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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 28, 1983)
Texas A&M Battalion Sports Monday, March 28, 1983/The Battalion/Page 11 Coogs sweep three from Ags l to remain unbeaten in SWC by Joe Tindel Jr. Battalion Staff The Houston Cougars hand ed Texas A&M three quick Southwest Conference baseball losses this weekend, as the Aggies were unable to prove that the Cougars’ No. 4 national ranking is an erroneous one. Houston swatted the Aggies 9-2 in Friday’s game at Cougar Field and returned Saturday to sweep a double-header, 4-3 and 17-2. The losses dropped the Aggies’ conference record to 2-4 and their season record to 20-8. The Cougars erased any thoughts that they might not be a hitting team, as they banged out 41 hits off Aggie pitchers during the three-game series. Friday’s matchup saw Rick Luecken, now 0-2 in conference play, strike out only one batter in Five innings and give up nine of the Cougars’ 11 hits during the game. Barry Smith finished the game, giving up two hits. Houston struck quickly at the plate, bringing in three runs in the first inning. The Aggies’ runs came on a Tony Metoyer home run in the fifth and a Billy Cannon double that scored first baseman Buddy Haney in the sixth. Houston’s Doug Drabek, 8-0, was the winning pitcher. Drabek gave up eight Aggie hits through the entire game while striking out seven batters. In the first of Saturday’s out ings, the Cougars got seven ex tra-base hits off Texas A&M’s Sherman Corbett, 3-2 and 1-1 in conference play. The Aggies were up 1-0 until the second in ning, when Houston’s Gary Wright homered. The Aggies came close in the fifth inning, as Cannon batted in catcher Mark Magee to tie the game at three. Houston’s three runs in the second were the only blemishes on Corbett’s perform ance until Cannon and left fiel der Don Robison lost a fly ball in the bright sun. The error pro duced the Cougars’ final run and sealed the Aggies’ doom. Metoyer had two hits and two RBI’s in the first game, while second baseman Tim Cart wright hit twice. Despite the loss, Texas A&M outhit Houston 8-7. The Cougars went wild in the second game, collecting 23 hits, including five doubles and three home runs. Cougar catcher Riley Epps provided most of the entertainment for Houston by slugging two home runs, knock ing in seven runs and scoring four himself. Phillip Taylor was the first of five Aggie pitchers to try and spoil Houston’s fun at the plate, but neither he nor Scott Deskins, Lane Taylor or Rock King could manage any success. Phillip Taylor, now 5-1, gave up eight hits and six runs through two innings in suffering the loss. The sun was tough on outfiel ders during the double-header, and one of the Aggies’ three errors in the second game came on a fly ball that center fielder Cannon lost in the sun. The Aggies had only six hits during the second game, less than a third of the hits the Cougars pounded out. Haney said even though the series was an important one for Texas A&M, the Aggies should be able to bounce back with a little improvement in offensive and defensive execution. He said the Aggies might not have been up to par in the second game of Saturday’s doublehead er because of the disappoint ment from the first game. “We just had some bad breaks,” Haney said. “We just had a bad series all around. I think it kind of took the wind out of us when we lost that 4-3 game. “I think wejust put the press ure on ourselves.” The Aggies will travel to Beaumont to take on Lamar in a non-conference game Tuesday. The next conference play will come this weekend, when Texas A&M will host Arkansas in a three-game series. Chandler says sweep may ‘shock’ team photo by Scott Weeks Heave ho! ations,(i id life ismorti be studs people; s bettet, the Oi | ry plin Corps! Sitjl was in. hingilij dor I ed, df ,'onieif ipeninj n stuti ps an! Aggie powerlifting team member Patrick Talley demonstrates his ability by lifting 633 pounds in the deadlift competition at this weekend’s national powerlifting meet in G. Rollie White Coliseum. Talley and his teammates scored 62 points to win the national title for the third time in eight years. Temple finished second in this weekend’s meet. by John Wagner Sports Editor Aggie baseball coach Tom Chandler seemed somewhat overwhelmed by it all, but he was still able to put the Houston Cougars’ three-game sweep of Texas A&M in perspective. “Baseball is notorious for being a game of streaks,” he said, “and when you’re playing well you seem to make the big catches, get the big hits and ev erything seems to go right for you. Houston is certainly on a streak right now.” That, Chandler says, explains the Coogs’ 9-2, 4-3 and 17-2 vic tories this weekend over Texas A&M, which dropped to 20-8 on the year with the three losses. But the Aggie coach refused to compare UH’s sweep this year with Texas’ sweep of Texas A&M in a Southwest Confer ence-opening series last season. Last year, the Aggies went 23- 9 in non-conference play and headed to Austin with high hopes for a good conference showing. They left with a SWC record of 0-3. Chandler said he doesn’t see any similarities between the two series. “These kids have been play ing good baseball and I just don’t see that happening (the Aggies taking the loss negative ly),” he said. “Our pitching is a little thin, but I think if it holds out we can be a good ballclub after all.” The losses, he said, may have a positive effect. “I think it may shock us a lit tle,” Chandler said. “I think the boys will bounce back.” The Cougars pride them selves on pitching and defense — much like the Aggies — but it was their hitting that carried them this time. UH pounded out 41 hits in the three games, prompting a new nickname, “Phi Slama Whamma.” Chand ler laughed, but he had to agree. “We really got wiped out down there. Our pitchers just couldn’t control them,” Chand ler said, adding that the Coogs deserve their No. 4 national ranking. The Aggies play Lamar in Beaumont on Tuesday before continuing conference play against Arkansas here Friday and Saturday. Chandler said his team is ready to come home to play in Olsen Field. “We’ve played our first six conference games on the road,” he said, “and I think the team is anxious to play before the home crowds.” Barry Smith is scheduled to start for Texas A&M against Lamar, and Chandler said the freshman from El Campo, along with classmate Todd Tschantz, will be “getting the ball” more as the season progresses. “We hate to just throw them to the wolves,” he said of his freshmen pitchers, “so we’ve been bringing them along bit by bit. They’re going to be getting the ball a lot more, though.” Friday’s game against Arkan sas begins at 7:30 p.m. in Olsen Field. Saturday’s double-header starts at 1 p.m. Monday March 28 Tuesday March 29 Wednesday March 30 Thursday March 31 Friday APRIL i The Hottest Event Of The Year at THE most sought after address in College Station 9:00 a.m. Friday April 1 Summer and Fall Preleasing Begins! If you missed.... Don # t Miss. . . January — Nacho cookoff with margaritas February — Racquetball Tournament Valentines couple drawing March — Drawing for hot air balloon ride Outdoor concert ;ll ) cwtctekee \U 693-4242 S€/a\inbhi/a\ Sevilla TAOSi Aurora Gardens 693-6505 April — Superstars competition Spring dance w/Carribean cruise for 2 drawing May — Kegs by the pool June — 2nd annual watermelon extravaganza July — Games picnic August — End of the summer celebration September — Softball Tournament October — Pregame warmup parties November — Bonfire bash December — Christmas partis & contests Brownstone 696-9771