SOUTH CAROLINA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM UNIVERSITY BY ATHLETES http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/sports/16937160.htm

2 USC athletes arrested
Freshman baseball players kicked off team

Two highly touted freshmen were dismissed from the USC baseball team after they were arrested Monday by campus police on charges of grand larceny and burglary.

Pitcher Nick Fuller was charged with six counts, stemming from the alleged theft of $9,600 of property, including three desktop computers and cash from the USC coaches’ offices.

Multiposition star Lonnie Chisenhall was charged with one count each of grand larceny and burglary stemming from theft from a dorm room.

The arrest warrants said the incidents took place the night of March 13, while USC was on spring break.

Both players turned themselves in Monday afternoon and were in jail late Monday night. Fuller’s bail was set at $15,000 and Chisenhall’s at $5,000, according to lawyer Neal Lourie, who represented each player at the bail hearing.

USC coach Ray Tanner, whose team is 17-3 and ranked second in the nation, announced the dismissal of each player in a statement Monday night.
“This is a very unfortunate situation,” said Tanner. “Both of these young men come from outstanding families, and I feel bad for their parents. It is inappropriate for me to make any other comments, as this case is now in the hands of the legal authorities, but they are no longer part of the Gamecock baseball program.”

According to the arrest warrants, Fuller and Chisenhall were charged with entering the Roost Residence Hall room of fellow student Juan Rivera and taking a flat-screen TV, a PlayStation 3 and DVDs. The total property was valued at $2,000.

The players were later identified when some of those items were sold to E.B. Games, according to the warrants.

Fuller also was charged in two other incidents: the theft of three desktop computers, valued at a total of $4,500, from the USC Academic Enrichment Center; and $3,100 in cash from the coaches’ offices.

The pair were highly ranked prospects: Fuller was a third-round pick in last year’s Major League Baseball amateur draft, and Chisenhall was picked by Baseball America as the nation’s top freshman.

Chisenhall, a left-handed hitting outfielder, started in 19 of 20 games, hitting .313 with a home run and 13 RBI. He also started a game at pitcher March 13.

Fuller, a right-handed pitcher, had totaled five innings in six appearances, not yielding a hit or run while walking seven and striking out seven.

The players’ parents could not be reached for comment Monday night. Tanner could not be reached, but said during a radio interview that he met with each player Monday.

“I got enough details that certainly I feel comfortable in making a permanent dismissal,” Tanner told the South Carolina News Network SportsTalk in a regularly scheduled interview. “I know that it’s a legal situation at this point. ... But regardless of the outcome, they’ll no longer be a part of the program.”

The Gamecocks host UNC Asheville tonight at 7 at Sarge Frye Field, then play at Wofford on Wednesday night.

Reach Emerson at (803) 771-8676.