Page 4
Collegge Station, Texas
Thursday, April 15, 1971
THE BATTALION
Tech here for crucial SWC series
By CLIFFORD BROYLES
Battalion Sports Editor
The hour of destiny is near for
the Texas Tech baseball team as
the Red Raiders visit Kyle Field
Friday and Saturday in the most
important series of the . confer
ence season.
They play the Texas Aggies
to open the second half of their
league schedules.
The Friday doubleheader is
scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. with
a second game to follow and then
a single game Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Raiders have ripped off
seven consecutive Southwest Con
ference wins for a 7-2 mark, two
games behind the unbeaten Ag
gies.
A sweep by the Raiders would
give them the outright conference
lead over the Aggies and Texas-
Austin Longhorns by a game.
Anything less would keep A&M
in the lead, but two of three by
the Raiders would keep them
within a game of the Aggies with
six games left. The Aggies, on
the other hand, can open up their
lead to three full games over ev
erybody with a sweep and elimi
nate the Raiders from any serious
contention as the Lubbock school
seeks the first SWC crown in
the school’s history.
Coach Tom Chandler of the Ag
gies will miss the series due to
Green moved
to running back
Ten players who had been side
lined by injury and illness were
back in action Wednesday as the
Texas Aggies resumed spring
football drills following the East
er break.
One change had freshman
quarterback Mark Green of
Odessa working as a running
back. Freshman Tim Trimmier
and senior Joe Mac King of
Mineola handled the first unit
quarterbacking.
It was the tenth workout of
the spring with an emphasis on
timing and reading assignments.
ALLEN
OLDS. - CAD.
INCORPORATED
SALES - SERVICE
“Where satisfaction is
standard equipment”
2400 Texas Ave.
a ruptured disc in his back he
will have operated on. Monday.
Chandler said he will be in the
hospital for about a week after
the surgery at Sharpstown Gen
eral Hospital in Houston and hop
ed to be back with the team for
the TeXas-Austin series May 3-4.
Junior varsity Coach Terry Lo
gan will handle the managerial
chores during Chandler’s absence.
The Aggies and Raiders are
both in the midst of record-break
ing years, with A&M setting a
school record with its 26th win
of the year Tuesday at Houston
and Tech has 22 wins. Their old
record was 15.
Tech has stacked up on junior
college talent and the Ags will
more than likely face two of
them in starting roles after fac
ing the ace of the staff in the
opening game Friday. The JC
transfers are Larry Knight from
Ranger Junior College and Doug
Alt from Panola JC.
Southpaw Ruben Garcia is the
ace of the staff and has a 6-2
record to show with a 0.60 era
for 60 innings of pitching. He
has struck out 85 batters, break
ing the school record of 82 he set
last year as a freshman.
In conference play Garcia has
been almost untouchable, allowing
9 hits and one run in 26% in
nings of pitching. He shut out
Rice and Southern Methodist in
his last two league starts and in
his only other start lost 1-0 to
Texas-Austin and Burt Hooten in
13 innings. His conference era is
0.35.
Knight has a 3-1 record and
2-0 mark in league play and Ault
presents the same standards.
Doug Ham could also see some
action. The senior from Andrews
has a 4-1 season record and 3.60
era.
Ault has a .374 season average
as a hitter and the two-time jun
ior college All-American plays
first base when he isn’t pitch
ing.
He is joined by Panola team
mate Barry Hoffpauir at short
stop who has already established
a Tech school record for hits in
a season with 44 in 31 games.
Hoffpauir has a .385 average
against the Southwest Conference,
and another JC transfer in the
Tech lineup will be catcher David
Hazzard from Ranger with a
.265 average.
Speedy Randy Walker keys the
club in center and has set a school
record of 19 stolen bases this
year. He currently leads the con
ference in hitting with .517 with
15 hits in 29 trips to the plate.
Hoffpauir has 17 steals.
Three letter winner Johnny
Owens returns for the Raiders
at third base and Bobby Marin-
dale, who was redldiirted last
year, will be the second base-
man. Martindale has a .300 av
erage in conference play and .313
for the season. Owens has the
team’s top season average of
.389.
The Aggies will counter with
Bruce Katt against Garcia. The
junior lefthander from New
Braunfels has a 4-0 mark with
a 2.21 era.
Paul Czerwinski with a glit
tering 0.68 era will pitch the
second game. Czerwinski has a
5-0 record for the season and
lefthander Jackie Binks, who is
slated to start the Saturday game,
has an identical mark. Binks, a
freshman from Beaumont, has a
2.60 era.
Sophomore Charlie Jenkins or
relief specialists Charlie Kelley
and Pat Jamison could also see
some action, depending on the
efficiency of their predecessors.
