By John Manuel
June 16, 2002

OMAHA--Yaron Peters' career hasn't followed the usual path of a college star. But he's fashioned quite an ending.

Peters, South Carolina's senior first baseman, continued his magical season with a game-winning two-run homer Sunday in the ninth inning of the Gamecocks' 10-8 win against Nebraska. It was his 29th homer, leaving him four shy of Gonzaga's Nate Gold for the national lead. He also pushed his RBI total to 94, two behind national leaders Rickie Weeks of Southern and Ryan Kenning of New Mexico State.

Oh, and by the way, he's hitting a team-best .399, with a .810 slugging percentage and .491 on-base percentage.

"I was really hoping, with Yaron up there, he would get it done," said Gamecocks reliever John Wesley, who got the win in relief. "If anyone could do it for us in that situation, it would be him."

Peters wasn't expected to be the Gamecocks' star. Not after he got all of 27 at-bats in 21 games last year, his first after transferring to South Carolina from Cuesta (Calif.) Junior College. But the 'Cocks clearly wouldn't be anywhere near Omaha if not for his monster season.

"South Carolina was ranked No. 1 in the country when they were recruiting me (in 2000)," said Peters, who was referred to the Gamecocks by former outfielder Nate Janowicz, another California juco transfer now playing in the Indians farm system. "I was looking forward to playing in a big school with a big-time college atmosphere, and none of the big schools in California recruited me. I think Chico State was about the biggest program in California that wanted me, and they're Division II.

"I was hoping to put myself into this situation. That's why my junior college coach and I thought South Carolina would be best for me."

Peters may not have been thinking that last year. Coach Ray Tanner says the 'Cocks recruited Peters as a third baseman, but quickly decided on a move across the diamond to first. Peters' lack of playing time was attributable in part to the return of first baseman Tripp Kelly for his senior season, a year after hitting more than 20 home runs.

"He handled his situation tremendously last year," Tanner said. "Many times I would go home from a game thinking I should have tried harder to get him more at-bats. It's hard to get going when you only get one at-bat here or there off the bench. He positioned himself to be successful for us this year."

Peters' season got off to a rough start when he was hit in the face with a Rocky Evans pitch during a January intrasquad game, breaking bones in his cheek. Still, Peters was healthy in time for the team's Feb. 8 opener against Charleston Southern. Two weeks later, he broke his nose during an awkward slide against Georgia Tech in a game during the Baseball at the Beach tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Again, he missed no games.

And offensively, he missed no beats. He homered in his first two games, was hitting .400 deep into April and kept hitting throughout Southeastern Conference play.

"None of us doubted his ability," said outfielder Steve Thomas, who usually hits second but batted cleanup, behind Peters, in Sunday's win. "But we didn't think he was this good. I mean, hitting almost .400? You would expect maybe .330, maybe 15 or 20 home runs.

"When he took off like he did, he was playing really well. We expected him to taper off a little in the SEC, and he never did. Then we just got spoiled."

Thomas said Peters' mammoth season has been overshadowed by the stellar numbers of another senior in the state, Clemson's Khalil Greene. But his teammates have noticed. "He's in the middle of everything we do, every one of our wins," Thomas said.

At the end of his college career, the sixth-round pick is putting together quite a finish.

• The best-attended College World Series in history took an unexpected jump Sunday when 25,581 attended the session, which included Nebraska's second (and, as it turned out, final game). That's the all-time single-session attendance record for the Series and pushed this year's attendance past 96,000, an average of more than 24,000 per session. The old session record was for the 1999 Series at the same time, Session 4 (Games 5 and 6), when 24,859 watched Miami beat Alabama 8-1 and Rice beat Oklahoma State 7-2. The '99 Series was the best attended as a whole, with 206,639 fans filing into Rosenblatt Stadium. The ballpark has been expanded this year, with new, larger outfield bleachers accommodating a capacity of around 26,000, depending on how tightly fans can pack into those bleachers.

• South Carolina reliever John Wesley continued his stretch of important postseason innings. Wesley had pitched 10 innings all year, having returned from surgery to repair capsule shrinkage in his right shoulder, before the super-regional final against Miami. Then Wesley pitched the final 2 2/3 innings while the Gamecocks rallied for a victory. Sunday, Wesley came through again, pitched the last 3 2/3 innings for his second straight win.

"It was exciting today, because I always wanted to play in the College World Series," Wesley said. "It's been tough with all the injuries I've had, but today was pretty good."

Tanner said he and pitching coach Jerry Meyers were tempted to bring Wesley back earlier this season, but instead had him pitch four simulated games late in the year before bringing him back during the SEC tournament.

"He's done some good things for us down the stretch," Tanner said. "We wanted to hold him to make him available for us down the stretch. He's a big reason why we're still playing."

• Nebraska coach Dave Van Horn took a shot at Huskers fans despite the record-setting attendance. Van Horn, who continues to be linked to the vacancy at his alma mater Arkansas, called the fans "real passive" and said the Huskers got little if any home field advantage, especially in comparison to Friday's raucous crowd. "I thought it was very calm out there," he said, when asked to elaborate.

• Power went out briefly at Rosenblatt in the top of the seventh during the Clemson/Georgia Tech game, shortly after Tigers first baseman Michael Johnson homered. While the lights were out, they weren't necessarily needed, and the game was not delayed.