lil, Patsy, Marcia and Jan.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been completed, the school said.

Region recaps involving C-USA, Carolinas teams

NCAA Baseball Capsules
By The Associated Press

Michigan 6, Furman 3

ATLANTA — Brad Roblin drove in two runs, Derek Feldkamp escaped a ninth-inning jam and Michigan stayed alive in the NCAA baseball regionals with a 6-3 victory over Furman on Saturday.

The Wolverines (42-18) advanced to play either host Georgia Tech or South Carolina on Sunday. Furman (30-29) lost two straight games and was eliminated from its first NCAA appearance since 1991.

Paul Hammond (4-3) escaped a bases-loaded jam after taking over for starter Michael Penn in the fifth. Hammond pitched into the ninth, but Michigan went back to the bullpen after Furman started the inning with consecutive singles.

Georgia Tech 10, South Carolina 2

ATLANTA — Blake Wood pitched a six-hitter and Georgia Tech pounded out 17 hits on the way to a 10-2 rout of South Carolina at the NCAA regionals Saturday.

The host Yellow Jackets (44-16) scored four runs in the top of the first, and Wood was dominant after giving up two runs in the bottom half.

In fact, the sophomore faced the minimum over the final six innings for Georgia Tech's first complete game of the season.

Wood (10-1) had plenty of offensive support. Every starter in the lineup had at least one hit, and Jeremy Slayden chipped in with a pinch-hit homer in the ninth.

Georgia Tech is the only unbeaten team in the double-elimination regional. South Carolina (39-22) will meet Michigan in a knockout game Sunday, with the winner advancing to meet the Yellow Jackets later in the day.

Tennessee 3, Winthrop 2

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Freshman left-hander James Adkins threw a four-hitter and struck out a career-high 15 Saturday to lead Tennessee to a 3-2 victory over Winthrop in the NCAA Regional.

Adkins (9-4) took a one-hit shutout into the eighth. He walked three.

Heath Rollins (11-6) was the losing pitcher, allowing nine hits and three earned runs in 8 and two-third innings.

Tennessee (43-19) advanced to the regional championship round Sunday and awaits the winner of Sunday's losers-bracket game between Winthrop (44-21) and Wichita State (50-23).

N.C. State 9, Illinois-Chicago 7

LINCOLN, Neb. — After having scored a total of 11 runs in its previous four games, and having won just one of 14 games when it trailed after eight innings, a ninth-inning comeback looked improbable for North Carolina State.

Then again, so did a ninth-inning meltdown by an Illinois-Chicago team that was 23-0 in games it led after eight.

Enter Matt Camp, who delivered a two-run single in the ninth to cap NC State's 9-7 come-from-behind victory in the NCAA Lincoln Regional on Saturday.

The Wolfpack (41-18) moved to a Sunday afternoon game against the loser of Saturday night's Nebraska-Creighton game. UIC (38-21-1) was eliminated.

Oral Roberts 6, N.C. A&T 3

CLEMSON, S.C. — Dennis Bigley had seen a lot of unproductive at bats for Oral Roberts. So he was glad he and his teammates finally got some good swings in at the NCAA tournament.

``We've struggled some at the plate,'' Bigley said. ``It was good that we had a game like this.''

Bigley had a two-run double to help the Golden Eagles stay alive in the NCAA regional with a 6-3 victory over North Carolina A&T on Saturday.

The Golden Eagles (41-19) await Clemson or College of Charleston in another elimination game on Sunday.

Clemson 6, College of Charleston 0

CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson righty Josh Cribb threw a two-hitter and shut out College of Charleston for the first time in more than two seasons in the Tigers 6-0 NCAA tournament victory Saturday night.

Cribb carried a no hitter into the fifth inning until Charleston catcher Brian Hastings dragged a bunt along the third base line for a hit. Phillip Coker's leadoff single an inning later was the only other hit for the Cougars (48-14), who were last held without a run on May 3, 2003, in a 1-0 loss to North Carolina Greensboro -- a span of 137 games.

Clemson (41-21) improved to 15-0 all time against Charleston -- and moved itself a win away from an NCAA super regional. Charleston takes on Oral Roberts, which eliminated North Carolina A&T 6-3 earlier Saturday, with the loser's season over. That winner would have to beat the Tigers twice to move on.

Rice 9, LSU 7

BATON ROUGE, La. — Behind a two-hit, four RBI performance from Lance Pendleton, Rice defeated LSU 9-7 in the winner's bracket of the Baton Rouge NCAA regional on Saturday.