The Aggies continued to dom
inate the league’s batting statis
tics with seven hitters listed in
the top 20. Listing requires a
minimum of 18 at bats.
R. J. Englert is third in the
circuit with a .463 mark. Catcher
Billy Hodge is eighth at .400 and
his .394 season average leads the
club for the whole season.
First baseman Chris Sans is
10th at .382 followed by Larry
★ ★ ★
Smith at 11th with .370. Short
stop Butch Ghutzman is 15th
with a .333 clip and third base-
man Jimmy Hacker has a .320
Quite a relief
to have around
By CLIFFORD BROYLES
Pat Jamison and Charlie Kelley are pitchers with contrasting
mark for 16th. Jim Sampson styles, but the results of their work have been the same. Where it really
ranks ISth with .308. shows up is in a place called the win column where the Aggie baseball
Coach Chandler is expected to , _ . , , ^ . .
use Sandy Bate, freshman from team has won 26 and lost onl y three -
Lufkin, at third base and Gene Jamison, a senior who transferred from Blinn Junior College but
Reinarz, a sophomore from New pitched only 14 innings all year already has recorded a pair of wins and
Braunfels, in right field against nine saves this season. Last year the whole Aggie staff had 13 saves for
left hand pitching, which means season. He’s only appeared in 14 games. His earned run average is
they could see action against ^ anc j Burleson High ex depends on a mixture of curve balls and
occasional fast balls with outstanding control.
Kelley is in his second phenomenal year in the Aggie relief corps,
having recorded a 7-1 mark and three saves in 14 appearances. His era is
a sparkling 1.52 for 34 innings of work. Last year as a sophomore he
t • ^ . ,, allowed only one unearned run all season in 10 starts for 19 innings
Lewis, .327, left field; Doug Ault, , .
first base, .374; Johnny Owens, whde posting a 1-1 mark and 4 saves
SWC standings
Baseball
both Garcia and Ault.
The probable starting lineup
for Tech with season averages
are: Barry Hoffpauir, shortstop,
.361; Randy Walker, centerfield,
.361; Cecil Norris, .317 or Bobby
third base, .389; Jerry Ballard,
.267 or Don Spain, .185, right
field; Bob Martindale, second
base, .313; David Hazzard, catch
er, .265; and Garcia.
The probable starting lineup
for A&M with season averages
for the series opener are: Ghutz
man, shortstop, .312; R. J. Eng
lert, left field, .385; Dave Elmen-
dorf, center field, .388; Billy
Hodge, catcher, .394; Jim Samp
son, .329 or Gene Reinarz, .207,
right field; Carroll Lilly, second
base, .381; Jimmy Hacker, .286
or Sandy Bate, .190, third base;
Bruce Katt, pitcher.
★ ★ ★
Chandler to have
surgery on back
The Texas Aggie baseball team
will be without its head coach
for the next two weeks as coach
Tom Chandler will undergo sur
gery for a ruptured disc in his
back.
Chandler said he has been
bothered by his back since the
first year and it had steadily
worsened. Monday it was offi
cially diagnosed. He did not make
the trip with the team to Hous
ton Tuesday.
The Aggie mentor will go to
Houston Sunday and have sur
gery Monday morning at Sharps
town General Hospital.
He will not be with the team
for the Tech series this week or
the Texas Christian series next
weekend, but hopes he will be
able to be up for the Texas-Aus
tin series May 3-4.
During his absence the club
will be managed by Terry Logan,
originally hired by Chandler to
coach the junior varsity. Logan’s
JV will play Hill County Junior
College at 1 p.m. Monday on
Kyle Field in a doubleheader.
Chandler said he doesn’t be
lieve that his being gone will
make that much of a difference
in the teams performance.
“I can only do so much. I’ve
FOR
BEST
RESULTS
TRY
BATTALION CLASSIFIED
WHAT'S NEW
at
BURGER CHEF?
WE’RE NEW AT BURGER CHEF!
BURGER CHEF IS NOW UNDER NED AND EXPERIENCED MAN
AGEMENT. THEY WILL BE OFFERING YOU NEW PRODUCTS ON
A COMPLETELY NEW MENU AT PRICES THAT YOU WILL LIKE.
COME SEE US ACROSS FROM THE HOLIDAY INN.
_ burger
OmOJ- W0 always treat you ri^ht*
tm Family Restaurants
been blessed with some talented
ballplayers. You have to have
that to carry out the strategy no
matter what it is.”
Chandler said he and Logan
had gone over the pitching rota
tions, and although he won’t be
around to make the changes, has
gone over who to use in the dif
ferent types of situations the
Aggies will face.
He also complimented the lead
ership of his veteran players in
cluding seniors Dave Elmendorf,
Billy Hodge, Butch Ghutzman
and junior R. J. Englert.
Chandler is in his 13th season
as head coach of the Aggies.
Last year he won his 200th game
as a coach at A&M and now has
recorded 229 for a winning per
centage of .666.
If you consider that Aggie pitchers have completed only one
game in 29, that means the relief pitching has to be superb. Jamison
and Kelley have picked up 21 points between them.
In many of the cases Coach Tom Chandler has designated his
pitchers to go only so many innings and thus ended any chance of a
complete-game start. But when they were needed the Aggie bullpen was
there.
Two of the Aggies’ younger pitchers have bloomed in the last few
weeks and the Aggie pitching staff, which was called a potential weak
spot in the early part of the season, has a 2.26 era, not much above last
year’s 2.11 on a staff led by Doug Rau’s 0.86 for 73 innings and
Kelley’s 0.00.
Freshman Jackie Binks and sophomore Charlie Jenkins have
gained momentum and confidence as they pitched this year adding
starting depth to senior Paul Czerwinski and junior Bruce Katt.
Binks has a 5-0 record to show for his rookie season, but more
important has begun to show the stuff that led him to pitch four
consecutive high school no-hitters. He tossed three innings last week
against St. Mary’s with his curve breaking beautifully and struck out
five of the nine batters he faced.
Jenkins, who got a late start because of basketball season and
pitched only seven innings last year as a freshman, has not allowed an
earned run since his initial appearance of the season and now has a 1.02
era, second lowest on the staff next to Czerwinski.
But despite the performance of these hurlers, the key to the
Aggies success in the final half of the conference schedule will lie in
starters Katt and Czerwinski, who almost undoubtedly will start games
against Texas-Austin, Texas Christian and Texas Tech in the remaining
series.
Katt, who put himself in the SWC record book with 19 strikeouts
in one game, will face the league’s top lefthander, Ruben Garcia, in the
Tech series and probably will draw Burt Hooten in the first game of the
Texas-Austin series. The junior has a 4-0 record with 2.27 era for the
season and tops the club in innings pitched and strikeouts.
Czerwinski has been almost untouchable at times as he no-hit
SMU for more than five innings, Baylor for four and Rice three in his
conference appearances and has a 0.68 era for the season—is probably
only bettered by Garcia and Hooten in the league. Czerwinski, a junior
college transfer also is taking advantage of an opportunity after pitching
only 11 innings last year and starting just one game.
The roughest part of the schedule lies ahead for the Aggie
baseball team and the pitching staff has so far jumped up to meet the
challenge and probably will continue to do so as the season progresses.
Team
W L
Pet. GB
Texas A&M
9 0
1.000 -
Tech
7 2
.777 2
UT-Austin
6 3
.667 !
TCU
4 5
.444 S
Baylor
3 6
.333 S
Rice
2 10
.167 !5
SMU
2 10
Tennis
.167 8>
Team
W L
MB If
Rice
20 1
- 21
SMU
20 1
- 21
UT-Austin
21 7
n it
A&M
15 13
8% It
Baylor
5 23
m 11
TCU
2 19
18 21
Tech
1 20
Golf
19 21
Team
W L
MB ?
Tech
21% 8%
— t
Arkansas
15 9
n 11
A&M
14 10
4% 1!
SMU
13 11
5% 1!
TCU
10 14
8% 11
Rice
5% 12^
10 IS
Baylor
5 19
m 11
TRY
BATTALION CLASSIFI1
£c©ncmi|
Colcf*
Por+raili
8*10- 21$
/!>*/£,- ?2io
HiZo-SISb
li«M+e4
SMw
Have you
seen the
COLLEGE PROTECTOR?
(The Insured - Savings Plan designed for the College Man)
It might be worth your time
to take a look at it
COMPANY FACTS
64 years in business
Legal Reserve Company
Highest National Rating
in the insurance industry
according to Best’s Life
Insurance Reports
Admitted Assets as of
Dec- 31, 1970
$178,065,000
Capital Surplus Funds as of
Dec. 31,1970
$36,865,000
PROTECTIVE LIFE®
INSURANCE COMPANY
For an Appointment to Investigate
the COLLEGE PROTECTOR call
one of our representatives
POLICY FACTS
Guaranteed by a Multi-Billion
Dollar company
No War Exclusion clause on
Basic Policy
Full Aviation Coverage on
Basic Policy
Can be Fully Paid Up
at AGE 60 or AGE 65
Premium Deposits can be
Deferred until Earnings increase
.V...
CHARLES E. THOMAS ’64
DANNY M. GORDON ’66
PROTECTIVE LIFE®
n^ivcance company
HOME OFFICE - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
LOCAL OFFICE: 707 University Dr. PHONE: 846-7714
(Next to the University National Bank)