The Owls (43-17) staved off a late-inning rally by LSU (39-21), which scored six runs in the eighth inning behind a pair of three-run homers by Ryan Patterson and Blake Gill.

Tulane 10, Alabama 4

NEW ORLEANS — Micah Owings drove in five runs, including four on a pair of rising home runs that cleared the scoreboard 430 feet away and landed in a yard across the street, as top seed Tulane beat Alabama 10-4 in the second round of the New Orleans NCAA regional on Saturday.

The victory sends Tulane (52-9), the No. 1 seed nationally, into Sunday's third round as the only undefeated team in the regional.

Second seed Alabama (39-22) will play Louisiana-Lafayette in Sunday's first game. The Ragin Cajuns eliminated Southern 9-1 earlier Saturday. The winner will play Tulane Sunday night.

Maine 12, Southern Mississippi 2

OXFORD, Miss. — Joe Hough homered to lead off a huge first inning and Maine hit four home runs in a 12-2 rout of Southern Mississippi on Saturday in an elimination game in the Oxford Regional, the Black Bears' first win in the NCAA tournament in 14 years.

Maine (35-18) is making its 14th appearance in the field of 64 but its first since going 0-2 in 2002. The Black Bears hadn't won in the tournament since they advanced to the championship round of the regional they hosted in 1991.

Ace Steve Richard (9-1) allowed five hits and permitted just one Southern Miss baserunner to reach third in 6 2-3 innings, before reliever Scott Robinson gave up two runs in the eighth.

The second-seeded Golden Eagles (41-21), who lost to Oklahoma on Friday, gave up a season-high 18 hits and went two-and-out in a regional for the second time in six NCAA appearances and the first time since going 0-2 in 1991.

Florida 5, UNC-Chapel Hill 2

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida's Tommy Boss allowed three hits and two runs in his first complete game of the season, Brian Leclerc had a two-run single in a pivotal five-run sixth and the Gators beat UNC-Chapel Hill 5-2 Saturday night.

Boss (7-4) retired 14 of the final 17 batters he faced.

The Tar Heels (41-18-1) will now play Notre Dame in an elimination game Sunday. The winner of that game will play the Gators (42-20) in a possible championship game later in the day.

Texas Christian 5, Stanford 1

WACO, Tex. — Lance Broadway threw a six-hit complete game and Texas Christian scored three runs in the first in a 5-1 win over Stanford at the Waco regional on Saturday.

Matt Carpenter's two-out single in the first scored Shelby Ford and Chad Huffman. Kyle Dahlberg extended TCU's lead to 4-0 in the fourth with a solo home run.

Broadway, who improved to 15-1, struck out seven and walked one.

TCU (41-18) will face the winner of Baylor and Texas-San Antonio on Sunday. Stanford will play the loser in an elimination game.

UNLV 5, East Carolina 3

TEMPE, Ariz. — Chris Bonnell hit a two-run double in the ninth inning to help UNLV eliminate East Carolina 5-3 Saturday in the second round of the Tempe regional of the NCAA baseball tournament.

UNLV (35-28) faces the loser of Saturday night's Coastal Carolina-Arizona State game on Sunday in an elimination game. East Carolina finished the season 36-25.

In the ninth, trailing 3-0 with one out, Matt Fry doubled and the bases were loaded after two walks. Mike Cruz singled in two runs. One out later, Bonnell hit the double to give the Rebels a 4-3 lead. Ryan Bird's bloop single scored the fifth run.

Rebel starter Derek Rodriguez allowed a single in the first inning and then retired 13 in a row. But in the seventh, he gave up a leadoff home run to Mark Minicozzi and a triple to Adam Witter, who later scored on a single by Drew Costanzo.

East Carolina added a run in the eighth when UNLV shortstop Zeke Porraz threw the ball wildly trying to turn a double play.

Arizona State 11, Coastal Carolina 3

TEMPE, Ariz. — Tuffy Gosewich drove in a career-best seven runs, going 3-for-5 with two doubles, to lead Arizona State past Coastal Carolina 11-3 Saturday at the Tempe regional of the NCAA baseball tournament.

Arizona State (36-22) will play the winner of Sunday's UNLV-Coastal Carolina matchup later in the day. A Sun Devil loss would force a rematch on Monday to decide the regional winner.

Erik Averill (9-4) gave up three runs and eight hits in his fourth complete game for the Sun Devils. He struck out eight and walked three.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007 12:24 PM